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Luxembourg AIFM Law: Authorisation, Registration, and European Passporting
Luxembourg's AIFM framework has three different decisions. Authorisation is the full-scope regulatory status granted by the CSSF. Registration is a separate, limited-supervision regime for Luxembourg managers that fall within the conditions of Article 3 of the AIFM Law; it is not authorisation. Passporting is a cross-border notification process available to an appropriately authorised EU AIFM for activities within its authorised scope. A passport neither turns a registered manager into an authorised one nor enlarges the activities the CSSF has authorised.
This is an operational orientation, not legal advice. Classify the manager and each AIF under the current consolidated Law of 12 July 2013, then use the live CSSF forms and qualified Luxembourg counsel for a real filing.
Decide the manager's status before choosing a form
Start with the legal person that regularly manages one or more AIFs, its assets under management, leverage and redemption facts, the services it performs, and the states in which it will act. Record one of these routes before discussing cross-border activity:
| Route | What it establishes | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| CSSF authorisation | A full-scope AIFM has passed the authorisation process for the activities and services recorded in its permission. | It does not by itself complete a host-state management or marketing notification. |
| Article 3 registration | A manager within the registration conditions has registered the required information and is subject to the limited regime described by the CSSF. | It is not a CSSF authorisation and should not be presented as carrying the same passport rights. |
| European passport notification | An authorised EU AIFM notifies qualifying cross-border management, branch, service or marketing activity through the applicable home-state process. | It does not replace authorisation, add a new authorised service, or settle every host-state distribution question. |
The classification file should identify the AIFs and compartments, the AIFM, the assets-under-management calculation, leverage and redemption assumptions, investor population, intended services, home and host states, branches or freedom-to-provide-services route, and the people responsible for later changes.
Authorisation is the full-scope route
The CSSF's AIFM authorisation guidance states that Articles 5 to 19 of the 2013 Law set the authorisation conditions and that a company using the full-scope route must be authorised by the CSSF beforehand. The application starts with the CSSF's current questionnaire, market-entry submission and supporting information, not with a passport letter.
Build the authorisation record around the actual operating model: programme of activity; governance and conducting officers; owners; portfolio and risk functions; valuation; delegation; conflicts; remuneration; reporting; and any ancillary services requested. The exact file is controlled by the current questionnaire and CSSF follow-up. Do not describe an activity as authorised until the CSSF permission covers it.
Registration has its own continuing controls
The CSSF's registration and subsequent-amendments page expressly says an Article 3(3) registered AIFM is not subject to an authorisation regime and that CSSF supervision of that registration is limited to the provisions listed there. Luxembourg legal persons whose regular activity includes managing AIFs and that do not need Chapter 2 authorisation must submit the registration request and supporting forms to the CSSF.
Registration is not a one-time label. The CSSF requires changes to the initial registration information to be communicated without delay and an updated registration form at least annually. Its current guidance also assigns a specific form and eDesk procedure to an additional AIF and says the additional AIF must be notified within ten working days after management begins.
Threshold monitoring needs a dated control. Where Article 3(2) conditions cease to be met and the excess is not temporary, the CSSF guidance says the AIFM must notify the CSSF without delay and seek authorisation within 30 calendar days. Record the calculation date, facts supporting any temporary assessment, the three-month reassessment point described by the CSSF, and the decision owner. Do not wait for the annual form to report a status-changing event.
Passporting comes after authorisation and scope
For a Luxembourg-authorised AIFM, the CSSF's AIFM European passport page explains the Article 32 management route. A first notification identifies the host Member State and includes a programme of operations describing the services and AIFs; a branch also requires its structure, document address, and responsible people. The CSSF page states that these notifications are submitted through the dedicated eDesk procedure.
The CSSF transmits a complete direct-services file within one month, or a complete branch file within two months, only if the AIFM's management complies and will continue to comply with the AIFM Law. The AIFM may begin the host-state services after the CSSF notifies it of transmission. These are statutory process boundaries, not a promise that an incomplete or non-compliant file will move on that timetable.
Management and marketing are separate passport decisions. Record which AIF, host state, investor category, service and start date each notification covers. A management notification should not be treated as proof that a marketing notification has also been completed.
Use the templates effective from 31 July 2026
The CSSF's communication published on 30 July 2026 says Luxembourg's Law of 3 March 2026 transposed AIFMD II and introduced additional activities, functions and services. It requires the updated notification-letter templates for management and marketing cross-border activities within the EEA from 31 July 2026. The communication also says the eDesk module and equivalent CSSF API solution were updated from that date and reminds firms that a new activity, function or service must first be authorised in Luxembourg before it is pursued in another Member State.
Do not reuse a pre-31-July package. Open the live passport page on the filing date, download the current notification letter and annexes, and verify the current eDesk guidance. The earlier 22 April 2026 transmission communication remains useful for the eDesk/API channel, but it must be read together with the 30 July AIFMD II update rather than used as the last word on templates.
Treat amendments and de-notifications as controlled events
Maintain separate inventories for authorised scope, registered-AIFM information, and passported activity. A change can affect one or more of them:
- Authorised AIFM: test whether a new activity, service, delegate, governance fact or operating-model change needs prior CSSF approval or notification.
- Registered AIFM: report changes to registration information without delay, make the required additional-AIF or termination filing, and refresh the annual form.
- Passported activity: the CSSF passport page requires planned material changes at least one month before implementation and unplanned material changes immediately after they occur; changes and cessations use the dedicated eDesk process.
For every event, preserve the board or delegated approval, final form version, annexes, portal receipt, CSSF correspondence, transmission notice and effective date. The evidence should show what status the manager held, what cross-border scope was notified, when the authority received it, and why later activity remained within both the authorised scope and the notified passport.
For a personal move rather than an IFM regulatory file, use the separate Luxembourg arrival and 90-day administration plan. That page covers individual settlement dependencies; it does not substitute for this institutional AIFM analysis.