Lois et réglementation

Luxembourg financial regulator CSSF today announced that it had found “satisfactory” both market participants’ understanding of the risks of AML/CFT activities and the related mitigation measures that they had put into place, in a recent thematic review of money-laundering or terrorism financing checks by its on-site inspection unit.

Luxembourg financial supervisor CSSF, a long-time ally for Luxembourg’s booming fund industry, is drawing reluctant criticism from some people in the sector over its recently announced initiative to review pricing mechanisms for investment funds. Responding to press questions in this context, the finance ministry signalled that “certain features” of Luxembourg’s fund legislation will be modernised “in the near future”.

The exact arrival dates of the Financial Action Task Force on-site assessors in Luxembourg remain a secret, so expect them to arrive anytime soon. The two weeks these unnamed individuals will spend this month in Luxembourg are just a fraction of the 18-month audit to which Luxembourg’s anti-money laundering rules and practices are currently undergoing. 

Luxembourg‘s financial supervisor on Monday said it has slapped a fine of 10.000 euro on a Luxembourg subsidiary of Russian state-owned gas producer Gazprom because it was late in filing its annual report for last year.

Gaz Capital SA is fully controlled by Gazprom and held more than 13 billion euro in total assets at the end of 2021, trade data from Luxembourg shows. The firm posted its annual accounts to Luxembourg’s business register on 27 July, well beyond the deadline of three months within the close of the year.

La Cour constitutionnelle a annoncé cet après-midi son arrêt tant attendu sur la (non)constitutionnalité de la taxe annuelle sur comptes-titres telle qu’introduite par la loi du 17 février 2021.

Dès la rédaction de la TACT, diverses objections ont pu être soulevées concernant, par exemple, le principe constitutionnel d’égalité, le principe de légalité fiscale, le principe de non-duplication de l’impôt (ne bis in idem) et certains principes du droit européen. 

The UK›s Financial Conduct Authority on Wednesday presented its long-awaited proposal for sustainable investment rules, going a step further than similar rules in the EU and US by suggesting three different sustainability labels for investment funds instead of two. And unlike the EU, the FCA now has proposed a 90% threshold for the most sustainable investment funds.

Dutch investment bank Kempen Capital Management has reclassified three of its sustainability funds to “light green” from “dark green/most sustainable” ahead of increasingly stringent requirements that will take effect from 2023 under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, known as the SFDR.

By agreeing a format that aims to channel more funds towards small and medium-sized companies, the European Union has reached a political agreement that brings the relaunch of European long-term investment funds, a type of investment vehicle known as Eltif, one step closer.

Jean-Paul Servais a été nommé président du conseil d’administration de l’Organisation internationale des commissions de valeurs, ou Iosco, le forum politique international des régulateurs de valeurs mobilières. Il remplace Ashley Alder.

Une mesure budgétaire peu médiatisée impliquant des taxes supplémentaires pour le secteur financier pourrait provoquer une boule de neige de taxes supplémentaires à charge des sociétés d’investissement réglementées belges.

De quelle mesure budgétaire s’agit-il ?
 
Dans le cadre des dernières mesures budgétaires du gouvernement fédéral, il n’y a pas eu particulièrement de mesures fiscales touchant les produits d’investissement.