Here is the rewritten article in markdown format:

Financial Crimes on the Rise: Luxembourg Needs to Step Up Efforts

Luxembourg, considered a major international financial hub, has been identified as having vulnerabilities in its anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) framework. According to a recent assessment by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the country needs to focus more on money laundering investigations and prosecutions, asset recovery, and supervision of non-profit organizations and certain non-financial sectors.

Supervision of Non-Financial Sectors

While Luxembourg’s financial supervisor, CSSF, has been praised for its robust risk-based approach in supervising the banking and investment sectors, experts warn that risk-based supervision of non-financial sectors such as real estate, notaries, and trust and company services is still in its early stages and requires further work.

Financial Intelligence Unit

Luxembourg’s Financial Intelligence Unit (CRF-FIU) has been commended for producing high-quality financial intelligence products but faces challenges in maintaining its level of human resources and adapting to increasingly complex cases.

Recommendations

The assessment highlights that Luxembourg should focus on sectors exposed to significant money laundering risk, such as real estate and professionals offering trust and company services. The country’s authorities are also urged to:

• Improve the detection, investigation, and prosecution of more complex money laundering cases
• Take a risk-based approach to its oversight of non-profit organizations and increase their understanding of terrorist financing risks

Domestic Asset Recovery and Targeted Financial Sanctions Regime

The assessment calls for Luxembourg to focus more on domestic asset recovery and remedy gaps in its targeted financial sanctions regime. Despite this, the country has been praised for its proactive efforts in identifying and investigating terrorist financing activity alongside terrorism-related investigations.

Conclusion

While Luxembourg has made significant progress in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, there is still much work to be done to ensure the country remains a stable and secure financial hub. The assessment concludes that Luxembourg needs to step up its efforts to address these vulnerabilities and maintain its position as a major international financial hub.