»05-07.07.2012: ILA/Université de Luxembourg - Seminar: "THE ESSENTIALS – LUXEMBOURG" - Chambre de Commerce, Luxembourg

This two and half day seminar will cover the major and regulatory features specific to the Luxembourg international business environment. This program will cover the different aspects of Director's responsibilities into the specific Luxembourg context.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the program is to guide participants in acquiring the essential ability to perform the function of Director in the most efficient manner.

WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR? This course is dedicated to company directors, board members or highest authority in the management of a company involved in corporate governance matters.

THE PARTNERS: This new program is developed by the Luxembourg Institute of Directors (ILA) in close cooperation with Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance of the University of Luxembourg

Program & Registration

»14.06.2012: ILA/Remuneration Committee - Seminar: "Workshop on Remuneration Policies" - Chambre de Commerce, Luxembourg

This interactive workshop is dedicated to HR Managers or Compensation & Benefits Managers of companies concerned by directives and circulars (such as CRD III or CSSF 10/496). Each participant will have the opportunity to share experience and best practices on key topics.

This new program will be run by highly qualified professors from the University of Luxembourg, enhanced by the participation of external speakers from the marketplace. It is designed to guide participants in acquiring the essential abilities to perform the function of Director in the most efficient manner in the international business environment in Luxembourg.

This program is dedicated to company directors, board members or highest authority in the management of a company involved in corporate governance matters. This seminar is one of the major modules of the basic training program for directors. In case of interest regarding the basic training program for directors, feel free to visit our website www.ila.lu or to contact Véronique Vansaen (v.vansaen@ila.lu).

Program & Registration

»25.04.2012: ILA supported financially the publication of Jan Jaap Hazenberg: "Investment Fund Governance: An empirical investigation of Luxembourg UCITS"

Dr. Hazenberg’s dissertation is an analysis of the relationship between governance characteristics of funds and their costs and performance, using a sample of Luxembourg UCITS funds. Investment funds potentially suffer from the conflict of interest between investors and fund management companies. Fund boards could help mitigate this conflict. The main distinction made in the study is between dependent board members, who work for the promoter, and independent board members. In Luxembourg, the second largest fund domicile globally, fund boards are not required to have independent board members. Nevertheless, many Luxembourg promoters have independent board members on their fund boards.

The sample used for the study consists of the flagship umbrella funds of the 48 main cross-border promoters. Among the Anglo-Saxon promoters, it is more common to have boards with independent board members than among continental European promoters. Furthermore, in the research period (2000-2009), the Anglo-Saxon promoters have developed towards more independence, whereas the opposite is true for the continental European promoters.

The study combines a purely quantitative approach with a survey among board members of these funds. The quantitative analysis did not provide consistent evidence that more independent governance contributes positively to investment performance or that it leads to lower costs. In line with this finding, the survey revealed that fund boards, whether they have independent board members or not, focus on compliance aspects and risk management and give lower priority to investment performance and costs. Both for the level of costs and performance, whether or not the promoter had affiliated distribution in the group seems to be a more important driver than the composition of the fund board.

The structure of the 300-page dissertation is as follows :

• Chapter 1 provides the central research question and relevant background information.
• Chapter 2 is dedicated to the legal and regulatory framework in which investment funds operate, as well as to various codes of conduct published by industry associations.
• Chapter 3 analyses earlier empirical studies into the effectiveness of governance by fund boards. Most of these studies analyse data with respect to funds domiciled and offered in the U.S.
• Chapters 4 through 7 are dedicated to the analysis of fund governance using the sample of Luxembourg-domiciled funds. Chapter 4 uses descriptive statistics to investigate the sample from various angles, including how (independent) governance developed in the period from 2000 to 2009.
• Chapter 5 is to establish whether board characteristics explain variation in fund costs, for which a multiple regression analysis is used.
• Chapter 6 is dedicated to the relationship between governance and performance.
• Chapter 7, the results of a survey among board members of Luxembourg cross-border funds are presented, which consisted of questions related to funds governance, board independence, costs and performance. The goal of the survey was to gain more insight into the influence of boards on costs and performance in order to substantiate any quantitative relationships found in chapter 5 and 6.

In case of interest, the price is of EUR 30 TTC for ILA member. Please contact Cristina Sampaio - +352 26 00 21 488 or c.sampaio@ila.lu

» 29.03.2012: ILA/Corporate Secretary Committee - Breakfast Briefing: "Technology for Company Secretary" - Chambre de Commerce, Luxembourg

The Conference aims to introduce a selection of technology solutions to those responsible for corporate governance activities, especially in relation to Board meeting functioning and support; and should prove of interest to both directors and corporate secretarial officers, with opportunities for you to present your thoughts or questions, and meet personally with the solution providers.
The ILA Company Secretary Group seeks to help the development of the Luxembourg corporate governance framework by assisting those professionals in Board support roles to better support and manage Boards through networking, education and other events.

Program & Registration .