Article 53, and what it actually allows

The inventory of supervisory and investigatory powers, read one clause at a time, including the one that lets the supervisor commission work about you and send you the bill.

2:40 Open to everyone Module 1. Where the powers come from

Lesson 2 of 3

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Article 53 of the 1993 Law is the inventory of supervisory and investigatory powers. It is worth knowing in outline, because the difference between a request you must satisfy and a request you may question depends on which power is being exercised. The CSSF may have access to any document in any form and take a copy of it. It may require information from any person and, where necessary, summon that person to obtain it.

It may carry out on-site inspections. It may require existing recordings of telephone conversations and electronic communications. It may require the cessation of any practice contrary to the rules. Then the heavier ones. It may request the freezing or sequestration of assets, and note the wording: request, from the President of the district court.

It may impose a temporary prohibition of professional activity. It may require the removal of a natural person from the management board. It may refer information to the State Prosecutor. And it may require auditors or experts to carry out verifications on the spot, which are carried out at the expense of the person concerned. That last clause is worth pausing on, because it is a real cost.

The supervisor can commission work about you and send you the bill. Article 53 also lets the CSSF require information at recurring intervals in specified formats, and it reaches third parties to whom you have outsourced functions, including information technology providers. Your delegate's records are within reach. Two things this article does not give it, and both matter.

Telecommunications traffic data requires the prior authorisation of the investigating judge, who must verify that the request is justified and proportionate. And every decision the CSSF takes in the exercise of these powers must state the reasons on which it is based. A reasoned decision is not a courtesy. It is what makes a decision reviewable, and everything in Module 4 about appeal depends on it.

This is lesson 1.2 of CSSF Readiness The rest of the course is what happens when the supervisor turns to you: article 53, the injunction, the inspection, the observation letter, the appeal, and the four working artefacts. Enrol now

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Sources for this lesson

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Article 53 of the Law of 5 April 1993, paragraphs 1 to 4. Read the consolidated text: the expert verification clause, the reach to outsourced providers, the investigating judge for traffic data and the duty to state reasons all sit in the same article.

Law of 5 April 1993 on the financial sector Consolidated version published by the CSSF. Article 53 carries the supervisory and investigatory powers, including the duty to state reasons in paragraph 4, article 59 the injunction and suspension powers, article 63 and its lettered articles the sanctions, the coercive fine, publication and the right of appeal, article 63-4 the factors taken into account in setting a penalty, and article 64-2 the reporting of certain sanctions to the European Banking Authority https://www.cssf.lu/en/Document/law-of-5-april-1993/
Law of 5 April 1993 on the financial sector, consolidated English text The consolidated text as a PDF, which is the version to read article 53 from https://www.cssf.lu/wp-content/uploads/L_050493_lfs.pdf

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Content written from the primary sources. Each instrument carries its own verification date in the source register. Content version: 25 September 2026

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