News

New dimension in fund servicing in Luxembourg: Mercuria Services S.A. & The Directors' Office S.A. merge to form MDO Services S.A

The Boards of Mercuria Services S.A. & The Directors’ Office S.A. are delighted to
announce the upcoming merger of their companies to create a single entity called
MDO Services S.A. The shares of the new company will represent a 50:50 allocation between Mercuria Services S.A. and The Directors’ Office S.A.’s existing shareholders.
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New Associate & New Risk Managers join The Directors' Office

The Group of The Directors’ Office is delighted to welcome Hanna Duer who joins us as Associate of our firm in May 2008.
The Directors’ Office is pleased to welcome Cecilia Lazzari and Riccardo del Tufo who join us as Risk
Managers strengthening our established team of risk professionals
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€2.6 billion AUM capacity for TDO Management Company S.A.

The Group of The Directors’ Office is delighted to announce recent capital increases to both companies in the Group. The current capital of The Directors’ Office now amounts to €1,444,000 and for The Directors’ Office’s sister company, TDO Management Company S.A. capital now amounts to €600,000. Both companies remain wholly owned by the Associates, Management and Staff of The Directors’ Office thus ensuring optimal alignment of interest between the companies and their stakeholders.

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Conference The Directors' Office - ALGAFI - PRIM: "The capital markets & the recent market turmoil. The causes, consequences, proposals for better market governance.

The Directors '' Office, ALGAFI, and PRiM are pleased to invite you to a conference which will be held on Monday, 18th February 2008 at 12:00 at the Fortis Banque Espace Royal – Monterey.

The topic of this conference will be: The capital markets and the recent market turmoil. The causes, the consequences, proposals for better market governance.

The speaker of the conference will be: René Karsenti, Executive Director of ICMA and previously Director General of Finance at the European Investment Bank. The conference will be followed by a short discussion with a panel of local experts and a stand-up lunch.

The conference will be held in English language. Please confirm your attendance by email to: katharina.maxheim@foyerpatrimonium.com.
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New Associates & New Risk Manager join The Directors’ Office

The Group of The Directors’ Office is delighted to welcome Richard Goddard and
Bernard Herman who join us as Associates of our firm in September 2007.

The Directors’ Office is pleased to welcome Francesca Gigli who joins us as Risk
Manager strengthening our established team of risk professionals.
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News from the Group The Directors' Office - CSSF issues Circular 07/308 on Risk Management & the Uses of Derivatives

On 2nd August 2007 the CSSF issued a key circular on financial risk management and the use of derivative instruments by UCITS.  The Circular, which expands upon, clarifies and replaces Circular 05/176, is to be implemented by all UCITS vehicles by the end of this year at the latest.  The full text can be found at the following url:

http://www.cssf.lu/index.php?id=23&tx_ttnews[cat]=44&cHash=4ff20227ec&L=1

At the moment the circular is available only in French.  We expect that an English version will be published on the CSSF website in the coming days.

Some key points to note are as follows:

• The Circular’s risk management requirements differ depending on whether a fund qualifies as a sophisticated or non-sophisticated UCITS. 
• The decision of whether to classify a fund as sophisticated or not rests with the Board of Directors, however, the classification of sophisticated or unsophisticated is subject to the assessment and approval of the CSSF.
• The Circular gives guidance that the decision process is to be principles based.  We believe that, bearing in mind the additional cost of running risk management tools for sophisticated funds, effective “cost-benefit” analysis and sound business judgement must be exercised at board level.
• Item III.1.1. of the circular states that:

• Un OPCVM sophistiqué est un OPCVM faisant largement appel aux instruments financiers dérivés et/ou recourant à des stratégies ou instruments plus complexes.
• Translation by TDO:  A sophisticated UCITS is a UCITS making extensive use of derivatives and/or other complex strategies or financial instruments.
• Un OPCVM non sophistiqué est un OPCVM ayant des positions sur instruments financiers dérivés plus faibles et moins complexes ou recourant à des instruments financiers dérivés utilisés exclusivement à des fins de couverture.
• Translation by TDO:  An unsophisticated UCITS is a UCITS occasionally using simple derivative instruments or using them only for hedging purposes. 

• The technical requirements of the risk management for sophisticated funds, including subtle differences between frequencies of calculation and of control, are flexible and are well within current market practices.
• Delegation of the financial risk measurement and management function is permitted, but responsibility remains with the Board and the conducting persons.  There must be segregation between the risk management function and the investment management function.
• The risk management process, including details of delegations, must be described in detail in writing to the CSSF and must be kept current.

We hope that the above information is useful to you and if you require further information, please do not hesitate to contact our Associates (contact details click here) who will be more than pleased to assist you.

Patrick Zurstrassen has been elected to the Executive Committee of the Association Luxembourgeoise des Fonds d'Investissement (ALFI)

The Directors’ Office is pleased to announce that our Chairman, Patrick Zurstrassen, has been elected to the Executive Committee of the Association Luxembourgeoise des Fonds d’Investissement (ALFI). 

ALFI, the official representative body for the Luxembourg investment fund industry, leads industry efforts to make Luxembourg the most attractive international centre for investment funds.  Within ALFI the Executive Committee’s role is to co-ordinate and to supervise the work of the various technical committees, sub-committees and working groups. 

The Directors’ Office co-sponsors of the ALFI Luxembourg Fund Industry Seminar

The Directors’ Office is pleased to announce that we are co-sponsors of the ALFI Luxembourg Fund Industry Seminar. The seminar will be held on Friday 29th June 2007 at the Savoy Place in London.

The seminar will include an overview of the Luxembourg Fund Industry, a presentation on global distribution of sophisticated UCITS and an update on the new specialised investment funds and alternative products. There will also be presentations on the Luxembourg microfinance label (LuxFlag). The seminar starts at 08.30 and finishes with a reception from 12.30. There is no charge for entry.

Britta Borneff and Kate Loretto of The Directors’ Office will be attending the seminar and look forward to welcoming you to our stand.

Invitation & Programme

The Directors' Office launches its sister company – TDO Management Company SA

The Directors’ Office is proud to announce the launch of its sister company – TDO Management Company SAwhich was incorporated on 4th May 2007 and complies with Chapter 13 of the Luxembourg law of December 20th, 2002. TDO Management Company is wholly owned by the shareholders of The Directors’ Office.

With the launch of TDO Management Company the service offering of The Directors’ Office group of companies now covers the whole range of UCITS III substance solutions from UCITS Infrastructure, Directorships and Conducting Persons, Domiciliation to Third Party Management Company services.

To learn more about the different substance solutions now offered by The Directors’ Office group of companies and to see how we could best meet your needs please contact either Britta Borneff on (+352) 26 86 77 21 (britta.borneff@thedirectorsoffice.com)

06/2007 - Britta Borneff, new Sales and Marketing Manager at The Directors’ Office

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Britta Borneff as Sales and Marketing Manager at The Directors’ Office.

Britta joins us from Schroders where she most recently held the post of Client Support Manager supporting complex cross border investment products in the German and Austrian markets. Prior to that she headed up Schroders Luxembourg based Marketing Support team.

Britta, a German national, is fluent in German, French, English and Dutch. She can be contacted on +352 26 86 77 21 or by e-mail at britta.borneff@thedirectorsoffice.com.

02/2007 - Marc DeLeye, new associate for The Directors' Office

The Directors’ Office is delighted to welcome Marc DeLeye who joins us as an Associate of our firm in February 2007.

Marc is a Belgian citizen whose career in the financial industry spans nearly forty years. He has in depth experience in Luxembourg where he has been working in fund operations for the past 25 years.

Before joining us, Marc was one of the Conducting Persons for Lloyds TSB Bank plc Luxembourg. In this role he over saw all aspects of the Lloyds TSB Bank’s investment funds and was responsible for overseeing the launch, merger and closures of several funds and investment companies.

Monday, 12th February 2007, The Directors' Office now offers company domiciliation, set up and management services.

Companies and shareholders in Europe are demanding increasingly high standards of governance. We, at The Directors’ Office, have a unique model that has proven itself robust and adaptable which combined with our experience means we are uniquely positioned to meet this demand.

We are therefore pleased to announce the recent approval from the Ministry of Finance to our application to expand our business licence to include company domiciliation services. We are now fully authorised to perform company domiciliation services (domiciliataire de sociétés) and company set up and management services (professionnel effectuant des services de constitution et de gestion de sociétés).

We will be providing domiciliation services to institutions looking for high level governance services such as management committees, investment committees, in addition to the classical company secretarial services and duties. In doing this we aim to offer a service that could be described as “Domiciliation Plus” moving beyond the statutory requirements to provide our clients with the tailored services they require.

On Friday 16th November the European Commission published the long awaited "White Paper on Enhancing the Single Market Framework for Investment Funds" outlining their vision for modernising the EU investment fund market.

This link (http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/securities/ucits/index_en.htm) will take you to the full text of the White Paper, an executive summary of impact assessment and the full text of the impact assessment. There are also two studies contracted by the Commission on the potential cost savings in a fully integrated European investment fund market and current trends in the European asset management industry.

This is an exciting event for the European fund industry which we will be following closely and will be keeping you informed.

The Directors’ Office is delighted to announce the arrival of our new Chief Executive Officer, Daniela Klasén-Martin

Daniela, who holds dual Italian and Swedish nationality, has a wide breadth of experience in Europe gained over the course of a career that started in 1992. She has worked in Stockholm and Paris and moved to Luxembourg in 1997 to work for Schroders. She joins us from Schroders where she was Head of Finance. Amongst her achievements at Schroders she created the Finance department setting up the necessary systems, relationships and processes. Daniela is active in the financial market place in Luxembourg and chairs ALFI’s Total Expense Ratio working group.
Daniela is a graduate of the Linkoping’s Business School in Sweden and also studied at the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Nantes, France. She is fluent in English, French, Italian and Swedish.

New associate joins The Directors’ Office

The Directors’ Office is delighted to welcome Arnaud Dubois who joined us as an Associate
of our firm in February 2006. Arnaud Dubois is a senior banking professional with over 30 years
experience with Crédit Commercial de France, now part of HSBC Group. After managing its
Luxembourg subsidiary, he spent several years working in Asia where he played a key role
in setting up the Tokyo branch. Arnaud Dubois has a proven track record in fund administration,
treasury, private banking and tax planning. He has also acted an independent Director of
Luxembourg registered funds for the past two years.