Supervision

Financial supervision in the European Union has encountered a pressing challenge - a notable disparity in the approaches taken by national financial supervisors when it comes to sanctioning investment funds. As the watchdog of the EU’s financial markets, the European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) has identified this growing divide and is now pushing for measures to foster greater convergence among member states.

Luxembourg life assurance and wealth management company OneLife has been fined 580,000 euro by the country’s insurance supervisor Commissariat aux Assurances (CAA) after “certain failures” were detected in the firm’s anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML-CFT) systems.

Negotiators from the European Council and European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on new rules aimed at enhancing European capital markets and bolstering investor protection within the EU. The deal, reached during the early hours on Thursday, includes consensus on leverage limits and passporting rules for Loan Originating Funds (LOFs), marking a significant milestone in the regulatory landscape.

Luxembourg’s Fuchs & Associés Finance SA is no longer allowed to provide services in Belgium after its Luxembourg licence as a financial services professional was revoked by CSSF, Belgium’s financial markets supervisor FSMA said.

The Luxembourg District Court on Tuesday ordered the dissolution and liquidation of 23-year old investment firm Fuchs & Associés Finance SA and appointed a liquidator and an official receiver. Luxembourg’s financial supervisor CSSF, noting “serious breaches of essential legal and regulatory requirements,” said it has revoked the firm’s authorisation to operate as an investment services provider and has activated the Grand Duchy’s investor compensation scheme.

The world’s top body for the fight against money laundering on Friday said it has found a “high level of technical compliance” with global standards in Luxembourg. The Financial Action Task Force, or FATF still recommended that the Grand Duchy strengthens its measures in certain complex areas, in line with its risk profile as a regional and global financial centre. “Luxembourg has a very good idea of what it needs to do,” said FATF president T. Raja Kumar in response to a question by Investment Officer during a press conference in Paris.

In Europe’s two largest ETF hubs, Luxembourg and Ireland, different rules govern the naming of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). While European rules for ETF naming conventions are determined by Paris-based authority ESMA, the implementation by national supervisors CSSF in Luxembourg and CBI in Ireland diverges, presenting both opportunities and risks for ETF providers.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) on Thursday unveiled its ambitious Data Strategy for the next five years, signalling a commitment to bolstering data-related technologies, slashing compliance costs, and enhancing data accessibility within the European Union’s financial markets.

As global financial hub known for its robust banking and investment industry, Luxembourg is awaiting an upcoming discussion at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on its anti-money laundering (AML) measures. The FATF, the international body responsible for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, will discuss the findings of its latest mutual evaluation assessment of the grand duchy next week in Paris.

Europe’s top financial regulators on Thursday presented a first official definition of greenwashing as part of a common approach for cracking down on greenwashing practices among banks, asset managers and insurance companies, turning up the pressure on an industry that has for a long time been complaining about the lack of clarity of the EU’s sustainable finance regulations.