La commission des sanctions de l’Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) a prononcé hier une sanction pécuniaire de 250.000 euros à l’encontre de Keren Finance, une autre de 650.000 euros à l’encontre de son client Laurent Haegel, et enfin une amende de 25.000 euros à l’encontre du gérant Xavier Lagae. Elle leur reproche d’avoir manipulé en 2015 le cours des actions Compagnie du Cambodge, une filiale de Bolloré, précise la décision publiée sur le site de l’AMF.

Les trois agences européennes ont publié leurs propositions d'amendements au document d'information clé de Priips. Le temps presse.

L’effondrement du pont Morandi le 14 août dernier à Gênes, qui a fait 43 morts, a coûté environ 422 millions d’euros aux entreprises de la ville, a annoncé hier la Chambre de commerce locale. Il était concédé à une filiale du groupe d’infrastructures Atlantia. La Chambre de commerce de Gênes a mené une enquête auprès de centaines d’entreprises locales pour évaluer leurs pertes à la suite de ce drame, afin qu’elles puissent réclamer des dédommagements. A la suite de l’effondrement du pont, les dégâts causés aux bâtiments, propriétés, machines et stocks sont estimés à 63 millions d’euros, a précisé la Chambre de commerce. Les entreprises locales, elles, ont perdu 359 millions d’euros.

L’Assemblée nationale a adopté hier en première lecture un amendement du gouvernement proposant d’avancer la date de revalorisation de la prime d’activité prévue pour 2019. La prime d’activité sera revalorisée de 10 euros au 1er avril 2019 au lieu du 1er août 2019 dans le projet de loi de finances (PLF) pour 2019. La prime d’activité, qui avait été bonifiée une première fois de 20 euros en 2018, sera revalorisée ensuite chaque année pour atteindre une hausse de 70 euros en 2021, précise l’exposé sommaire de l’amendement.

Le texte de la Commission européenne pour la finance durable qui doit être présentée au Parlement européen ne devrait pas être prêt avant 2020. Mais Bruxelles souhaite être un leader au niveau de la réglementation mondiale. Un groupe d’expert permanent devrait suivre la taxonomie ESG.

En Suisse, le conseil fédéral (organe exécutif de la confédération) vient de décider de maintenir le taux d’intérêt minimal LPP à 1%. L’Association suisse des institutions de prévoyance (ASIP) préconise quant à elle une adaptation de ce taux à 0,75%, suivant la recommandation de la Commission fédérale de la prévoyance professionnelle (Commission LPP).

Nicolas Kert aura notamment pour mission de mettre en place une nouvelle organisation

L'association est riche de trois nouveaux adhérents tous issus de l'asset management

Le gestionnaire d’actifs espagnol Bankia Asset Management a décidé de réorganiser ses activités de gestion en trois pôles distincts, placés sous la direction de Sebastian Redondo, directeur des investissements de la société, rapporte le site spécialisé Funds People. Alvara Martin Sauto prend ainsi la tête du pôle dédié à la sélection et de la gestion de fonds de fonds, des obligations et des fonds garantis. En parallèle, Augusto Caro Herrera a été nommé responsable du pôle actions et fonds mixtes. Enfin, Rafael Saiz Romero prend la tête du pôle dédié aux sicav et à la gestion des portefeuilles discrétionnaires.

Charlotte Laurent a rejoint BNP Paribas Capital Partners en septembre 2018 et est placée sous la direction de Gilles Guérin, directeur général de la société

Les trois agences européennes de supervision des banques (EBA), des assureurs (Eiopa) et des marchés (Esma) ont publié jeudi une consultation afin d’amender le document d’informations clés (DIC ou KID, en anglais) des souscripteurs de produits couverts par la réglementation Priips. Un texte très attendu par les sociétés de gestion, dispensées jusqu’à fin 2019 de produire ce document.

Spécialisée dans la protection sociale des agents territoriaux, Territoria mutuelle (ex-Smacl Santé) rejoint le groupe Aésio à travers Eovi Mcd mutuelle.

En poste depuis le 1er octobre, la nouvelle recrue arrive en provenance d'Indosuez Wealth Management.

Vontobel Wealth Management a nommé Stefano Retti en tant que responsable de la branche genevoise du gestionnaire de fortune dont la clientèle est basée en Suisse romande, en Europe ainsi qu'au Moyen-Orient. Sa nomination sera effective au 1er février 2019.

Perceptive Advisors, an investment management firm focused on the healthcare sector, has announced the final closing of Perceptive Credit Opportunities Fund II with $675 million in commitments. Fund II exceeded its target and was oversubscribed, reaching its hard cap. With the closing of Fund II, Perceptive manages approximately $1 billion of capital dedicated to private credit.Perceptive Credit Opportunities will continue its focused investment strategy in Fund II, which centers on providing customized, minimally-dilutive debt financing solutions to innovative healthcare companies. " Perceptive Credit Opportunities Fund partners with small and medium-sized companies to provide capital ranging from $10 - $100 million per investment.

@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }Oddo BHF in October launched a global short duration bond fund, OddoBHF Global Credit Short Duration, which may be the first in a seriesof funds in the global bond segment. Oddo BHF has recruited threeanalysts for the occasion, two of whom are Chinese. The fund,launched on 22 October, already has EUR80m in assets undermanagement.The fund investsprimarily in corporate bonds denominated in euros. Priority will begiven to bonds maturing in less than five years, with one third fromthe Americas, one third from Europe, and one third from Asia. Thefund will include 70% issuers in developed countries, and 30%emerging market issuers. The fund is aiming for returns of 2.5% to3%,, 50 basis points more than the Credit Short Dutation Europeanhigh yield bond fund, whose assets under management total EUR1.8bn.

UBS has been advised by the United States Department of Justice («DOJ») that the DOJ intends to file a civil complaint as early as November 8, 2018 related to UBS’s issuance, underwriting and sale of residential mortgage-backed securities («RMBS») more than a decade ago. UBS anticipates that the complaint will seek unspecified monetary civil penalties under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act («FIRREA») regarding RMBS transactions that date back to 2006 and 2007.The DOJ’s claims are not supported by the facts or the law. UBS will contest any such complaint vigorously in the interest of its shareholders. UBS is confident in its legal position and has been fully prepared for some time to defend itself in court.UBS was not a significant originator of U.S. residential mortgages and suffered massive losses on its investments in U.S. mortgage-related assets when the U.S. housing market collapsed. This fact alone negates any inference that UBS engaged in an intentional fraud.UBS fulfilled its disclosure obligations to RMBS investors and believes that FIRREA limits any penalty that the DOJ may seek to obtain to losses incurred by federally insured financial institutions, which were a fraction of the overall losses on RMBS certificates sold by UBS.

@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }BanqueRichelieu France on 7 November announced the arrival of seven newemployees as part of its teams in Paris and Strasbourg, following theopening of new local offices, including a director of privateclients, two private bankers, one quality client services officer,one middle office securities senior officer, one marketing andcommunications project manager, and one assistant private banker.StephanSchillinger, 36, joins Banque Richeliey France as director of privateclients (Strasbourg). Schillinger holds a Master’s degree in CESBwealth management from CFPB Paris, and worked for four years at theCM-CIC group as wealth management associate director in Strasbourg,before serving for four years as vice president of Crédit Suisse inBasel.LouisDebeaurain, 32, has been appointed as private banker in Paris.Debeaurain holds a law degree from Paris X Nanterre, a Master 1degree in business law from the Faculté Libre de Droit d’Economieet de Gestion de Paris, and a Master 2 degree in wealth managementfrom IAE Grenoble. He began his career at LCL in Paris as a branchprivate adviser, and then became a private banker at LCL BanquePrivée.FethiBelhaïd-Abdi, 47, is appointed as a private banker in Paris.Belhaïd-Abdi holds a Master’s degree in economic sciences with thecurrency/finance option from Paris XII, and is a graduate of theInstitut Technique de Banque (CFPB) et en Gestion de Patrimoine atAUREP Clermont-Ferrand. He began his career at BRED-Banque Populaireas a client adviser, and then as account manager for internationaltransfer services. He then joined Société Générale asCorrespondent Banking Dept - Relationship Manager in the office ofthe director of international flows. He then serves as head ofproduct steering and the migrant market in the office of the directorof affiliates outside France, and then served successively as wealthmanagement adviser for international clients, private banker fornon-resident clients (Africa/Middle East) at the international deskof Société Générale Private Banking Paris.CharlotteDenais, 24, is appointed as quality client services officer (Paris).Denais, with a degree in applied economics and a Master’s degree inwealth management and private banking from the Université Paris -Dauphine, has served in an initial internship at Christie’s inLondon, and joined the teams at Banque Richelieu France in QualityClient Service as part of a placement, and was then recruited as aQuality Client Service Officer.NathalieFeuvrier, 52, is appointed as middle office securities senior officer(Paris). Feuvrier, a graduate of BP Banque, has served in a varietyof roles in the banking industry (Ferri S.A, Banque du Phénix stockmarket company, Banque Française d’Investissement, Banque SanPaolo, and others), before joining Crédit Suisse in Paris as part ofthe operations department in the Middle Office.AudeDelmas-Begue, 23, is appointed as marketing and communication projectmanager (Paris). Delmas-Begue holds a Bachelor’s degree in digitalcommunication from ISCG Paris, and a Master 2 degree in digitalstrategy management (in progress) at ISCG Paris, and has served aspart of the teams at Banque Richelieu France as part of a trainingplacement as event assistant, marketing and communication assistant,and communication marketing project head.LaetitiaPiccarreta, 40, is appointed as assistant private banker in Paris.Piccarreta, who holds a degree in graphic design from the EcoleEstienne / Greta CDMA in Paris, served in a variety of positions inthe publishing, automotive, graphic design and advertisingindustries, before joining Banque UBS France, where she served forfour years, in the positions of client support advisory for privateand professional clients in Strasbourg, and then for FinancialIntermediaries – FIM in Paris.

According to reports in Le Monde, Carmignac Gestion is under investigation by the French financial prosecutor (Parquet national financier, PNF) as part of a case which has been open for 16 months, for “tax fraud” and “fiscal money laundering,” following a complaint from the tax administration. When approached by Le Monde, the PNF did not wish to comment. The PNF investigation primarily concerns the type of remuneration for certain members of management, via financial structures that involve Luxembourg, where the company has an affiliate. The French tax authorities contest the choice of this business to pay salary in the form of dividends, in a country with advantageous tax policies, rather than as salary, in order to reduce tax burden. This practice is widespread at asset management companies, which tend to pay their senior management in the form of free equities, not only for tax reasons, but also to give them an interest in the performance of the business, the newspaper writes.The newspaper notes that a contradictory debate has arisen between the French and Luxembourg tax administrations concerning this financial engineering and its implications, with sources saying the French tax authorities disagree with the analysis of the Luxembourg tax authorities. A lawyer for Carmignac Gestion, unwilling to state the amount sought, does say that it is “a marginal percentage of tax paid by the business,” and adds that “the interests of clients are not affected in any way.” This lawyer for Carmignac states that all investigations opened for tax fraud are automatically also opened for money-laundering.To date, 12 hearings have already been held with managers or former managers at the asset management firm, the newspaper adds, but no charges have been brought, and no hearings with directors or senior management at the Carmignac group have been held. The subject is considered sensitive, due to the size of the company within the European asset management industry, and the potential financial consequences.When contacted by NewsManagers, the Carmignac asset management firm says that it “absolutely contests the recovery and its classification as penal, and has filed a counter-suit, and is also paying the amount sought in order to prevent interest charges. The points raised to support the complaint point to a technical and complex fiscal debate concerning the qualification of intra-group dividends, with the questions related to the tax regime for the parent-affiliate relationship. It is important to point out that this debate deals with facts which are in the in the past, and that the risk is now alleviated. At no time were the interests of our clients or our partners concerned: the dispute with the tax administration concerns only the Company, and none of the Funds in any way.”

@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }AEWCiloger on 7 November announced that it has acquired the Tour Prisma,located at La Défense in Paris, on behalf of several of its retailfunds, SCPIand OPCI vehicles, from Invesco Real Estate. The officebuilding, with an area of about 23,000 square metres on 22 floors, iswholly leased to four tenants.Thetower holds the HQE environmental certifications as a tertiaryoperations building with the grade"Excellent,and a theBREEAM in-Use certificationwith the grade «VeryGood.”

@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }AzimutLibera Impresa Sgr, the asset mangement firm of the Azimut groupspecialised in private equity and alternative investments, isadopting new governance and a strategic plan, Bluerating reports.Marco Belletti is appointed as deputy director, while Luigi Glareybecomes head of corporate governance. Luca Bocchi joins the firm asadviser responsible for sales, and Guido Bocchio is appointed as headof financial activity management.Bellettijoins from SociétéGénérale, where he had been head of private and investment bankingfor Italy. A dedicated management team will be created at the assetmanagement firm, and 18 funds will be launched in the next few years,with an inflow objective of EUR4bn. Products will be sold by thenetwork of financial advisers and wealth managers at Azimut.

Wendel SA is exploring ways to shore up the finances of Cromology, a paint company that’s suffered from a slowdown in the French construction industry, according to Bloomberg. The Paris-based buyout firm has hired Rothschild & Co. to review Cromology’s debt structure and negotiate a deal with lenders. Lenders have appointed Houlihan Lokey Inc. to run an independent review of the paintmaker.The company had 250.5 million euros of net debt at the end of June 2018, according to Wendel’s financial report for the first half. Wendel injected 25 million euros of cash into the business in March, it said. The loans are quoted at about 85 cents on the euro, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Virtu Financial announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Investment Technology Group (ITG), which has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of ITG and Virtu. Virtu has agreed to acquire ITG, a provider of agency execution services and trading analytics, in a cash transaction valued at USD30.30 per ITG share. The transaction is expected to close during the 1st half of 2019 after receipt of ITG shareholder approval and all required regulatory approvals.In addition to enhanced client experience, the transaction is expected to provide a significant amount of additional scale and financial benefits to Virtu. Within two years of the completion of the transaction, Virtu expects to realize approximately $123 million of net pre-tax expense savings, in addition to $125 million of capital synergies. These savings do not include any revenue enhancements that Virtu anticipates will result from the transaction.Virtu intends to fund the all-cash transaction with new gross borrowings of $1.5 billion. Virtu intends to repay the $400 million aggregate principal amount outstanding under its existing term loan. Virtu has received committed financing from Jefferies and Royal Bank of Canada for up to $1.5 billion of debt financing for the transaction.

AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets and Quadrant Real Estate Advisors announce they have reached an agreement whereby AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets will acquire from Quadrant Real Estate Advisors one of its U.S. lines of business including a real estate debt team and assume the management of $9.4 billion (c. €8 billion) in U.S. commercial mortgage loans.The transaction, which is under contract and is pending regulatory approval, will position AXA IM - Real Assets bring its loan portfolio to $20.5 billion (c. €18 billion), and its total debt platform including infrastructure finance to c. $28 billion (c. €24 billion). As part of the transaction, 24 members of Quadrant, including five of the founding partners (the “Lift-Out Team”), will join AXA IM - Real Assets. Quadrant will continue to manage various commercial real estate debt strategies in the U.S., Great Britain, and Ireland.The Atlanta based Lift-Out Team will bring deep market expertise and a 20-year track record in the U.S commercial real estate debt market, complementing the existing AXA IM - Real Assets’ team which has a 13-year leading position in the European commercial real estate debt market. This combination will provide AXA IM - Real Assets the capacity to offer investment solutions to clients through different debt products and across many jurisdictions and a strong foundation for continued growth in the U.S., where it has invested more than $1.1 billion (over €900 million) 2 in commercial real estate loans since 2014. The transaction forms part of AXA IM - Real Assets’ ongoing strategy to expand internationally, and particularly in the U.S.

Bridgewater Associates has announced its wholly-owned subsidiary Bridgewater (China) Investment Management (BCIM) has launched its first onshore Chinese investment product, Bridgewater All Weather China Private Fund No. 1. This fund, which is available to qualified investors in mainland China, is structured similarly to Bridgewater’s Offshore All Weather China fund for international investors that launched in April 2018. This new onshore fund is similar to the offshore fund, with the main difference being the former only holds domestic Chinese financial assets, whereas the latter also holds some non-Chinese financial assets. The strategies are built on the same framework as Bridgewater’s pioneering risk parity strategy, All Weather.In June, following the launch of the firm’s offshore China strategy earlier in the year, Bridgewater was granted a Private Securities Investment Fund Manager (PFM) license from the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC) allowing it to develop and market domestic investment products to qualified investors in the country. Bridgewater began managing money for Chinese institutional investors in the global markets in 1993. Since then, the firm has built an on-ground presence, opening its Beijing office nearly a decade ago in 2011. In 2016, the firm established operations for BCIM in Shanghai and appointed Wang Yan as general manager of BCIM, leading a small investment team.

@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }TheSpanish asset management firm GVC Gaesco Gestion has recruitedSantiago Vasquez as head of its institutional sales activityinternationally, Funds People reports. Vasquez will report directlyto Jaume Puig, CEO and CIO at the asset management firm. The arrivalof Vasquez is a sign of a desire on the part of GVC Gaesco Gestion toaccelerate its international development, particularly for theEuropean and Asian markets. Vasquez has over 10 years of experiencein the asset management sector. Over the past six years, he hasserved as deputy director and director of development for activitiesin Europe at Oceanwide Asset Management in Hong Kong.

@page { size: 8.27in 11.69in; margin: 0.79in }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }Legal& General Investment Management (LGIM) has recruited Sonja Laudas deputy chief investment officer (deputy CIO), and William Riles ashead for solutions.Laudjoins from Fidelity International, where she had been head forequities, and belonged to the global equity management team. She hasalso worked at Barings, Schroders, and DWS.Rileyjoins from BlackRock, where he served in several positions, includinghead of client solution portfolio management for Europe, the MiddleEast and Africa. Riley will report to Laud, who will report to CIOAnton Eser.

Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) has hired Aymeric Forest as global head of Multi-Asset Investing. He will succeed Guy Stern who has decided to retire in 2019. Aymeric Forest will join in February 2019 to help lead the ongoing evolution of the Multi-Asset Investing franchise. He was previously Head of Multi-Asset Investments, Europe at Schroders. He will assume the role of Global Head of Multi Asset Investing and will work closely with Guy Stern. «There will be a phased and orderly handover period which will start in February 2019 to ensure a seamless transition for our clients», said ASI. Guy Stern continues to lead the Multi-Asset franchise, with his team, leadership and portfolio responsibilities unchanged until this transition period starts and there will be no change to the investment process as a result of this announcement. The team will remain focused as they have been on performance. ASI’s Multi-Asset Investing manages total assets of £140 billion (as at 30 June 2018).