- Antoine Deltour will launch a second appeal against his LuxLeaks conviction. A Luxemburg appeals court reduced the sentence of the former PwC employee in March. But on Wednesday Deltour told Paperjam that he would live “eternally with regret” if he did not further challenge “being judged on the facts [entered into evidence] that do not correspond with the truth”.
- Pierre Gramegna has expressed support for Claude Marx, managing director of the financial regulator CSSF, whose named figured in the Panama Papers. In response to a parliamentary question, Gramegna, the finance minister, stated that Marx’s contact with the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca was strictly part of this “professional activities” when he was deputy CEO of HSBC Private Bank in Luxembourg.
- 130 out of 162 employees at Unicredit Luxembourg will be made redundant when the banking unit shuts down at the end of next year. An official at the trade union Aleba said 19 staff will be transferred to Milan and 13 have agreed to early retirement.
- Net profits rose 4.5% at BCEE, the state savings bank, between 2015 and 2016. Net profits were €240.5m last year, up 120% compared to 10 years ago.
- Reform of the state’s long-term care insurance scheme will be delayed by at least one year. The bill introduced in June 2016 by Romain Schneider, the LSAP social security minister, was meant to take effect on 1 January 2017. However, parliamentary commission papers now refer to 1 January 2018. Under current rules, the system is expected to be insolvent in 2020.
Antoine Deltour (centre) is seen entering the central courthouse complex in Luxembourg City before an appeals hearing in the LuxLeaks case on 12 December 2016 Marion Dessard