Luxembourg's financial supervisory authority, the Commission de
surveillance du secteur financier (CSSF), has announced that
it is to relax the legal requirements for licences in the finance
industry. The CSSF will abandon its restrictive interpretation of
the relevant Luxembourg legal conditions concerning reference
shareholders known as the actionnaires de référence.
According to articles 2 and 14 of the Banking Act, dated April 5
1993, as amended, no legal person incorporated or established under
Luxembourg law may carry out a banking activity, or any activity in
the finance industry, without having obtained a licence (known as
the agrément écrit) from the minister whose
responsibilities include the CSSF. Banking licences and licences
for those persons (other than banks) active, on a professional
basis, in the finance industry are granted by the Minister of the
Treasury and Budget following a recommendation from the CSSF. To
issue its recommendation, the CSSF has undertaken a thorough
analysis of the application and the compliance of the project with
the relevant provisions of...