Tout en se félicitant des «effets globalement positifs» de la directive et de son fonctionnement global en termes d"efficacité et d"efficience, la Commission n"en a pas moins relevé plusieurs éléments «susceptibles d"engendrer des charges inutiles et des coûts injustifiés pour les entreprises et les intermédiaires». D"où le lancement d"une consultation sur le réexamen de l"application de la directive sur les prospectus, qui comporte des propositions d"amélioration et de simplification de cette directive. Il s"agit notamment de la définition des investisseurs qualifiés, de la révision des dérogations à l"obligation de publication, de la révision de l"obligation d"information annuelle, du délai maximal pour l"exercice du droit de retrait ou encore de certains seuils fixés par la directive. La consultation comporte en outre certaines questions qui n"ont pas été incluses à ce stade dans les projets de propositions. La Commission souhaite vivement recueillir des contributions et des suggestions des parties concernées sur ces sujets, entre autres sur l"efficacité du résumé du prospectus, sur les obligations d"information pour les offres comportant des garanties d"État ainsi que les obligations d"information pour les petites sociétés cotées et pour les émissions de droits. Toutes les parties intéressées sont invitées à envoyer leurs commentaires d"ici au 10 mars 2009.

L"Association luxembourgeoise de fonds d"investissement (Alfi) a des liens avec les avocats de la défense d"UBS, la banque impliquée dans le scandale Madoff en Europe. Selon les informations obtenues par Ignites Europe, le président de l"Alfi, Claude Kremer, est partenaire d"Arendt & Medernach, un cabinet d"avocats qui représente la banque suisse pour son rôle dans LuxAlpha, la Sicav luxembourgeoise dont elle est le dépositaire et était le gestionnaire jusqu"en novembre 2008.

Un juge luxembourgeois a gelé certains actifs détenus par UBS pour Luxalpha, l"un des principaux fonds européens investissant chez Bernard Madoff, rapporte le Financial Times. Il s"agirait de la première action judiciaire en Europe liée à la fraude.

Selon La Tribune, la banque pourrait abandonner tout ou partie de l’activité d’assurance à Fortis Holding afin d"obtenir le feu vert des actionnaires minoritaires. Mais d"autres solutions sont aussi à l"étude : «BNP Paribas privilégierait toutefois une seconde option» qui «qui consisterait à ce que la banque prenne 51 % de l’assurance et laisse les 49 % restant au sein de Fortis Holding», poursuit la Tribune.

Henderson Global Investors (HGI, 66,4 milliards d’euros d’encours fin juin 2008) a annoncé lundi avoir recruté pour sa division obligataire une équipe de cinq spécialistes des devises auprès de la banque d’investissement de Fortis. Ces personnes sont subordonnées depuis le 5 janvier à Mitesh Sheth, responsable adjoint du département obligataire, et elles resteront basées à Londres pendant environ six mois avant de rejoindre le bureau de HGI à Amsterdam.Les cinq spécialistes sont Bob Arends, qui était directeur mondial de la gestion des devises de la banque Fortis, Dennis van den Bosch étant directeur de la gestion des devises au sein de la banque Fortis, et Bernd Kraan directeur de la recherche en gestion des devises de la banque Fortis et responsable de la recherche et du développement de modèles et de stratégies de change. Il était assisté par Brieuc de Hults, qui était responsable de la recherche et du développement de modèles et de stratégies de change. Quant à Jill Rootsaert, elle faisait partie de l"équipe de gestion des devises de la banque Fortis où elle était responsable du trading, de la documentation juridique et des ventes pour l"Europe.D’autre part, Henderson précise que ces recrutements interviennent peu après l’acquisition d’une participation minoritaire dans Attunga Capital Pty (le 6 novembre), une société de gestion alternative dont l’encours se situe aux alentours de 150 millions de dollars australiens. La gamme compte trois fonds, dont deux spécialistes du marché de l'électricité et des dérivés connexes (Attunga Enviro Opportunities Fund et Attunga Power & Enviro (Offshore) Fund). Le troisième, le Attunga Agricultural Trading Fund est investi principalement en matières premières agricoles, en dérivés et en valeurs mobilières liées à l’agriculture.

Selon l"Agefi, la CNCE a été autorisée par la Commission bancaire à requalifier en fonds propres durs (core tier one) ses actions de préférence, ce qui lui permettrait de maintenir au-dessus de 8,5% son ratio de solvabilité tier one. «Contactée par L’Agefi, la CNCE confirme qu’elle convoquera à ce sujet une assemblée générale extraordinaire au premier trimestre, pour un effet rétroactif au 31 décembre 2008", précise notamment le quotidien numérique.

Newedge, créé il y a un an par la fusion de Calyon Financial et de Fimat (Société Générale), vient d’obtenir la première place du classement de la revue Futures des 50 principaux courtiers actifs aux Etats-Unis, rapporte Les Echos. Au total, l"entreprise a traité plus de 3 milliards de contrats en 2008. Patrice Blanc, directeur général, estime que Newedge sort renforcé de la crise. #Sur la crise des hedge funds, je tiens à rappeler qu’elle n’a pas frappé toute cette industrie mais seulement les fonds les plus fragiles. Or nous ne sélectionnons que les opérateurs les plus solides. Dans notre activité de prime brokerage, par exemple, qui représente environ 20 % de notre chiffre d’affaires, nous avons adopté un modèle transactionnel#, souligne-t-il.

La société de gestion italienne Anima détenue en partie par Banca Popolare di Milano a accusé des rachats nets totaux de 188,7 millions d"euros en décembre, selon un communiqué de presse publié le 8 janvier. Cela couvre ses fonds de droit italien, la Sicav Anima et le fonds de pension ouvert Anima Orizzonti. A la fin de l"année, ses encours sont tombés à 6,25 milliards d"euros, contre 10,3 milliards d"euros fin 2007.

Selon La Tribune, la banque vient de lancer une augmentation de capital de près de 3 milliards d’euros destinée à renforcer ses fonds propres afin de tirer son tier one de 5,5% à 6,7 %. Toutefois, si cette opération n"est pas souscrite, c"est Mediobanca, qui deviendra le premier actionnaire d’UniCredit avec 6,78 % des parts, précise La Tribune.

According to a Börsen-Zeitung survey, German management firms are planning to prioritise guaranteed funds and other conservative products this year. They are also tempted by corporate bond funds, but recognise that a rise in default rates is to be expected. They are also planning to be prudent in equities products. DWS (Deutsche Bank), DekaBank (savings banks) and Frankfurt Trust (Sal. Oppenheim) are hoping for net subscriptions in 2009. Union Investment (co-operative banks) and Allianz Global Investors (which will absorb Cominvest) are making no predictions on the subject.

Tony Kao, senior managing director and head of global public markets at General Motors Asset Management (GMAM) has been appointed as chief investment officer (CIO), replacing Nancy C. Everett, who will remain as CEO. Pensions & Investments reports. GMAM manages USD110bn in assets for defined-benefit and defined-contribution retirement savings funds at General Motors Corp.

Maktoob Business reports that Deutsche Bank is preparing to launch the Al Mi’yar platform in Luxembourg, which will aim to facilitate issues of Sharia-compliant securities. The fund manager will be Luxembourg Financial Group AG while the trust & securities division of Deutsche Bank will provide the necessary settlement resources. Al Mi’yar aims to make it possible for Islamic investors to achieve their financial objectives using various asset classes, without contradicting the principles of their religion.

The fund management firm for the German savings banks, DekaBank, on Monday announced the launch of the DekaSelect: Nachhaltigkeit fund of funds, which will invest in Deka funds as well as in products from management firms specialised in sustainable development, such as SAM, Swisscanto, Sarasin and Dexia AM. The portfolio will largely consist of shares in funds which in the sustainable development or ethical categories. As a complement, the management team will invest in thematic funds specialised in sustainable development in areas such as environmental technologies, renewable energy, water, and microfinance.The DekaSelect: Nachhaltigkeit fund will be available in two varieties: growth (up to 60% in equities funds) and chance (up to 100%). For the two categories, the front-end fee will total 3.75%. The growth variant carries a management commission of 0.80%, a distribution commission of 0.30%, and a depositary banking commission. These fees are 1%, 0.40%, and 0.10% for the ?chance? variant.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Spanish prosecutor’s office wants to know how Santander could have lost EUR2.3bn of its clients’ money in the Madoff fraud. Anti-corruption officials will investigate the relationships between the bank, Fairfield Greenwich Group, and Madoff’s funds, in order to determine why the chairman of Santander sent one of his top representatives to meet Bernard Madoff in late November. The authorities are also seeking to discover whether the Swiss hedge fund affiliate, Optimal Investment Securities, was aware of problems at Madoff’s funds while it was marketing the products. The third subject of the investigation is the resignation at the end of June of Manuel Echeverría, who was head of Optimal during the time when the management firm forged its ties to Madoff.According to sources close to the bank, about two thirds of the losses at Santander due to Madoff are to the detriment of Latin American clients, especially in Mexico (USD400m), Argentina (USD350m) and Brazil (USD300m).

A Luxembourg judge has frozen some assets held by UBS on behalf of Luxalpha, one of the largest European funds invested in Bernard Madoff, the Financial Times reports. The move marks the first legal action in Europe related to the fraud.

A few hedge funds posted stellar returns last year despite the financial crisis, the Financial Times reports. Among them are Cedar Hill Capital Partners, which is up more than 100%, and the Vicis Gamma fund, which has gained about 90%, according to estimates by funds of hedge funds. Managed futures has been one of the most lucrative strategies of the year.

ETFs of the iShares range from Barclays Global Investors (BGI) in 2008 posted a record volume of net subscriptions of EUR17.8bn, compared with EUR5.8bn for 2007. Worldwide, net redemptions totalled USD89bn, compared with USD70bn.In Europe, four products have posted net subscriptions of over EUR1bn. They are the iShares S&P 500 fund (US equities, EUR2.76bn), FTSE 100 (UK equities, EUR1.89bn), DJ Euro Stoxx 50 (European equities, EUR1.75bn), and the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 (DE), with EUR1.15bn.

The X-Markets platform from Deutsche Bank will soon be offering Platinum funds, whose portfolio will replicate house indices, like the certificates of the same name, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. This formula will prevent the products from competing with the group’s fund management arm, DWS, which practices active fund management. Currently, the Platinum range includes about 100 funds with total assets of over EUR10bn.

Henderson Global Investors (HGI, EUR66.4bn in assets as of the end of June 2008) announced on Monday that it has recruited a team of five currency specialists for its bond division from the investment bank Fortis. Since 5 January, the five employees have been under the supervision of Mitesh Sheth, deputy director of the bond department; they will remain in London for about six months, before joining the HGI office in Amsterdam.The five specialists are Bob Arends, who was global head of currency management at Fortis bank, Dennis van den Bosch, who was director of currency management at Fortis, and Bernd Kraan, director of currencies research at Fortis bank and head of research and development of currency models and strategies. Jill Rootsaert was part of the currency management team at Fortis, where she was head of trading, legal documentation and sales for Europe.Henderson states that the recruitments come shortly after the acquisition of a minority stake in Attunga Capital Pty (on 6 November), an alternative management firm whose assets total about AUD150m. Its product range includes three funds, of which two are specialised in the electricity markets and associated derivatives (Attunga Enviro Opportunities Fund et Attunga Power & Enviro (Offshore) Fund). The third product, the Attunga Agricultural Trading Fund, invests primarily in soft commodities, derivatives, and securities related to agriculture.

Véronique Ormezzano is joining the Financial Institutions Group within the Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) unit at BNP Paribas, where she will be responsible for sovereign funds, central banks, and international organisations. She will lead the corresponding team of FIG bankers, and will be in charge of initiatives in relation to these clients involving several units, professions and geographical areas at the bank, according to a press release. Ormezzano was previously head of the investor relations and financial information (RIIF) team at BNP Paribas CIB; she will be replaced in this position by Béatrice Belorgey, who joined the Investor Relations team in 2005, and has been particularly responsible for relations with sell side analysts, ratings agencies, and financial information.

Hedge funds on the whole have shown considerably less heavy losses in the past year than equities markets. According to Barclay Hedge fund, losses for the 868 funds monitored by the firm which had disclosed results as of 11 January totalled 21.29%. In December, the average perforance was 0.69%. According to Hedge Fund Research (HFR), average losses totalled 18.3% in 2008, while according to Hennessee Group (which monitors about 1,000 funds), losses averaged 19.15%. On Monday evening, Credit Suisse/Tremont announced that, on the basis of 74% of assets monitored regularly by its services, hedge funds posted returns of 0.30% in December, which reduces average losses for the past year to 18.80%.By way of comparison, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average showed respective losses of 38.49% and 33.84%. The CAC 40 fell by 42.6%, while the Dax is down 40.4%.

The Luxembourg investment fund association (ALFI) is linked to the defence lawyers of UBS, the bank implicated in the Madoff scandal in Europe. According to information obtained by Ignites Europe, the chairman of ALFI, Claude Kremer, is a partner at Arendt & Medernach, a law firm which is representing the Swiss bank in a case over its role in LuxAlpha, the Luxembourg Sicav for which it is the depositary, and was the manager until November 2008.

The Italian asset management firm Anima, partly owned by Banca Popolare di Milano, saw total net redemptions of EUR188.7m in December, according to a press statement published on 8 January. This includes Italian-registered funds, the Anima Sicav, and the open-ended pension fund Anima Orizzonti. As of the end of the year, assets were down to EUR6.25bn, compared with EUR10.3bn at the end of 2007.

Investors are deeply divided over plans for Steel Partners to convert its flagship hedge fund, Steel Partners II (USD1.2bn in assets), into an investment holding company, Financial Times Fund Management reports on 12 January. The entity created by the change will be listed on Nasdaq or NYSE. Steel Partners took the decision after suffering heavy redemptions. In October, it received redemption demands amounting to 38% of assets in the fund.

Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch (LODH) has extended its range of funds with a product investing in convertible bonds of Asia excluding Japan. LODH Invest ? Convertible Bond Asia, launched on 15 December and on sale only in Switzerland for the moment, is a Luxembourg Sicav which prioritises high yield bonds of the Asia-Pacific market. ?The reduction of leverage at hedge funds has led to massive sales of financial instruments, provoking a dislocation in some markets, such as convertibles. Their deep deep discount below the value of the bond portion of the asset offers investors in convertible bonds attractive prices, and also presents a particularly attractive return/risk ratio,? a statement points out. The fund carries a management commission of 0.55% per year.

In November, ETFs posted net subscriptions of USD138bn, while long-term funds saw outflows of USD185bn, according to data from Financial Research Corp, cited by the Wall Street Journal. Investors also show a preference for funds with low fees and more stability.

Invesco has announced that it has recruited Nicklas Fornander as head of sales Nordics ex-Finland. He will be in charge of relatinships with clients in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, and will be based in Stockholm. He is leaving Fidelity, where he was relationship director since 2006, in charge of sales and marketing of products aimed at institutional clients; he was also in charge of developing relationships with retail clients.

Julius Baer has recently launched the JB Global Selection Fund, an equities fund which combines the convictions of 20 managers at the Swiss management firm. To construct a common and evenly-weighted portfolio, each manager chooses a favourite share, but also has the option to remain invested in cash. Scilla Huang Sun, director of equities management, is in charge of the maintenance of the portfolio. The fund is domiciled in Luxembourg, and for the moment, is available only in Switzerland.

In 2008, the volume of mergers and acquisitions in the asset management sector represented USD1.610trn in terms of assets under management, an increase of 19% over a figure of USD1.350trn for 2007, Freeman & Co. estimates in its most recent study of mergers and acquisitions in the financial services sector. This is true even though the number of transactions has declined from 239 to 232, since the deals were larger in size. 30 of them involved companies that manage more than USD10bn, an 11% increase over 2007, and a 30% increase over 2006.The number of operations involving alternative managers fell to 60, a decline of 22%, compared with 77 operations in 2007. ?In 2009, weak performance, redemptions and rapid deleveraging of products will force a large number of alternative managers to close or concentrate,? Freeman & Co observes. At the same time, ?concentration in the banking sector may put pressure on pay scales for makers of products which depend on banking networks for their distribution.?

38 management firms that subscribe to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN-PRI), representing total assets of over USD3trn, have sent a message to the CEOs of 130 of the world’s largest publicly traded companies which have signed the United Nations Global Compact. In 25 cases, the message congratulated the executive, since the firm published a good quality annual report on the firm’s social responsibility. Companies in this group include Air France and Starbucks.More than 100 other companies, including Gap, Severn Trent and LVMH, were identified as lagging behind in publishing their reports on social responsibility, and received criticism for this fact.In 2008, 32% of companies who received these letters have since made progress in social responsibility and transparency in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.Among the 38 managers who signed the two groups of letters are Credit Agricole Asset Management Group (France), CalPERS (US), the British investors Co-Op and Aviva Investors, and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.