Circular CSSF 26/913

What Changed

• - The CSSF has formally applied the EBA Guidelines on ancillary services undertakings specified in EBA/GL/2026/01 for identifying activities under Article 4(1)(18) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013.
• Firms must assess whether a non-bank activity or group entity qualifies as an ancillary services undertaking under the EBA criteria, rather than relying on internal labels or informal business descriptions.
• The regulatory perimeter analysis now needs to consider whether relevant activities are performed within a banking group in a way that affects prudential consolidation and supervisory treatment.
• Institutions should expect the CSSF to use the EBA framework as the benchmark for determining whether an activity is sufficiently connected to banking support functions to fall within the ancillary services concept.
• Compliance evidence will need to show a documented, reproducible assessment of each potentially relevant activity against the EBA identification criteria.

Suggested Considerations

• Review all group entities and business lines to identify activities that may fall within the definition of an ancillary services undertaking under Article 4(1)(18) CRR.
• Document a formal assessment methodology for classifying activities against the EBA/GL/2026/01 criteria.
• Reconfirm the prudential consolidation perimeter and ensure all ancillary service entities are correctly included or excluded, with the reasoning retained for supervisory review.
• Update legal entity inventories, regulatory mapping, and governance documents so they align with the CSSF’s adopted EBA framework.
• Test whether existing internal reporting, risk management, and control frameworks capture any newly identified ancillary services undertakings.
• Brief board and senior management on the perimeter implications of the CSSF circular and assign ownership for ongoing classification decisions.

Key Dates

Who is Affected