Investment Officer Luxembourg

Luxembourg has frozen some 2.5 billion euro in Russian assets, mostly held in shares, bonds and bank accounts, as part of the international sanctions against Russia, its finance minister told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.

The frozen funds relate to sanctions that have been imposed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February and do not consider sanctions that existed beforehand, the minister said. 

The grand duchy of Luxembourg is the second most popular destination for financial services companies seeking to establish themselves in Europe after the UK gave up its membership of the European Union, consultancy firm EY said in a final update of its Brexit Tracker. EY has crowned Dublin as winner for the location of choice for operational moves.

Digital assets are the talk of the Luxembourg financial centre and across Europe, with Mairead McGuinness, the European commissioner for financial services emphasising how the financial sector digitalisation can provide better access to products and services. New regulation is on the way to allow providers to build up the trust they need to overcome the negative publicity that has been attached especially to cryptocurrencies. 

Companies active in Luxembourg are at the forefront of harnessing digital assets in service of the financial industry. 

Deutsche Börse Group is taking over Luxembourg-based fund data specialist Kneip Communication S.A. for an undisclosed amount in order to expand its offerings in the data services space and to develop an international fund data hub based in the Grand Duchy.

This partnership forms the basis for creating a leading fund data hub based in Luxembourg, the companies said in a joint statement.

The Luxembourg fund industry was given its ESG marching orders last week by CSSF CEO Claude Marx at the Alfi European Asset Management conference. “I am sometimes irritated by those who over inflate small issues or imperfections in this area,” he said.

Active management of investment funds is no guarantee for outperformance during volatile times in financial markets, according to a new study presented on Monday by Europe’s top financial markets authority. “There is low ability to generate sustained positive alpha, especially for larger funds,” it said.

Law firm Maples and Calder has announced the promotion of nine of its senior lawyers in Europe, including the appointment of Michelle Barry as partner in its Luxembourg funds and investment management practice. Amundi announced the creation of its first Equity Capital Markets desk, to be headed by Luc Mouzon. Capital Group meanwhile has appointed Kat Ferris to the newly created role of Head of Product Development for Europe and Asia. 

Asset services provider Apex Group said it has been appointed by Israel-based OurCrowd, a global venture capital investment platform, to provide fund services and to help attract investors in Australia and New Zealand. Formed in 2013, OurCrowd is Israel’s most active venture capital firm, having deployed over 1.8 billion dollars in committed capital to date.