The CSSF will look back on its 75 years of existence on Tuesday 20 October by presenting a book and a documentary. Maison Moderne

The CSSF will look back on its 75 years of existence on Tuesday 20 October by presenting a book and a documentary.  Maison Moderne

It may seem that many of the regulations in the financial sector have been a result of the post-2008 crisis, but that’s far from the case. 

Two original productions from the CSSF, Luxembourg's financial watchdog, serve as a reminder that facets of financial supervision in the grand duchy have a long history, dating back to 1945 with the setting up of the Commissaire au contrôle des banques, the banking supervision commission, which in 1983 became the Institut monétaire Luxembourgeois (IML). The IML later was succeeded by the Luxembourg Central Bank, which was founded in 1998 (to coincide with the creation of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt).

This Tuesday evening, the a book titled "75e anniversaire du contrôle prudentiel et de la surveillance de la place financière au Luxembourg” (“75th anniversary of the prudential control and supervision of the financial centre in Luxembourg”), published in collaboration with the C2DH centre (University of Luxembourg), will be unveiled.

The evening has already sold out, given current hygiene measures, but those present will have a chance to see an 80-minute documentary film. 

Testimonies across the eras

The film, “La surveillance de la place financière (1945-2020): une histoire inédite!” (or “Surveillance of the financial centre (1945-2020): an untold history!”, directed by Claude Lahr and producted by PTD-Paul Thiltges Distributions, includes testimonies from across different eras--including the regulator, financiers and lawyers alike—who talk about changes in regulatory activity. 

"We started from the observation that the issue of financial supervision, or even of the marketplace's activity in general, had not been well documented until now", explains  CSSF spokesperson Paul Wilwertz.

Now historians have delved into the subject: the book contains a detailed chronology over more than 100 pages following developments in Luxembourg’s financial supervision, economy and role as a financial centre. It also includes articles with analyses, notably by historians Benoît Majerus, Benjamin Zenner and Christopher Kopper.

This article was originally published in French on Paperjam.lu and has been translated and edited for Delano.