Due to Russia's exposure, 41 Luxembourg-domiciled funds have been suspended.

According to Claude Marx, director general of the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, 41 Luxembourg-domiciled funds have been suspended due to their Russia exposure.

On March 22, Marx, who was speaking virtually at a Luxembourg fund industry event, said there were 61 funds with more than 10% exposure to Russia.

Subfunds, SICAVs, and other types of funds are included in the 41 funds, according to the CSSF, "including notably fund set up in a contractual form"

The CSSF, Luxembourg's markets watchdog, confirmed last week (16 March) that it was considering using side pockets to segregate Russian and Belarusian assets that have been suspended due to sanctions.

Several industry bodies representing the Luxembourg fund industry said at the conference that there were daily meetings about the possibility of side-pockets and that they were working as quickly as possible to put measures in place to help firms.

At the conference, Marx also urged attendees to follow sanctions, saying, "very important to make sure that we do not have sanctioned oligarchs investing in funds and if we do have they have to be reported to the Ministry of Finance and the CSSF needs to be copied"

He went on to say that it was extremely important for "all actors in the value chain to play their roles," as it would affect not only their own but also Luxembourg's reputation.

By fLEXI tEAM