Luxembourg

Adoption date

Type of measure

Beneficiaries' sector specification

Description of measure

26/03/2020

Public loans

All non-financial sector

The SNCI has put in place a “Special Anti-Crisis Financing – SACF”, for a maximum total amount of EUR 400 millions corresponding to a total leverage effect of nearly EUR 700 millions, including bank financing. This financing instrument is aimed at Luxembourg SMEs and large companies. This is indirect financing via the client’s usual bank: the SNCI finances up to 60 % of the required amount, provided that the bank finances 40 %. The amount of SACF (financed by the SNCI) can vary between EUR 12,500 and EUR 10 millions. The maximum duration of the SACF is 5 years with an initial grace period on the repayment of the capital of maximum 2 years.

18/04/2020

Public guarantees

Non-financial corporations

State guarantee scheme for new bank loans over a maximum period of 6 years (Loi du 18 avril 2020 visant à mettre en place un régime de garantie en faveur de l’économie luxembourgeoise dans le cadre de la pandémie Covid-19):The new credit lines will be guaranteed at 85% by the State (for a total amount of 2.5 billion euros) and 15% by the participating banks, and this for loans granted in the period from March 18, 2020 until June 30, 2021. They are understood as a subsidiary tool, after recourse, where possible, to the tools of the National Credit and Investment Company (SNCI), the Office du Ducroire or the European Investment Bank in particular. The benefit of the new credits is reserved for companies that were viable before March 18, 2020 (state of emergency).

03/04/2020

Public loans

Non-financial corporations

Law establishing a system of financial support for the companies in temporary financial difficulty (Loi du 3 avril 2020 relative à la mise en place d’un régime d’aides en faveur des entreprises en difficulté financière temporaire):
With this new law, businesses and self-employed people are eligible to financial aid up to 800,000 euros in the form of a repayable advance to cover operating costs subject to 4 conditions:

1. the business must fall within one of the sectors of activities set out in the relevant Grand Ducal regulation. A business which carries out activities in more than one sector is eligible only for the activities referred to in the aforementioned Regulation. The sole main NACE code of an undertaking is therefore not decisive in determining its eligibility;
2. the business must have temporary financial difficulties;
3. the business must have been exercising its economic activity already, before the unforeseeable event occurred;
4. there must be a direct causal link between the unforeseeable event and the temporary financial difficulties of the business.

16/03/2020

Direct grants

All non-financial sector

Repayment for partial unemployment in situations of force majeure provides that 80% of costs can be refunded from the Employment Fund relating to the unemployment hours. There are limits in terms of salary level (250% of minimum social salary for unskilled employees) and duration (1022 hours maximum annually per employee). This applies to all economic sectors as long as the causes invoked are directly linked to the Coronavirus.
Following the announcement of the compulsory closure of certain businesses on the basis of the amended law of 17 July 2020 on the measures to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the Luxembourg government has decided on 24 December 2020 to complement thue exsiting scheme with an additional "partial lockdown" short-time working scheme with an accelerated procedure that allows to benefit from the short-time working scheme for up to 100 % of the number of inactive hours during the closure period. This short-time working scheme only applies to the actual period of the "partial lockdown" from December 2020 to January 2021 and to businesses for which the activity is affected by the closure.

16/03/2020

Public guarantees

Non-financial corporations

Bank guarantee for companies with cash-flow difficulties: The measure is the setting up of a specific surety in the form of a guarantee that the Chamber of Commerce offers via its Mutualité de Cautionnement to companies that need credit or a bank loan. This guarantee will be up to 50% of the credit and covers a maximum amount of EUR 250,000 per guarantee. In order to guarantee rapid assistance to companies that request it, a procedure for analysing files within 48 hours has been put in place.

05/05/2020

Public guarantees

Non-financial corporations

"SME guarantees" in collaboration with banks active in corporate finance: Provide guarantees for SMEs obtaining new working capital lines from banks

17/04/2020

Private moratoria

All non-financial sector

Based on a memorandum of understanding expiring on 31/12/2020, certain participating banks grant moratoria on the repayment of existing loans. Banks in Luxembourg postpone the reimbursement of some credits to allow these debtors to better cope with liquidity difficulties.
Moratoria granted on the basis of this MoU benefit from the flexibility introduced by the EBA guideline EBA/GL/2020/02 with respect to the credit risk assessment as well as the stage migration under IFRS9 and associated provisioning

01/01/2021

Private moratoria

All non-financial sector

Moratoria granted by certain banks on repayment of existing loans. This new measure should be seen as a continuation of the moratoria under LU-037, which were based on a memorandum of understanding between certain participating banks. This MoU expired on 31/12/2020, such that any payment moratorium granted after this date no longer benefits from the flexibility introduced by the EBA guideline EBA/GL/2020/02 with respect to the credit risk assessment as well as the stage migration under IFRS9 and associated provisioning.

13/12/2021

Direct grants

All non-financial sector

Repayment for partial unemployment in situations of force majeure provides that 80% of costs can be refunded from the Employment Fund relating to the unemployment hours. There are limits in terms of salary level (250% of minimum social salary for unskilled employees) and duration (1022 hours maximum annually per employee). This applies to all economic sectors as long as the causes invoked are directly linked to the Coronavirus.
On 13 December 2021, it was decided to extend until February 2022 inclusive the partial unemployment scheme for vulnerable sectors whose activities remain directly impacted by the health measures.

On 28 December 2021, it was decided that companies in the hospitality sector (cafés, restaurants, bars, discotheques, short-term accommodation facilities, etc.) and the events sector (cinemas, congresses, trade fairs, etc.) must close by 11 p.m. until 28 February 2022 inclusive. Companies affected by this measure can submit, until January 7, 2022 included, a request to retroactively benefit from partial unemployment for the months of December 2021 and January 2022.
On 25 January 2022, it was decided to prolong the short time working scheme (LU-043) until June 2022 following a phasing out scheme. The STW will be granted at a rate of 25% of total working hours in Feb, at 20% for March and April, and at 10% for May and June. Exceptions apply to hotels and restaurants with 50% of hours worked and with 100% in the nightlife sector in February 2022 (the latter being hit by the imposed 11 p.m. closure). As for the hotel industry, the new regime provides for a rate of 40% of monthly hours for March and April and 30% in May and June 2022.

20/03/2020

Other measure

Banking sector

The CSSF endorses the EBA Statement on the application of the prudential framework regarding Default, Forbearance and IFRS9. This statement emphasizes that moratoria will not trigger an automatic classification in default, forborne, or IFRS9 status.

30/07/2020

Dividend distribution policy

Banking sector

The CSSF updated its FAQ and sent a Circular letter to supervised entities in order to inform that it intends to comply with the ECB Recommendation on dividend distributions during the COVID-19 pandemic (ECB/2020/62) published on 15 December 2020 which repeals Recommendation ECB/2020/35 and with the ESRB Recommendation on restriction of distributions during the COVID-19 pandemic (ESRB/2020/15) published on 18 December 2020 which amends ESRB Recommendation 2020/7. The CSSF also endorses the latest EBA Statement on banks’ distribution policies published on 15 December 2020

02/04/2020

Reporting requirements

Fund industry

In accordance with the ESMA statement dated 31 March 2020, managers of Luxembourg domiciled MMFs may postpone the submission of the quarterly reportings for Q1 and Q2 2020 to September 2020.

07/04/2020

Other measure

Fund industry

1. The UCIs can increase the swing factor to be applied on the NAV up to the maximum level laid down in the prospectus without prior notification to the CSSF.
2. The UCIs can increase the applied swing factor beyond the maximum laid down in the prospectus provided that the Board of Directors or, if applicable, the Management Company is formally offered the possibility to do so based on the provisions and conditions of the prospectus.

3. The CSSF permits on a temporary basis the Board of Directors of the UCI or, if applicable, the Management Company, given the current exceptional market circumstances, to increase the swing factor beyond the maximum level mentioned in the prospectus even where the fund prospectus does not formally offers the possibility for this, under certain conditions.

09/04/2020

Reporting requirements

Fund industry

Implementation of a newly weekly reporting for investment fund managers (IFMs) to report on financial data and governance arrangements.

14/04/2020

Other measure

Banking sector

The CSSF published an FAQ that describes the flexibility allowed by the IFRS 9 accounting framework to address the temporal impact of adverse economic conditions linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. It reflects the statements and guidance issued by European and international bodies and covers two points:
1) “Procyclicality”; and

2) Transitional arrangements.

14/04/2020

Reporting requirements

Fund industry

In accordance with the ESMA statement dated 9 April 2020, investment fund managers which anticipate that the annual and half-yearly reports will be published beyond the regulatory deadlines, must inform the CSSF and their investors promptly indicating the reasons for the delay and, to the extent possible, the estimated date of publication.

16/04/2020

Other measure

Fund industry

The CSSF published four FAQs providing clarifications on passive and active investment breaches as a result of the increase in volatility of financial markets.

23/03/2020

Other measure

All financial sectors

Supervised entities may opt for cloud-based tools and solutions without prior official authorisation by or notification to the CSSF.

26/03/2020

Reporting requirements

Fund industry

Implementation of a newly daily reporting for investment fund managers (IFMs) of a sample of large money market funds (TNA, flows and risk indicators)

27/03/2020

Reporting requirements

Securities and markets

The CSSF will not take any administrative measures or sanctions in relation to issuers’ failure to comply with deadlines for the publication of periodic information (i.e. notably annual and half-yearly financial reports required under the Transparency Directive). Issuers are granted additional two months for reporting periods ending on 31 December 2019 or after that date but before 1 April 2020.
At the same time, the CSSF underlined the importance to comply with ongoing disclosure requirements (e.g. disclosure of inside information, major holdings, managers' transactions).

30/03/2020

Reporting requirements

All financial sectors

The CSSF decided that the reporting deadlines for supervised entities may, where necessary, be exceptionally extended, upon reasoned request. With regard to long form reports, the CSSF announced the possibility to extend the submission deadline up to four months and announced it will refrain from applying enforcement measures in the case of deadlines justified by operational difficulties related to the current context of Covid-19.

30/04/2020

Other measure

Banking sector

The CSSF adopts the EBA Guidelines on legislative and non-legislative moratoria on loan repayments applied in the light of the COVID-19 crisis. Consequently, the CSSF has integrated the Guidelines into its administrative practice and regulatory approach with a view to promote supervisory convergence in this field at European level. All entities that have adhered to general payment moratoria that are effectively in place by 30 June 2020 and that are willing to benefit from the EBA/GL/2020/02 shall duly comply with them.

24/04/2020

Direct grants (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

Non-financial corporations

As of April 24, 2020, additional measures to support micro-enterprises with up to 10 employees have been implemented. This support is aimed at micro-businesses:
- who have been forced to close their establishment and who have not been allowed to resume their activities since. These companies can benefit from an additional indemnity in the amount of 5,000 euros (an amount identical to the indemnity to which these companies have already been able to claim under the Grand-Ducal regulation of 25 March 2020);

- who have not been (or are no longer) subject to a closure or cessation of activity, but who have suffered a significant loss of turnover due to the pandemic. For these micro-enterprises, an emergency compensation amounting to 5,000 euros has been put in place.

24/04/2020

Direct grants (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

Non-financial corporations

As of April 24, 2020, a financial assistance shceme has been implemented for companies that employ between 10 and 20 employees, and which, like micro-enterprises, are particularly affected by the Covid pandemic, if they had to close their establishments or cease their activities in mid-March and were not authorized to resume them until April 24, 2020.
This new compensation is also intended to provide financial support to companies which, without having necessarily been the subject of a closure or cessation of activity, have suffered a significant loss of their turnover due to the pandemic. and containment measures that had to be imposed to prevent its spread.

08/04/2020

Direct grants (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

Non-financial corporations

Emergency allowance fund of EUR 2,500 per self-employed worker (Règlement N° 261 du 08 avril 2020 ayant pour objet la mise en place d’une indemnité d’urgence certifiée en faveur des travailleurs indépendants dans le cadre de la pandémie Covid-19): This financial aid, which is non-taxable and non-repayable, is aimed at financially supporting the self-employed, provided they meet certain conditions.

16/03/2020

Tax deferrals (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

All non-financial sector

Indirect taxes: Administrative tolerance for VAT returns, i.e. there is no administrative penalty for exceeding a deadline for filing VAT returns. This tolerance applies until otherwise indicated by the administration.

16/03/2020

Tax reliefs (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

All non-financial sector

Indirect taxes: The Luxembourg VAT Authority will automatically reimburse all the credit balances in terms of VAT that amount to EUR 10,000 or less.

16/03/2020

Direct grants (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

Households

Liquidation of advance payments for extraordinary leave for family reasons: The Joint Social Security Centre (CCSS) will proceed with the liquidation of an advance on the financial compensation for the extraordinary leave for family reasons granted to parents of children affected by the temporary closures of basic and secondary education establishments, vocational training and childcare facilities, etc.
This measure is intended to advance a substantial part of the reimbursement of salaries that employers must continue to pay to the parents concerned and which would normally not be made before May 2020 by the Employers' mutual insurance scheme (Mutualité des employeurs).

16/03/2020

Public support for trade credit insurance (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

Non-financial corporations

Reinforcement of aid measures for export and international development: ODL has implemented several measures to strengthen its support to Luxembourg companies, such as increase of the percentage of cover of limits and contracts issued during the state of crisis in the context of export insurance etc.

17/03/2020

Tax deferrals (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

All non-financial sector

1. Direct taxes: Cancellation of the advance payments due for the first semester of 2020
Concerned legal entities and natural persons facing cash flow issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, can make a simple request to the Tax Authorities to cancel the tax advance payments for the two first quarters of 2020.

2. Direct taxes: 4-month extension of the tax payment deadline. In addition to the above, the same persons can request a 4-month extension of the payment deadline for taxes due after 29 February 2020.
3. Direct taxes: Postponement of the tax return filing deadline to 30 June 2020. This measure is again applicable to all legal entities and individuals.
On 21 December 2020, the Government announced that the deadline for tax declaration of both physical persons and companies will be postponed from 31 march 2021 to 30 June 2021. Moreover, the deadline for the tax declaration for the fiscal year 2019 was postponed to 31 March 2021.

25/03/2020

Direct grants (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

Non-financial corporations

Emergency fund for very small companies and self-employed persons (Règlement N° 187 du 25 mars 2020): With this aid measure, businesses with 9 employees at the most and self-employed persons who have a valid business permit issued before 18 March 2020 (with an annual turnover of at least EUR 15,000 and whose activity had to be interrupted following the entry into force of the Grand Ducal regulation of 18 March 2020 introducing a series of measures in the fight against Covid-19) can apply for an immediate and non-refundable financial aid of EUR 5,000.

25/03/2020

Public moratoria (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

Non-financial corporations

Easing of reimbursement conditions on all its existing loans: SNCI decided to suspend the reimbursement of capital for the quarterly terms of March 31st, and June 30th of all its outstanding direct and indirect loans. No action from clients is required. The duration of all loans benefitting from said moratorium is automatically prolonged for 6 months.

N/A

Public guarantees (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

Non-financial corporations

Funding over 5 years in favor of the mutual insurance fund for small and medium-sized businesses and the guarantee mutual insurance fund: Enabling the mutual funds of professional chambers to extend the guarantees provided to SMEs

16/03/2020

Other labour market measure

All non-financial sector

Temporary measures concerning social security contributions: The Joint Social Security Centre (CCSS) and the Minister of Social Security have taken a series of measures to support companies and the self-employed by offering them greater flexibility in their management of the payment of social security contributions.

18/03/2020

Other measure

All non-financial sector

Grant additional social aid; guarantee subsidies for cancelled projects and grant short-time work benefits to employees in the sector

26/03/2020

Other measure

Non-financial corporations

Suspension of the obligation to confess cessation of payment resulting in bankruptcy

26/03/2020

Exemption from penalties/fines

All non-financial sector

Suspension of the forced execution of the evictions ordered for residential leases as well as those ordered in terms of commercial lease

19/03/2020

Tax deferrals (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

All non-financial sector

Provide flexibility to companies in cash management and payment of social security contributions, e.g. by temporarily suspending the calculation of default interest for late payments

19/12/2020

Direct grants (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

Non-financial corporations

In view of the direct and indirect economic impact of the new restrictive measures, the government has decided to extend the benefit of the State's temporary contribution to the uncovered costs of certain companies provided for by the law of December 19, 2020 to companies in the retail in-store sector and related sectors, such as the personal care sector.
In addition, it was decided to increase for all eligible companies the recognition of operating expenses from 75% to 100% for the months of November and December 2020 and January 2021.

The aid for costs not covered was initially aimed at the tourism, hospitality, events, culture, entertainment and managers of continuing vocational training organizations. It will be allocated in the form of monthly capital grants calculated on the basis of uncovered costs to companies which, during all or part of the period between November 1, 2020 and March 30, 2021, will have suffered a loss of monthly turnover of at least 40% compared to the corresponding month of 2019. The maximum aid intensity is 70% of eligible uncovered costs for medium and large enterprises and 90% of eligible uncovered costs for micro and small enterprises. In addition, the amount of aid may not exceed EUR 20,000 per month for a microenterprise, EUR 100,000 per month for a small enterprise and EUR 200,000 per month for a medium and large enterprise.
The aid was extended to 30 June 2021. Businesses subject to legal closure and those that have suffered a loss of revenue of at least 75% due to legal restrictions on gatherings may charge 100% of their uncovered costs as of February 1, 2021.
In December 2021, the measure was extended until February 2022.
In January 2022, the measure was extended until June 2022 for specific subsectors. Only hotels and campgrounds will be eligible for this aid as of March 2022. The operating expenses of these companies will be taken into account up to 75% for the determination of the uncovered costs used as a basis for the calculation of the monthly aid. It is important to recall in this context, that the rate of 75% had been increased to 100% for the months of November 2020 to June 2021, the month of December 2021 and the months of January and February 2022. The monthly ceilings as well as the aid intensity rates set at 70%, respectively 90% of the uncovered costs, depending on the size of the company, will remain unchanged.

04/12/2020

Other measure

Banking sector

The CSSF authorises LSIs placed under its
direct supervision to exclude on a temporary basis coins and banknotes in EUR as well as exposures to the

central banks of the Eurosystem referred to in Article 500b(1)(b) CRR as specified by the aforementioned
Decision of the European Central Bank:
(i) deposits held at the deposit facility, as defined in the Guidelines (EU) 2015/510 of the European Central
Bank ; and
(ii) balances held on reserve accounts, as defined in Regulation (EC) 1745/2003 of the European Central
Bank, including funds held in order to meet minimum reserve requirements;
in the calculation of the regulatory Leverage Ratio. This exemption is applicable until 27 June 2021 included.

01/02/2021

Direct grants (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

All non-financial sector

The financial aid is in the form of a single flat-rate cash payment whose amount varies (EUR 3,000, EUR 3,500 or EUR 4,000) depending on the income bracket of the person concerned. It is only available to people, whose main activity is as a self-employed person; and who are registered as such with the Luxembourg social security scheme.

N/A

Other measure

Non-financial corporations

The Ministry of Economy decided to increase the maximum co-financing rate from 50% to 70% for any financial aid to the young innovative enterprises granted. Specifically, eligible companies must meet the two following conditions: (i) They should be unlisted companies or private research organisations, which have not taken the activity from other businesses, were registered no more than five years ago, have not yet distributed profits, and have not been formed through merger. (ii) They should be innovative enterprises demonstrating the development of new and improved products in the future, while also having research & development expenses that represent at least 10% of the total operating costs during one of the last three years or in the current fiscal year in the case of young innovative enterprises with no financial history. Based on the eligible costs of the project, the amount of the aid may not exceed EUR 800,000 for small enterprise or small private research organisation and EUR 1,200,000 for small enterprise or small private research organisation established in an assisted area (i.e. Dudelange, Bettembourg, Wiltz, Winseler, Kiischpelt).

N/A

Direct grants (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

Non-financial corporations

Grant self-employed people (regardless of the number of their employees) a direct aid in the amount of EUR 3,000, 3,500 or 4,000 depending on the income level of the person concerned

24/07/2020

Direct grants (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

Non-financial corporations

A recovery and solidarity fund for businesses was set up for a period of 6 months, starting on July 1st 2020, to offer businesses in the Horeca, events (including cultural) sectors, the tourism sector as well as physical culture centers, a direct monthly aid. With the law of 19 December 2020, the list of eligible sectors was extended to SMEs and organisations of professional education. It takes the form of monthly capital grants and covers a four-month period from December 2020 to March 2021. It is linked to the condition that the company has suffered a loss in monthly turnover of at least 25% and is calculated on the basis of the number of employees and self-employed workers in the company. The amount of the subsidy is 1,250 euros per self-employed person and per employee in activity during the month for which the aid is requested, respectively 250 euros per employee who is fully short-time working during the month for which the aid is requested.
Update: The amount of the aid will remain unchanged for the months of July and August 2021: 1,250 euros per self-employed person and per employee in activity in the month for which the aid is applied for, respectively 250 euros per employee in complete short-time work in the month for which the aid is applied for. For the months of September and October 2021, the aid will amount to 1,000 euros per self-employed person and per active employee in the month for which the aid is applied for. The subsidy for employees who are completely unemployed will remain unchanged at 250 euros.

In December 2021, the aid was extended until February 2022.
On 25 January 2022, the LU government has announced to prolong the stimulus aid until June 2022 with a phasing out scheme. The amount of aid granted per person will be gradually reduced from 1000€ in March and April 2022, 500€ for May and June 2022. The monthly subsidy of 250 euros per worker on short-time work is abolished.

24/07/2020

Direct grants (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

Non-financial corporations

In order to support the retail trade in stores with reception of the public (excluding food) as well as the personal care sector, which were able to resume their activities on May 11th, a new flat-rate aid will be granted over a period of three months up to 1,000 euros per employee in June, 750 euros in July and 500 euros in August, up to a ceiling of 50,000 euros per month. This measure is limited to SMEs (less than 250 employees).

20/05/2020

Direct grants (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

Households

Doubling of the amount of the cost-of-living benefit ("Allocation de vie chère") for 2020 to low income households

19/06/2020

Reporting requirements

Banking sector

The CSSF decided to postpone the data collection for the remuneration benchmarking exercise at national level by one month. The institutions concerned by this exercise are the same as last year, except for the institutions that have been newly authorised in 2019 which would be included in the scope of the exercise. The CSSF sent a mail inviting all the institutions concerned to provide the relevant data by 30 October at the latest.

13/05/2020

Reporting requirements

Fund industry

The CSSF decided that the deadline extensions for the submission of usual closing documents may, where
FAQ COVID-19 8/31

appropriate, be exceptionally granted upon reasoned request to be sent by email to the usual contact person at the CSSF. Nevertheless, submission on time is encouraged, where the submission can be made within the usual time limits without compromising the quality of the submitted documents and in line with the health rules to contain the spread of Covid-19.
As regards the management letter and the audit report of the réviseur d'entreprises agréé, prepared pursuant to CSSF Regulation N° 12-02 of 14 December 2012 on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, an extension of up to three months following the initial date of the ordinary general meeting is possible.

22/07/2020

Direct grants (w/o fin. stab. relevance)

Non-financial corporations

The investment aid for companies impacted by the crisis COVID-19 was established by the Ministry of Economy. This instrument aims to encourage companies to carry out, despite the current crisis situation, projects of economic development, digitalization or environmental protection through financial aid of up to 50% of eligible costs.