Because the European Union decided on 30 October to extend the period that Article 50(3) of its Lisbon Treaty sets for Brexit, the reference date for a potential hard Brexit in all the Luxembourg regulator’s previously published communications should now be read as 31 January 2020.

Press releases 19/33 and 19/34, issued in July, set out mandatory notification requirements for British firms in Luxembourg in the context of Brexit. As regards to these, with  respect to the mandatory notification for British firms, undertakings for collective investment and/or their managers that wish to continue to provide services in Luxembourg after a no-deal Brexit, the CSSF encourages UK entities that have not yet done so to apply for the transitional regime by introducing a Brexit notification on its dedicated eDesk portal at their earliest convenience.

The subsequent application for authorisation, or, as the case may be, notification, or other information on any action taken otherwise (notably as per CSSF press release 19/48) has to be submitted by undertakings for collective investment and/or their managers to the CSSF no later than by 15 January 2020.

The CSSF is exhorting everybody to prepare for and anticipate the consequences of a 'clean break' Brexit, i.e one that happens on World Trade Organisation terms. Contingency planning, especially to keep customers and investors adequately informed, is the key.

Firms that are currently authorised to do business in accordance with the CRD, MiFID II, PSD 2 or EMD (E-Marketing Directive) in the UK will eventually be held to be “third-country firms” and will lose the benefit of their existing passporting rights that spring from these EU directives at the moment of 'hard Brexit.'