There are more than 20 financial institutions ready and willing to provide a bank account to alternative investment funds, asset management professionals have heard at an industry conference.
, secretary general of the Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL), commented on bank accounts for private market funds during the “Innovating the private assets servicing lifecycle” panel at the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry’s Private Assets Conference on Wednesday.
Investment (and other ) have long complained about difficulties and delays in opening bank accounts. Banks point to strict anti-money laundering and know-your-customer rules which requires a big investment of time and money by banks’ compliance departments. This is particularly true for private asset funds, who may have specific or unique strategies and structures that require specialist skills to fully evaluate. This potentially make such accounts less profitable for banks, industry executives have commented.
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In response, the ABBL polled its members and created a list of financial service providers open to onboarding private asset funds, Seillès said during the Alfi conference.
The list featured 19 banks and 2 payment institutions authorised in Luxembourg and can be accessed on the . The list is geared towards private market funds and not Ucits retail funds. (There are separate lists of banks for fintech firms and small and medium sized enterprises, also posted on the ABBL website.)
Speaking on the same panel, , president of the Luxembourg Alternative Administrators Association (L3A), pointed to the , which aims to shepherd the launch of mutualised KYC services, as an initiative that could eventually ease pressure on banks and alternative investment funds.
Yulia Martin, conducting officer at Ocorian Fund Management, a fund administration provider, said that her firm had a “dedicated team to liaise with banks” which ensures that requirements are well understood and account opening applications continually move forward.
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Figuring on the ABBL’s list from October 2023 were Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, Banking Circle, Bank of America, Banque Degorof Petercam, Barclays Bank, BGL BNP Paribas, Brown Brothers Harrisman, Citco Bank, Citibank, Creand Wealth & Securities, European Depository Bank, FIS Privatbank, Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe Privatbank, HSBC, ICBC, RBS International, Société Générale Luxembourg and VP Bank, as well as the payment institutions 3S Money and Alpha FX.
An ABBL spokesperson separately told Delano that Spuerkeess was likewise “active in the AIF business.”
Updated 30 November at 12noon to include Spuerkeess