Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier
| CSSF | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | June 1, 1998 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Luxembourg |
| Headquarters | Luxembourg |
| Employees | 406 (December 31, 2011) |
| Agency executive |
|
| Website | www.cssf.lu |
The Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) is responsible for the financial regulation in Luxembourg.[1] The CSSF is responsible for the supervision of credit institutions, experts in the financial sector, investment companies, pension funds, regulated securities markets and their operators, multilateral trading facilities and payment institutions. The CSSF is the competent authority for the public auditor oversight.
History
The CSSF took over the duties of the former Commissariat aux Bourses and of the Institut Monétaire Luxembourgeois (IML), which on 1 June 1998, became the Banque centrale du Luxembourg (BCL).[2]
Structure
Beside the board the CSSF consists of:[3]
- Board Secretariat
- Secretariat
- Law Department
- Department of Human Resources, Administration and Finance
- Department of Information Systems
and ten departments, including 8 are responsible for the supervision of the financial sector, a section for general supervision and control of the Department of the profession:
- General Supervision
- Supervision of UCI
- Supervision of Management Companies of UCI
- Supervision of banks
- Supervision of investment firms
- Specialised care of PFS
- Information Systems and Supervision of Support PFS
- Supervision of pension funds, and securitization SICAR organisms
- Monitoring of the securities markets
- Public Auditor Oversight
- Investor Protection
Responsibilities
Supervision
The CSSF supervision of the financial sector aims at the following:[4]
- Promotion of a considered and prudent business policy in accordance with regulatory requirements
- Protect the financial stability of the regulated entities and the financial sector as a whole
- Monitoring the quality of the organization and internal control systems
- Strengthening the quality of risk management
The CSSF monitors all financial activities in Luxembourg, which require the approval of the Minister responsible for the CSSF. It is only in the public interest, ensure that the laws and ordinances are enforced on the financial sector and respected and that international conventions and EU directives in the areas under their responsibility to be implemented. The CSSF is authorized to require all necessary information to perform their duties of companies under its supervision. The CSSFübernimmt at Community and international level negotiations on the financial sector and coordinate the implementation of government initiatives and measures about an orderly expansion of the activities of the financial sector.
Public auditor oversight
The CSSF is the public auditor oversight. In this regard, the CSSF is thus responsible for the granting of the professional qualifications of the "Independent Auditor" (auditors) and "cabinet de Revision" (audit) for the approval and registration of statutory auditors and audit firms. The CSSF is also responsible for the implementation of auditing standards and professional ethics standards and internal quality control of audit firms and approved for continuing education.
Investor protection
The CSSF is directly responsible for investor protection related queries. As part of the FIN-NET programme, the CSSF is the sole recourse for investors who seek compensation or complaints handling. Unlike some jurisdictions, there is no separate or independent ombudsman. There have been a number of high-profile cases, including Madoff, where the CSSF's ability to enforce customer complaints has come into question. To date, the general response has been unsatisfactory and there are increasing concerns over the capabilities of the CSSF to carry out their duties effectively.[5]