Luxembourg’s financial supervisor CSSF has levied a 22,100 euro fine against alternative investment fund manager Pemberton Asset Management SA after a 2020 inspection found “failures” in risk management, organisational requirements and supervising delegated activities under Luxembourg’s AIFM law, the regulator announced on Tuesday.
In a statement released on Tuesday in response to Investment Officer’s query, but not directly addressing the CSSF fine, a Pemberton spokesman explained the firm had in September 2022 communicated to its limited partners that, “in early 2020, we received a letter which identified areas from the review period of 2015 to 2019 that required remediation”, following a “routine governance supervisory visit” by the regulator.
Following the visit, the spokesman said, Pemberton “has addressed the points identified and increased the scale and depth of our local team in Luxembourg.”
On-site inspection
The company faced a 2020 CSSF on-site inspection which turned up “some failures” to comply with provisions of the 2013 law on alternative investment fund managers relating to risk management, as well as “general principles of the organisational requirements and the supervision of delegated activities.”
“The CSSF has now concluded its review and we appreciate the CSSF’s acknowledgement that all matters have since been addressed,” the Pemberton spokesman said.
The CSSF said that in setting the amount of the administrative fine under several principles and criteria set out in the 2013 law, it took into consideration remedial actions already taken by Pemberton as well as further ones the firm had committed to take.
The CSSF’s public announcement was also made under the 2013 law.
Private credit manager
Pemberton describes itself as “a leading European private credit manager, transforming traditional credit markets.” The firm provides a range of financing solutions for borrowers and investment solutions for institutional investors. The firm combines asset management and banking expertise and has a network of ten offices across Europe and the Middle East
Douglass Welch, Pemberton’s portfolio management conducting officer, has been quoted in private equity-related stories in the Luxembourg press.
“The withdrawal of bank financing in Europe continues to create opportunities for direct lenders like Pemberton to step in and provide financing that helps the region’s leading businesses grow”, the firm states on its website.
The firm claims a global investor base including long-term arrangements with insurance companies, corporate and public pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, private wealth managers and other institutional investors.