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The CRF's authorities and powers

To fulfil its mission of combating money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/CFT), the CRF has a remit and powers that are strictly structured by the law.

The CRF's mission is to receive and analyse suspicious transaction reports and other information on suspicious acts that could indicate money laundering, related predicate offences or terrorist financing.

In particular, it receives and analyses:

Suspicious transaction reports submitted by a professional who is subject to anti-money laundering and combating terrorist financing (AML/CFT) rules, in accordance with Article 5, paragraph 1a of the Law of 12 November 2004, AML/CFT, as amended;
Information shared by other government authorities, or by the supervisory authorities and self-regulatory bodies.

If possible, the CRF selectively disseminates the information it receives in order to enable the recipient departments and authorities to focus on the relevant cases and information so they can fulfil their respective missions.

The CRF cooperates with its foreign counterparts in accordance with the principles developed by the Egmont Group, and as far as cooperation in Europe is concerned, in accordance with the requirements of the 4th directive, as amended (Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015). Please note that this directive has been replaced by Directive (EU) 2024/1640 of 31 May 2024 (6th directive). The 6th directive entered into force on 10 July 2024. Member States have 3 years from its entry into force to transpose the 6th AML/CFT directive into their national legislation – that is, 10 July 2027.

The CRF can issue instructions to refrain from performing certain transactions in connection with a deal or a client in accordance with Article 5 (3) of the AML/CFT law. The instruction to impose a freeze may be subject to a judicial appeal before the court chambers of the Luxembourg district court, which may decide to lift the freeze in accordance with Article 9-3 of the AML/CFT law.

Key documents

The CRF abroad

The CRF belongs to the Egmont Group and is a member of Luxembourg's delegation to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). As such, the CRF participates actively in the work of these organisations.

The CRF in the European arena

The CRF works closely with the other European financial intelligence units.

With the adoption of the 6th AML package, a new European Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism was created. This new authority, which is based in Frankfurt, is designed to harmonise the laws on combating money laundering and terrorist financing among the Member States. Another purpose of this authority is to assist the European financial intelligence units in analysing and disseminating information by developing regulatory and implementing technical standards and by issuing guidelines. This new authority, which began to be phased in after the passage of Regulation (EU) 2024/1620 of 31 May 2024, is expected to be equipped to take on all its duties (except for certain specific ones) as soon as the enforcement of the regulation takes effect – that is, on 10 July 2027.

AMLA