On 25 November 2019, the CSSF issued its FAQ on persons responsible for AML/CTF compliance for a Luxembourg Investment Fund or Investment Fund Manager supervised by the CSSF.
This FAQ gives the CSSF’s interpretation on the application of article 4(1) of the Law of 12 November 2004 on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, as amended ("AML Law").
The CSSF recalls that every Luxembourg Investment Fund subject to AML/CFT supervision is legally required to appoint, both:
- a "responsable du respect des obligations" ("RR"); and
- a "responsable du contrôle du respect des obligations" ("RC").
The RR can be the board of directors (or other governing body) acting as a collegial body or, alternatively, the board may also appoint one of its members.
The RC shall be mandated in person by the board of directors (or other governing body) of the Fund. The RC may be a board member with appropriate experience or a third party. In case the board appoints a third party, the fund must either enter into a contractual relationship directly with the RC or with the employer of the RC. In principle the RC must be located in Luxembourg, however the CSSF clarifies that on an exceptional basis it is acceptable that the RC is located outside of Luxembourg if the investment fund manager and its relevant staff member acting as RC are not domiciled in Luxembourg.
The CSSF requires that the RR and the RC:
- have sufficient AML/CFT knowledge with regard to the applicable Luxembourg legislation and regulation and can demonstrate this (e.g. trainings) upon request,
- are knowledgeable about the investments and distribution strategies of the fund/about the services offered by the investment fund manager, and
- will be available without delay upon contact by the Luxembourg AML/CFT competent authorities (if the RR is a collegial body, at least one of its members must fulfil this requirement).
In addition the RC needs to have access to all internal documents and systems necessary to perform his/her tasks.
Similar rules apply to any Luxembourg investment fund manager supervised by the CSSF:
- The RC can be the compliance officer at appropriate hierarchical level in charge of AML/CFT aspects for the investment fund manager.
- The RR can be the governing body (e.g. board of directors) in its entirety or one of its members; and
The CSSF clarifies that the above rules are general rules and these may need to be adapted on a case-by-case basis since they do not address all possible scenarios.
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