Fund and corporate services group IQ-EQ has completed the acquisition of US outsourced investment management service provider Constellation Advisers after receiving regulatory approval, saying the deal furthers its strategy to become a comprehensive service provider to alternative asset managers. Last year IQ-EQ purchased Dallas-based Blue River Partners, which provides back office services to alternative funds. Employing 115 professionals in six offices in the US, Constellation provides  customised solutions to traditional and alternative asset managers and family offices for strategies including private equity, real estate, private credit, venture capital and hedge funds.

Fund and corporate service provider TMF Group has completed the acquisition of Luxembourg-based Selectra Management Company from Farad Group after receiving approval from financial regulator, CSSF. Created in 2013 as part of Farad's service delivery platform, Selectra offers management company services to alternative investment funds and UCITS. Amsterdam-headquartered TMF says the acquisition strengthens its market position and will allow it to extend the range of services it offers in Luxembourg.

The public-private association Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Initiative has unveiled its strategy for transitioning the financial sector toward satisfying growing demand for services that meet environmental, social responsibility and governance criteria. The strategy of the initiative, established last year, comprises three pillars of awareness and promotion, unlocking potential, and measuring progress. Created by the government, Luxembourg for Finance and the High Council for Sustainable Development, the non-profit body is responsible for implementing the strategy, helping financial sector participants conduct climate scenario analyses and establishing a monitoring framework to measure progress over time. The initiative will also identify areas for improvement, such as data collection and measurement.

Luxembourg's Finance Ministry and fund association ALFI have rejected Greenpeace's criticism of the carbon footprint of the country's investment fund industry, saying that the pressure group has misunderstood the role that authorities can play in achieving climate objectives. They argue that a report by Greenpeace that claimed just 4% of the industry's assets were sustainable focused unduly on equity funds, and that the authors ignored the impact of a changing EU regulatory framework and initiatives such as the LuxFlag fund sustainability labelling agency.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pension Authority has approved the compromise on the key information document for packaged retail investment and insurance-based products previously agreed by the EU's two other regulators, the European Securities and Markets Authority and European Banking Authority, last July. The EIOPA board approved the measure with a qualified majority just ahead of a deadline set in December by European commissioner Mairead McGuinness to resolve the issue, which has delayed changes to the PRIIPs rules for six months. The compromise maintains the focus on future scenarios but allows providers to refer potential investors to historical information on their websites.

The UK is looking to compete with Luxembourg and Ireland as it launches a consultation on easing taxation of asset holding companies used by alternative investment funds. The document says the UK's tax rules create a barrier to asset vehicles, especially capital gains tax, which is more favourable in other jurisdictions. London has been losing ground to other European financial locations since the Brexit referendum.

Legislation creating the investment limited partnership structure for private equity, infrastructure and sustainable energy projects should help lift international assets in Irish-domiciled funds by more than 50% by 2025, to more than €5trn, according to industry group Irish Funds. It also expects the industry's workforce to increase by 25% to 20,000. Ireland has become the second-largest domicile for investment funds in the EU and the third-largest in the world, behind the US and Luxembourg.

The European Securities and Markets Authority is investigating whether fund management firms are charging excessive fees as part of its efforts to enhance investor protection. The EU regulator will work with national supervisors over the course of this year to examine whether guidelines regarding charges in the Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities regime are being followed.

Tioga Capital Partners, a Belgian venture capital firm focused on blockchain technology, has concluded a first fundraising round of $17m for its Luxembourg-domiciled blockchain fund Tioga Capital. The fund has received investment from several Belgian family offices, independent technology investors and the Regional Investment Company of Wallonia. A second, larger fundraising round will be conducted later in the year.

Umbrella fund LFP I is suing the CSSF in Luxembourg's commercial court for gross negligence, seeking nearly €100m in damages to compensate investors for losses from the Aventor, Blackstar Commodities, Columna Commodities and Equity Power sub-funds, which the suit describes as Ponzi schemes. The case, brought by the umbrella fund's board before it was voted out by shareholders last month, claims that the CSSF denied the former directors access to key documentation such as bank records and past correspondence between the fund and the regulator. Lawyer Albert Rodesch, representing the CSSF, says the action is inadmissible in its form and merely a publicity stunt.