LuxSE Event Explores Future Opportunities for Luxembourg’s Financial Market

On the evening of Wednesday 19 June 2024, Luxembourg Stock Exchange held its yearly highlight event, the Stock Exchange Day, at the Philharmonie in Luxembourg-Kirchberg.

This year’s event focus was “rethink local, unlock markets” and aimed to inspire new opportunities for Luxembourg’s financial market from within. Luxembourg’s Minister of Finance, Gilles Roth, held the opening address, emphasising that the European Union’s economy is now 65% of the size of the United States’ economy; that Europe today is home to just three of the top 20 largest asset managers globally and three of the largest 20 banks by market capitalisation. Minister Roth identified two areas he believes are urgent: “to address existing barriers fragmentation within the single market” and acting local “to ensure that companies and citizens have access to services and programmes that are suited to their needs”. “We need to think local and act European,” the minister stressed. Other key points he addressed were the necessity to reduce red tape and regulatory complexity, improve financial education, develop expertise at the local level to be able to respond swiftly to the needs of both companies and investors, pursue “supervisory convergence” among national supervisors, as well as ensure that the EU capital markets remain interconnected. He also stressed the need to ensure that Europe remains competitive and an attractive investment location, and shared his goal of ensuring that Luxembourg stay at the forefront of digitalisation. He noted among the areas to develop further in the country: training and innovation, mobilising private capital and strengthening the role of Luxembourg in the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

A speech by Alain Kinsch, President of LuxSE’s Board of Directors, followed. He noted that LuxSE has over 43 thousand securities listed from 100 countries and that Luxembourg Green Exchange has been a pioneer of green bonds, as well as a clear market leader in that area. He also focused on questions for the future, concerning potential next moves for Luxembourg’s financial centre, encouraging the audience to think on how the Grand Duchy may become a “real hub”, and how an investment culture can be fostered in Luxembourg, among other questions.

Furthermore, Julie Becker, CEO of LuxSE, held one-on-one panel discussions with various actors to explore untapped opportunities for Luxembourg’s financial centre. The panellists were Miao Li, Head of Debt Capital Markets at Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL), Dragan Radanovic, CEO of Euwax AG, Börse Stuttgart Group, John Penning, Managing Director of Luxempart and Marjut Falkstedt, CEO of the European Investment Fund (EIF). A video address of Gerard Hoffman, CEO of Proximus Lux and board member of FEDIL followed the panel discussions. He emphasised the possibility for Luxembourg to become a startup ecosystem and noted that the danger of not enabling this is losing talent abroad, in the United States and beyond.

Lastly, Magnus Lindkvist, trendspotting futurologist and Author, held a keynote speech exploring the potential for radical transformations countries can undergo with the right mindsets and seized opportunities. He discussed the Global Turbulence Index, indicating our current “unique” times, and likened today's transformative potential to a "Kansas Moment" where unexpected opportunities arise amidst chaos. The speech touched on the notion of "solastalgia," the discomfort with the present, and how AI, digital tokens and geopolitical events shape our world in unprecedented ways. Emphasising the importance of embracing boredom to create new ideas and risk-taking for innovation and competence, the speaker noted Sweden's recent entrepreneurial achievements and cultural contributions. He concluded that while the future remains “uncertain” and dynamic, it also offers immense opportunities, by creating a shift in power relationships. He added that, with imaginative resourcefulness and a little risk-taking, countries can thrive and capitalise even on turbulent times.

A networking cocktail followed.