Pierre Gramegna, Minister of Finance; Credit: MFIN

On Monday, Luxembourg's Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna led a delegation of more than 120 representatives of the Luxembourg financial sector to Milan, as part of a financial mission organised by Luxembourg For Finance (LFF).

On this occasion, Pierre Gramegna notably opened a financial seminar organised for professionals of the Italian financial sector. In front of an audience of over 270 people, Minister Gramegna spoke of the importance of continuing the process of deepening the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), while underlining the progress made in recent years.

In his speech, Pierre Gramegna discussed the various European initiatives aimed at further strengthening the European market and addressing the challenges related to the digitalisation of financial services. In this context, he referred to the ongoing work to reform international taxation and recalled the position of Luxembourg on the subject of digital taxation, which advocates a common solution, developed at OECD level and ensuring a level playing field. He also spoke of the major progress made in recent years in tax transparency in the world and more particularly in Luxembourg.

Finally, Luxembourg's Minister of Finance proposed avenues that will allow the EU to remain competitive in the financial sector at the time of Brexit, such as the creation and completion of the Capital Markets Union and establishing a common language for sustainable finance (taxonomy) to deal with climate change. In conclusion, he  emphasised that the energy transition will not be possible without a financial transition, ie a sustainable transformation of the financial system that takes into account the issue of "stranded assets".

Considering that Milan is Italy's leading financial centre, with a flourishing FinTech sector, the Minister of Finance also met with senior executives of the main financial groups in Milan present in Luxembourg. Discussions focused on the economic situation in the EU, the development of group activities in Luxembourg and the opportunities offered to financial figures in the field of sustainable finance and the digitalisation of financial services.

Pierre Gramegna commented: "Luxembourg and Italy are long-standing financial partners with significant financial exchanges in both directions. Italy is now the second largest market for life insurance in Luxembourg, and with five banks and some fifty Italian investment funds present in Luxembourg, our financial center acts as a center of excellence for banking groups. and Italian financiers, wishing to develop their activities in Europe and abroad. This mission will have helped to further deepen the already close financial ties between Luxembourg and Italy".