Here are the ten most read articles on Investment Officer Luxembourg for 2024:
Published in July, our most-read article of the year explored Moonfare’s bold attempt to democratise private equity with the launch of its new app.
Founded by Steffen Pauls, a former KKR Germany executive, the Berlin-based firm lowered the barrier to entry, allowing retail investors to access private equity for as little as 10.000 euro.
“It has been my dream since the day I launched Moonfare to make the investments we so carefully curate directly available to eligible retail investors.”
Steffen Pauls, Moonfare
While the slick app promised simplicity and transparency, the article questioned whether private equity—with its high costs, illiquidity, and volatility—could ever be as accessible or risk-free as Moonfare suggests.
2. New ESG fund naming rules trigger ‘great reshuffle’
This June article highlighted the seismic impact of new ESG guidelines from the European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma), which could force as many as 1.600 funds to rebrand or divest billions of euro in holdings.
The article revealed that funds using ESG-related terms in their names may no longer invest in major fossil fuel-linked companies like TotalEnergies, Shell, and Tencent Holdings due to strict Paris-Aligned Benchmark (PAB) exclusion rules. To comply, fund managers face a choice between divesting up to 40 billion dollars in stocks or removing ESG labels, sparking what Morningstar termed a “Great Reshuffle.”
3. Banque Havilland’s demise opens old wounds in Luxembourg
In August, this article delved into the collapse of Banque Havilland, following the revocation of its licence by the European Central Bank (ECB) and Luxembourg’s CSSF. The piece uncovered a tangled web of governance failures, anti-money laundering breaches, and troubling ties to sanctioned Russian oligarchs.
At the heart of the controversy is David Rowland, the British billionaire behind the bank, whose connections to figures like Gennady Timchenko and Boris Rotenberg drew intense regulatory scrutiny. The long-standing legal battle involving Italian investment manager Umberto Ronsisvale also resurfaced, highlighting unresolved issues dating back to the 2009 sale of Kaupthing Luxembourg to the Rowland family.
4. Luxembourg proposes groundbreaking blockchain law for funds
Luxembourg’s groundbreaking proposal to integrate blockchain technology into investment fund operations is a major development in 2024. Finance Minister Gilles Roth introduced the legislation in July, which was then adopted just before Christmas.
“Another positive step forward for Luxembourg’s financial services ecosystem.”
Nasir Zubairi, Luxembourg fintech association LHoFT
The new law offers issuers the option to use a dedicated “agent of control” to oversee distributed ledger technology (DLT) in fund management. The proposal, praised by experts like Philippe Noeltner of A&O Shearman and Luc Falempin of Tokeny.com, aims to enhance efficiency, transparency, and security while reducing costs tied to intermediation.
5. CSSF fines BNP Paribas €3 mln for laundering lapses
In July, the CSSF issued a three million euro fine against BGL BNP Paribas for severe breaches in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing standards. Following a 2021 inspection, the regulator cited deficiencies in due diligence, transaction monitoring, and failure to report suspicious activities, particularly involving high-risk clients.
The penalty ranks among the largest in Luxembourg, second only to Banque Internationale à Luxembourg’s 4.6 million euro fine in 2020.
6. Esma faces uphill battle to emerge as European SEC
In June, Investment Officer conducted an interview with Verena Ross, chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma), highlighting the challenges of achieving cohesive financial supervision across the European Union.
“We will never succeed if we don’t bring it together in a genuinely European context.”
Verena Ross, Esma
Speaking in Luxembourg, Ross underscored Esma’s priorities of retail investor protection, capital market stability, and supervisory convergence to combat regulatory fragmentation. She advocated for a collaborative “hub-and-spoke” model with national regulators to avoid arbitrage, while expressing hope that political will—not another financial crisis—would drive the formation of a unified European supervisor. Ross acknowledged obstacles such as disparities in national supervisory capabilities, especially in tackling greenwashing, and stressed the importance of IT and data resources.
7. CSSF flags 2025 upgrade of valuation practices in Luxembourg
The CSSF’s overhaul of valuation guidelines for investment fund managers is set to be formalised in 2025. Jean-Francois Carpantier, head of the UCI Risk Macro division, outlined the regulator’s plans to address persistent issues, including documentation gaps, governance weaknesses, and the frequency of valuations for private market assets.
“Robust valuation processes are essential for maintaining the integrity and resilience of Luxembourg’s investment fund ecosystem.”
Jean-Francois Carpantier, CSSF
With Luxembourg serving as the domicile for over 14.000 alternative funds, the revisions will align practices with AIFMD principles and introduce enhanced requirements for transparency, independence, and stress scenario planning. The article highlighted how digitalisation, artificial intelligence, and retailisation trends—spurred by vehicles like Eltifs—are driving the need for more robust and frequent valuations.
8. NAV errors: CSSF seeks tighter control
This top-read article on fund regulation covered the CSSF’s first overhaul of valuation rules for investment funds in two decades. Set to take effect in January 2025, Circular 25/856 introduces tighter controls, reduced thresholds for money market funds, and new ex-ante checks to prevent NAV errors.
With NAV error compensation reaching 49.6 million euro in 2023, the CSSF aims to enhance investor protection and align Luxembourg’s practices with international standards.
9. Finance minister Roth pledges bigger bonuses for Luxembourg
This most-read article focused on Finance Minister Gilles Roth’s plans to reform Luxembourg’s profit-sharing bonus and expat tax regimes to bolster the country’s appeal to international talent.
“As Finance Minister, I am committed to further improving both the regime of profit-sharing bonuses as well as the expat tax regime to support companies in attracting and retaining the highly skilled talent they need.”
Gilles Roth, Luxembourg Finance Minister
In an interview with the Luxembourg Private Equity Association, Roth highlighted these reforms as key to maintaining Luxembourg’s competitiveness as a global financial hub. The current profit-sharing regime, which grants a 50 percent tax exemption on employee bonuses tied to company performance, is set to be enhanced to address growing competition from hubs like Dublin and Frankfurt. Roth’s broader modernisation agenda also includes advancing sustainable finance, digital assets, and alternative investments.
10. CSSF aims to set benchmark for AI-based supervision in EU
On the brink of 2025, this article explored the CSSF’s pioneering adoption of sovereign cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence, making it the first European financial regulator to embrace such a bold digital transformation.
“Our role is evolving from being primarily a regulator to becoming a facilitator of digital transformation.”
Jean-Pierre Faber, CSSF
Jean-Pierre Faber, executive board member at the CSSF, highlighted this initiative in an Investment Officer interview, describing it as crucial to enhancing data sovereignty and modernising supervision in Luxembourg’s growing financial sector. The sovereign cloud, developed with local firm Clarence, ensures data remains under national jurisdiction, addressing long-standing concerns about foreign surveillance. Complementing this, AI-driven tools aim to revolutionise supervision by enabling proactive risk identification and real-time data analysis.
