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On 1 January 2012, Denmark will take up the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, following on from Poland. The Luxembourg Stock Exchange looks forward to the Danish presidency in view of the relations that have linked it with operators in the Danish financial sector over a long period and at various levels. In addition, many financial sector professionals and entities from Denmark have settled in Luxembourg, contributing to the increased influence of the Luxembourg financial centre.
Bond issues listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange that originate from Denmark represent a total of 147 lines, of which ten are government bonds. Denmark figures in the top ten European Union sovereign issuers on the official list of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Among the instruments listed from Danish issuers, there are a number that are denominated in Danish Krone.
Danish securities have been listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange for almost fifty years. The first Danish bond, a loan for the Kingdom of Denmark was admitted to the official list in 1963. This was followed that same year by a bond for the City of Copenhagen, and then in 1964 by a bond issued by Mortgage Bank of Denmark, listed as Banque Hypothécaire du Danemark. Today, the main Danish issuers on the Luxembourg market include the banks Danske Bank and Finance for Danish Industry, as well as the Carlsberg Breweries group.
In total, for all issuers and currencies combined, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange currently lists 196 securities of Danish origin, including 10 investment funds.
In this regard, Finesti, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange subsidiary specialising in the dissemination of investment fund information, collaborates with the Danish company FundConnect under the framework of the European initiative the European Fund Classification (EFC). Since 2009, Finesti and FundConnect have been in an operational partnership under this initiative. Conceived by the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA), the EFC is aimed at improving market transparency by providing fund classifications. At present, some 14,600 share classes and 5,800 funds have been analysed and classified on a pan-European basis.
Finesti also collects and disseminates data on Danish investment funds, including information on 170 share classes of funds of Danish promoters, the most active of which is Danske Invest Management. The total volume of assets managed by all these Danish funds is some 38.5 billion euros.
Finally, it is important to mention the presence in Luxembourg of the company VP Lux, a subsidiary of VP Securities established in Denmark, with which the Luxembourg Stock Exchange is in regular contact. Like its parent company, VP Lux plays a leading role in custody and clearing services and also provides investor relations support. By using the services of VP Lux, Danish banks can issue bonds in euros and thus have the possibility of refinancing with the European Central Bank. By way of example, in 2011 the bank Nykredit Bank A/S used this mechanism to launch a 5 billion euro programme, also listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
