The CSSF annual report showed that €1,330,950 in fines were imposed by the CSSF in 2016, suggesting a stabilisation compared to €1,335,000 in 2015.

However, the tally increased sharply from 2014 to 2015 and the CSSF said that “the amount of fines is likely to increase in the coming years because of the entry into force of certain laws […] transposing EU law”.

While the majority of the fines imposed are around 2,000 euros, the financial district watchdog issued two fines totalling €125,000 for "market abuse" and another of €140,000 against a credit institution for “serious breaches of governance and the management of interest rate risk relating to the banking book”.

The CSSF reported that it filed three complaints with the Public Prosecutor's Office “for the unlawful exercise of banking activities by unauthorised entities”.

In the report preface, CSSF director general Claude Marx sent a strong message to professionals of Luxembourg’s financial centre:

“These investigations, which continued in 2017, show that the CSSF remains vigilant so that tax risks are not replaced by a risk of using the financial centre for criminal purposes and ensures that monitored entities do not take risks in order to maintain their income levels in a difficult external environment.”

He went on to say: “the CSSF will be intractable in this area and will not hesitate to heavily punish offenders. The reputation of the entire financial centre and of the country is at stake.”

In order to successfully fulfil its supervisory role, the CSSF continued its sustained hiring policy in 2016 and 2017. It recruited 72 additional agents in 2016, notably in the “areas of authorisations and controls of management companies, and on-the-spot checks”.