This criticism was presented by Serge De Cillia, the director of the Association of Banks and Bankers (ABBL), at a press conference on Monday.
As the collective contract in the banking sector has a specific formulation, employees in the sector can gain an additional day of annual leave, despite already getting significantly more than the legal minimum.
ABBL recommended that banks only do this for employees under the age of 50, as employees above that age are already entitled to 38.5 days of annual leave, said Serge de Cillia.
The financial centre is "profitable, but not cost-effective", said the president of ABBL, Guy Hoffmann. According to provisional figures, the net profit of banks in Luxembourg had sunk by 3% last year, taking it to roughly €3.6 billion. The result remains positive, but less than before, which is mostly due to the increase in costs caused by the implementation of new regulations and the switch to new technologies.
At their General Assembly on Monday, ABBL have come up with new resolutions. For instance, they created a "cluster" to support sustainable or green finance. They also worked on an action plan against laundering. In contrast to abroad, a bank scandal in Luxembourg would directly damage the reputation of the entire financial centre, said Serge De Cillia.
In response to the question whether possible sanctions should be increased, ABBL said that this is already been done through EU regulation. A bank that breaks the rules twice, would be "likely" to lose its accreditation by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF).
