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  • Applicable to Support PSFs (Articles 29-1 to 29-6 of the Law of 5 April 1993)
  • Application for year-end accounts on 31/12/2023 and onwards

Circular CSSF 24/850 introduces several new features for Support PSFs:

  • She set up a self-assessment questionnaire annual (in replacement of the RAR);
  • She adapt and simplify the descriptive report (RD);
  • She repeals CSSF circulars 12/544 and 19/727.

On the other hand, this circular Clarify the role and general mission of Approved Company Auditors (REA) in the context of the statutory audit of support PSFs. The new requirements for REAs are described in sections 4 and 5 of the Circular and are not elaborated upon in this article.

How is the content of the self-assessment questionnaire determined?

In application of the’Risk-based approach, the content of the self-assessment questionnaire differs from one support PSF to another.

Concretely, a support PSF, assessed as less risky by the CSSF, will face a simplified self-assessment questionnaire.   

Within this framework, the CSSF has established a rating system to assess the level of risk (low/moderate/high) presented by each financial sector support PSF.

This rating system is based on various criteria, including:

  • The nature of activities requiring authorisation as a support PSF; ;
  • Revenue ;
  • The clientele of the financial sector; and
  • The size of the organisation.

The risk level is communicated by the CSSF to each support PSF at year-end. social exercise and, for the year 2024, before February 19th.

Toutes les thématiques sont abordées dans le questionnaire d'auto-évaluation ?

The self-assessment questionnaire is divided into four themes, allocated as follows:

  1. Aspects related to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
    This theme only concerns PSFs as per Articles 29-3, 29-5 and 29-6.
  2. Operational aspects
    This topic only concerns Support PSFs, articles 29-1 and 29-2.
  3. Cross-cutting aspects (excluding «LBC/FT»)
    All types of Support PSFs are affected by this theme.
  1. Aspects related to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing («AML/CFT Aspect»)
    All types of Support PSFs are affected by this theme.

 

However, based on the risk-based approach detailed previously, the CSSF may allocate or waive different parts of the self-assessment questionnaire for certain PSF Support.

These adaptations are communicated by the CSSF at the close of the financial year and, for the year 2024, before 19 February. In the absence of such communication, the support PSFs are required to comply with the thematic allocation defined above.

What are the changes made to the Descriptive Report (DR)?

  • A simplification and clarifications have been made to the Content Are you RD.
    The new expected content is available in Annex 1 of CSSF Circular 24/850.
  • Changes have been made in terms of Required documents.
    The updated list of expected documents is available in Annex 2 of Circular CSSF 24/850.

What are the requirements for document submission?

The Self-assessment questionnaire must be transmitted within seven months following the close exercise

– On the one hand, via MFT in the original file format made available by the CSSF; ;
– On the other hand, via MFT in PDF format with the digital signature of at least two support PSF managers.

The RD and the expected documents must also be transmitted within a period of seven months following the close exercise in electronic format, preferably with OCR. (The original file format for certain annexes specified in Annex 2 of this Circular is also expected.)

The RD and the expected documents must be provided in two distinct versions: a «track changes» version highlighting all changes from the previous financial year, and a final version, free of annotations.

The transmission of these reports is carried out via the secure MFT system from the CSSF, not forgetting that any document with a handwritten signature must also be communicated to the CSSF on paper.

Useful resources

CSSF Circular 24/850 (link to the CSSF website)

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