LVMH withdraws holdings from Belgium

The LVMH group recently decided to move its holdings previously based in Belgium to France, according to information revealed by the media outlet La Lettre. This decision puts an end to a period of tax optimisation that had attracted the attention of the French authorities.

In 2019, Belgium hosted 81 percent of the shares of Bernard Arnault's group, according to the Belgian media L'Echo. The Belgian companies concerned via a stake in the Arnault Group (which controls LVMH) were called Pilinvest Participations, Pilinvest Investissements and Belholding Belgium. According to the same source, the company LVMH Finance Belgique acted as a bank for LVMH companies worldwide, collecting cash and granting credits from Belgium.

This tax scheme had attracted the attention of the French tax authorities for several years, but in 2024, the latter finally gave up on pursuing legal proceedings for tax fraud against the luxury giant. The administration then opted for a "tax partnership".

According to the media outlet La Lettre, "the luxury group now manages its internal bank with assets of 28 billion euros from Paris."

Today, LVMH Group Treasury is the Paris-based entity responsible for the centralised financial management of the LVMH Group and is wholly owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE.