Dans un entretien à L"Echo, Pascal Minne, administrateur délégué de Petercam, estime que «le secret bancaire est voué à disparaître. Logique : nous sommes rentrés dans l'ère de la transparence fiscale !». Mais il ajoute que la pêche à l’information «n’est pas pour demain». Car il faudra qu’il y ait soupçon de fraude pour que le secret bancaire soit levé.
Selon Les Echos, Christine Lagarde s’est engagée à «mettre en oeuvre rapidement» les dispositions parlementaires sur la rémunération des dirigeants d’entreprises aidées par l’Etat. Bercy étudie par ailleurs le relèvement de la déduction d’ISF pour les investissements dans les PME.
Selon L"Agefi suisse, la Suisse a pris une longueur d"avance sur les autres places financières en matière de fonds propres. L"autorité de régulation des marchés financiers, la Finma, a déjà introduit en décembre dernier les mesures demandées par le G20 en la matière.
Selon Les Echos, le président de la Coface, François David, estime que la Coface va devenir une des toutes premières agences de notation en Europe dans les tout prochains mois.
Selon Les Echos, les ministres européens des Finances ont décidé de mettre en place aussi vite que possible une supervision renforcée de leurs marchés financiers. Les discussions s’annoncent toutefois difficiles, notamment du côté britannique, sur le rôle accru de la BCE et sur le contrôle des établissements financiers.
Vendredi, Société Générale Asset Management (SGAM) a indiqué avoir finalisé la cession de sa filiale de gestion d"actifs basée à Londres SGAM UK, suite à l"obtention de l"accord des autorités réglementaires. L"opération a été réalisée par cession à GLG des titres de SGAM UK détenus par SGAM. GLG assurera la continuité de la gestion des fonds et mandats précédemment délégués à SGAM UK.
Le Conseil des gouverneurs de la Banque centrale européenne (BCE) a décidé de créer un Conseil directeur du programme T2S (T2S Programme Board), chargé d"assister les organes de décision de la BCE afin d"assurer la réalisation, dans les délais prévus, du programme TARGET2-Titres (T2S) en 2013.Le Conseil directeur du programme T2S sera responsable de tâches qui lui seront confiées par le Conseil des gouverneurs. Il sera composé de huit membres, notamment des représentants des banques centrales participant au projet T2S, des membres indépendants possédant une expertise dans le domaine du règlement-livraison de titres et d"un président choisi parmi les hauts responsables de la BCE. La nomination de tous les membres par le Conseil des gouverneurs interviendra le 23 avril 2009. Le Conseil directeur du programme T2S commencera ses activités à compter de la mi-mai 2009.
Selon Le Temps, alors que l"Office fédéral des assurances sociales doit faire le point aujourd"hui sur les situations de sous-couverture touchant nombre de caisses de pension, beaucoup ont déjà décidé des mesures d"assainissement. Les principales sont la suppression pour un an de la rémunération des avoirs, des cotisations d"assainissement et le gel des retraits pour amortir une hypothèque.
Swiss private bankers admit that growing pressures on the banking sector may lead to consolidation, the Financial Times reports. European financial institutions will probably seek to sell off their offshore private banking activities as part of recapitalisation efforts.
On Friday, Société Générale Asset Management (SGAM) announced that it had completed the sale of its London-based asset management affiliate SGAM UK, after receiving permission from the regulatory authorities. The operation was undertaken through a sale of the shares in SGAM UK owned by SGAM to GLG, which will provide continued management of funds and mandates previously awarded to SGAM UK.
According to reports in Letzbuerger Land relayed in the Börsen-Zeitung, private equity investor Christopher Flowers is preparing to buy up the Luxembourg assets of the Icelandic Kaupthing Bank.
On Friday, DEGI (EUR6bn in assets, Aberdeen Property Investors group) announced that Silvia Schmitten-Walgenbach left her job on 19 March as a member of the board of directors in charge of fund and cash management. She has resigned for personal reasons, and her responsibilities will be redistributed to the other four members of the board of directors. A statement adds that Schmitten-Walgenbach successfully oversaw the sale of large portfolios in 2007 and 2008.
According to the website Fund Pro, funds registered in Latin America ended 2008 with assets of USD600bn, compared with a record USD745bn one year earlier, Funds People reports. The top five markets in the region (Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Argentina) accounted for USD557bn as of 31 December last year. Declines in assets under management ranged from 25% in Brazil to 45% in Argentina.The Banco do Brasil is the largest retail outlet in the region, with USD94.94bn, ahead of Bradesco Asset Management, with USD65.37bn, Itaú Asset Management (USD60.33bn), Santander Asset Management (USD48.2bn), and Caixa Económica Federal (USD32.94bn). BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole are in 17th and 34th place, respectively, with USD5.82bn and USD1.33bn.
Ander López, head of alternative management for Lyxor in Spain, has announced that the French management firm is releasing two new products in the country which comply with the UCITS III directive, and which have been registered since February with the CNMV, Funds People reports. One of them is the Lyxor Hedge Fund Index Fund, a passive management product which replicates the house hedge fund index. The other is the Lyxor Active Edge, which functions like a hedge fund, but which invests in sectoral indices and not directly in funds. In addition, the product is not directional. The two funds are available in retail and institutional share classes.
Natixis Global Associates is releasing two sub-funds of its Luxembourg Sicav Natixis International Funds (Lux) I, managed by the American investment firm Gateway Investment Advisers, in Germany. The funds are the Gateway U.S. Equities Fund and Gateway Euro Equities Fund; Das Investment reports that they are guaranteed equities products that comply with the UCITS directive and are aimed at institutional and high net worth private investors in several countries outside the United States. The portfolio of the ‘US’ fund is based on the S&P 500, while the European fund aims to replicate the DJ Euro Stoxx 50. Guarantees are achieved through the use of calls and puts.
Since the beginning of the month, Frankfurt-Trust (BHF-Bank, Sal. Oppenheim group) has applied the same FSM process to its small open-ended fund FT Live-Invest which it applies to its institutional portfolios, representing EUR1bn in assets, Fondsprofessionell reports. This method combines fundamental analysis (F), market sentiment (S), and market trends (M), to generate dynamic determinations of tactical asset allocations. In 2008, at a time when the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 had lost 42.4%, the FSM model produced returns of 7.4%.
As of 31 December, assets in the SEB ImmoPortfolio Target Return Fund, an open-ended real estate fund aimed primarily at institutional investors and high net worth private clients, were EUR553.3m, which represents an increase of EUR184.7m in one year, while net inflows have totalled EUR178.6m (+250%). At the end of the year, the portfolio included 12 investments and 35 properties owned directly, and the value of properties in the portfolio were EUR821.8m, compared with EUR593.3m at the end of 2007, of which 33.8% come from Germany, 14.2% from the United States, and 13.3% from Poland.The fund, whose performance in 2008 was 7.1% (and has averaged 8.5% over the past ten years), will pay dividends of EUR26.6m, or EUR6 per share.
In a review of its ethical investment policies, the Government Pension Fund - Global, formerly known as the Oil Fund, may establish a policy against investment in tobacco companies, along with firms that contribute most to climate change, says finance minister Kristin Halborsen. The Wall Street Journal also reports that the finance ministry is not planning to modify the fund’s overall investment strategy, but may limit its room to maneuver in active management. However, a spokesperson for the Bank of Norway has stated that as far as it is concerned, active management is an adequate format for the fund.
Deutsche Finanzagentur, the German government agency in charge of bond issues, is assembling a basket of government bonds from the country, in which retail investors may buy a participation, Carl Heinz Daube, co-director of the agency, has told the Financial Times.
According to the consulting firm Mercer, Spanish pension funds posted average performance in March of 2%, which is their first positive result since August 2008, Cinco Días reports. In first quarter, however, funds show average losses of 2.7%.
Swiss bank UBS two weeks ago opened an office in Bilbao to serve high net worth clients in the Basque country, one of the richest areas in Spain, Cinco Días reports. Currently, the new branch employs nine people, in addition to whom the bank has seven other employees in the autonomous region. The branch location is an addition to the UBS network following a branch opened in A Coruña last summer. The bank is already present in Barcelona, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Valencia, and Marbella.
Although Sal. Oppenheim has not officially put its affiliate BHF-Bank up for sale, several potential buyers have already expressed interest, Matthias, count of Krockow, CEO of Sal. Oppenheim, has told Handelsblatt. According to sources close to the firm, BHF-Bank is reported to interest the private bank Delbrück Bethmann Maffei, the Swiss bank UBS and the private equity investor Lone Star, which already owns IKB. However, Santander is not said to be a candidate any more.
Expansión reports that Reig Capital Group, the portfolio management firm for the Andorran Reig family, has applied to the CNMV for a license to manage a hotel real estate fund with EUR200m in assets, of which EUR70m will be provided by the Reig family, and which will be aimed at ultra high net worth individuals with over EUR30m. The fund would launch in early 2010, and invest in luxury hotels located in Madrid, Paris, London, and Milan, operated by the Mandarin, Starwood, Marriott and Four Seasons brands. The fund will plan to acquire three to four such properties in two years.In June 2007, Reig Capital Group had already launched a EUR100m investment fund specialised in SMBs, entitled Miura Private Equity, which counts among its investors the French Masséna group, the American Stevenson Family Investments, the BBVA, as well as the Cerqueda and Botet families. José Caireta, CEO of Reig Capital Group, says that after luxury hotels, the Andorran family will launch a fund specialised in fashion.
Deutsche Post, advised by UBS, has contacted Rothschild in London to join the group of potential buyers for a 30% stake in Royal Mail, Die Welt reports. The other candidates are the Netherlands-based TNT Post and the British private equity investor CVC Capital Partners. Deutsche Post, which is already present in the United Kingdom with DHL, is not expected to have difficulties financing the acquisition, which is estimated to be worth about EUR3bn.
At a meeting of all employees, personnel at DWS learned on Friday that this year, 50 jobs will be cut in fund and product management and in sales, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. With the layoffs at the other asset management arm of Deutsche Bank, DB Advisors, a total of 75 jobs will be lost.
The Sunday Times reports that the American alternative management firm QVT (USD8.8bn), which has taken over the British management firm Principle Capital Investment Trust (PCIT) has asked the firm to investigate an acquisition of shares in Principle Capital Holdings (PCH) in July and August 2008 for GBP3.2m. The acquisitions were ordered by the former, ousted CEO, Brian Myerson, who is also the largest shareholder in PCH. The acquisition was made at 193.5 pence per share in PCH, but the shares are worth only 17.5 pence now.
By the end of the month, the Sankt-Gallen Cantobank will be the first Swiss cantonal bank to open an office in Germany, in search of high net worth clients (more than EUR500,000), charities, and family offices, as well as heirs who wish to repatriate to Germany the wealth of parents who emigrated to Switzerland, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The chairman of the board, Hans-Jürgen Röwekamp, will be assisted by two board members and six advisors; the firm, with offices in Munich, will seek a banking license in Germany in order to operate as a depository bank and trading platform for asset managers and independent financial advisors.
N+1 Gestión on Friday notified the CNMV that it has decided to liquidate is real estate fund (of the FIL or hedge fund, class) Nmás1 Real Estate, in the wake of redemption demands totalling 30% of assets in the fund. As redemption demands in first quarter represent a further 36%, N+1 Gestión and the depository, Santander Investment, will endeavour to pay 80% of assets to subscribers in the next two weeks, thanks to the high liquidity level of the fund. The remaining 20% will be distributed after properties are sold. According to the most recent monthly statistics from Inverco, the fund had only EUR19m in assets and only 20 subscribers.The manager states that, as of 1 April, management and depository banking commissions will be reduced to 0.85% and 0.10%, respectively.
Three quarters of private equity investors in emerging markets are planning to invest more money in these regions, according to a survey of 156 financial institutions by the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association and Coller Capital, cited by the Financial Times. Brazil, China, and India are the three most popular countries.
Citywire reports that three managers, François Mouté (Neuflize), Edouard Carmignac (Carmignac Gestion) and Christian Cambier (Prigest) estimate that the market is at a turning point. For example, at the beginning of March, Carmignac raised the equities exposure of the flagship Patrimoine fund by 2.2% to a level of 30% currently.