Quintet 1949 and 2024; Credit: Quintet Private Bank

The Quintet Private Bank, headquartered in Luxembourg and operating across Europe and the UK, has marked the 75th anniversary of its founding in the Grand Duchy on Thursday 23 May 2024.

On 23 May 1949, Kredietbank Luxembourg opened its doors on Rue Notre Dame with a staff of five and a mission to support domestic industry, commerce and the public sector as part of the country’s much broader effort to spur post-war growth.

Over the subsequent decades – as a national economy dominated by steel began to diversify into other areas, including financial services – Kredietbank likewise entered new growth segments. In 1961, for example, the bank issued the first international bond loan in “European Currency Units,” the precursor to the common currency. By the early 1970s, Kredietbank had become one of the leading Eurobond issuers and had broken ground on its new 12-story headquarters on Boulevard Royal.

Starting in the 1980s, the Luxembourg-based bank began its geographic expansion, acquiring a stake in UK-headquartered Brown Shipley in 1986, and then 100% of the company in 1992. Over the next decade (as the firm focused even more on private banking), it acquired historically important wealth managers in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. Along the way, the bank established a branch dedicated to asset management activities and introduced another to meet the needs of institutional and professional clients.

Reflecting its local roots and pan-European vision, Kredietbank was renamed “KBL European Private Bankers” in 2008, just ahead of the global financial crisis that would lead, four years later, to the firm’s acquisition by Precision Capital.

The years since then have been marked by further acquisitions and important mergers, partnerships and strategic investments in the future, including the 2020 rebranding as “Quintet Private Bank” and launch of Quintet Danmark shortly afterwards, the bank noted. Along the way, the bank has made a sustained contribution to the local community, supporting a wide range of charitable causes and initiatives in the Grand Duchy.

“Today, exactly 75 years after our founding in Luxembourg, we look back with pride at all we have achieved, recognising that we carry on the work of the thousands of women and men who came before us,” said Group CEO Chris Allen. “With a unique heritage and deep commitment to the families who place their trust in us, Quintet is a true ‘Made in Luxembourg’ success story.”

“Reflecting on the last three quarters of a century in Luxembourg – a period marked by the birth of the country’s modern financial centre, followed by its expansion into a thriving ecosystem that connects investors and markets around the world – we are grateful for the opportunities the Grand Duchy has afforded us,” added Chris Allen.

“Most of all, I would like to extend my gratitude to every Kredietbank, KBL and Quintet colleague, past and present, for contributing to 75 years of success,” he concluded. “Our history inspires our confidence in the future and recognition that, as time marches on, Quintet will continue to evolve, improve and grow.”