Q: Luxembourg has fostered a thriving fintech industry. What makes the country so attractive to these businesses?
A: First, there’s the country’s general business-friendly environment. That includes financial infrastructure, legal framework and the private sector’s ability to gain access to senior decision makers within regulators and the government. When I meet fintech entrepreneurs they are amazed that they can fly into Luxembourg in the morning and meet with [financial regulator] the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, then a few hours later speak with someone at the Ministry of Finance – even sometimes the minister himself – and then come to a bank like Banque Internationale à Luxembourg [BIL] and meet our head of marketing and innovation or myself. There are few other countries where you can do that. Of course these factors aren’t specific to fintech, but they do make Luxembourg conducive to attracting start-ups.
