41 Luxembourg-domiciled funds are suspended due to their Russia exposure, Claude Marx, director general of the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier said at the European Asset Management Conference.

Marx, who was speaking virtually at the association of Luxembourg fund industry event on 22 March, noted there were 61 funds that had over 10% exposure to Russia.

The CSSF later clarified the 41 funds includes subfunds, SICAVs and other types of funds "including notably fund set up in a contractual form".

Last week (16 March) the CSSF, Luxembourg's markets watchdog, confirmed it was considering the use of side pockets, which would segregate Russian and Belarusian assets that are suspended due to sanctions.

At the conference several industry bodies representing the Luxembourg fund industry noted there were daily meetings about the possibility of side-pockets and said they were working as fast as possible to bring out measures to assist firms.

At the conference Marx also made a plea to attendees to ensure that they were adhering to sanctions and said it was "very important to make sure that we do not have sanctioned oligarchs investing in funds and if we do have they have to be reported to the Ministry of Finance and the CSSF needs to be copied".

He added that it was "very important that all actors in the value chain play their roles" as it would have an impact on not just their own reputation but also the Luxembourg's.