LIQUIDATION OF FUNDS

The current laws applicable to the voluntary liquidation of funds in Luxembourg can be challenging to understand. In order to provide additional guidance on this issue, a webinar was organised by the Luxembourg law society Conférence Saint Yves with the support of Brown Brothers Harriman.

The event included speakers from the Luxembourg financial authority (the CSSF), the law firm Simmons & Simmons and two of the Big Four, namely EY and Deloitte.

Key topics covered by the panel were :

 The head of the liquidation team at the CSSF, Laurence KREDER, provided a detailed outline on the steps to be followed during a liquidation and interactions with the regulator.

 The laws and regulations applicable to a fund liquidation were then outlined by Augustin de LONGEAUX, a partner at Simmons & Simmons Luxembourg.

 Olivier PETER, a director of Deloitte Luxembourg, discussed practical issues such as the termination of agreements, the role of the service providers, and the applicable fees.

 Christophe VANDENDORPE, a partner at EY Luxembourg explained the skills that a liquidator should have and the competition for liquidation mandates in the fund industry.

Many technical questions were then raised by the audience including liquidation fees, reports, tax reclaims, and non-compliant shareholders.

It was noted that the voluntary liquidation of investment funds is not a straightforward process and that additional guidance may be needed from the regulator, the fund indus-try associations, or even the legislator.

The full transcription of the conference is available in the document below.

Liquidation of funds

Article Liquidation (RDPA 2021/11 Legitech, pp. 11-19)