Finance Minister Gilles Roth told MPs there are "no taboos" when it comes to possible consequences after Spuerkeess was fined €5 million over anti-money laundering failings, while Prime Minister Luc Frieden defended not being informed earlier, insisting this was normal procedure.

The €5 million fine imposed on Spuerkeess in connection with the Caritas fraud case continues to reverberate in Luxembourg's political sphere. After briefing the Chamber's finance committee on Monday, Finance Minister Gilles Roth said that nothing is off-limits when it comes to consequences for the Banque et Caisse d’Épargne de l’État – Spuerkeess – following shortcomings flagged by the Supervisory Commission of the Financial Sector (CSSF) in its controls against money-laundering, terrorist financing, and fraud.

Pressed on whether that includes personnel changes, he made clear that it could, but added he would not dictate staffing decisions, would not "shoot from the hip", and wanted matters examined calmly. He emphasised his disapproval of what happened, lamenting that five years after an initial injunction the bank still had not implemented all of the CSSF recommendations.

Roth said he had read the CSSF decision in full and expects the bank's governing bodies – the board and the executive – to draw the necessary lessons from the findings that led to the sanction. As minister, he said, his role is not to order outcomes, but "nothing is off the table".

He also noted that an external audit report is due in November. A number of risk-management improvements are already being put in place under that firm's supervision, Roth said.

Who knew what, and when?

Roth was informed on 2 May that the CSSF intended to fine Spuerkeess, with the bank still able to file a non-contentious appeal. He did not at that stage inform PM Luc Frieden. Asked whether he should have been told first, Frieden replied tersely that he should not.

He explained afterwards that this was entirely routine: the PM is not the supervising minister for Spuerkeess, and such matters are generally handled between the bank, its board and the government commissioner, and only in exceptional cases by the competent minister. Until a decision is final, given potential avenues of appeal, it does not land on the prime minister's desk, he said, adding that in any case there are many public bodies and procedures that cannot all be escalated to him.

Frieden therefore only learned of the multimillion-euro penalty on 30 July, when the CSSF issued its public statement. He did not know about it when he appeared before the Caritas special committee in May.

Spuerkeess's management also appeared before the finance committee on Monday afternoon, offering further explanations after opposition MPs alleged the bank’s representatives had not been fully candid with the Caritas special committee in early May.

At that time they insisted the bank's procedures had been followed, but did not disclose that a sanction was pending, arguing later this was not possible while an internal appeal remained open. Monday's committee meeting with the bank's representatives ran into the evening.

On Tuesday, a delegation from the board and the government commissioner for Spuerkeess are due before the committee.