Press release

17 Feb 2022 Luxembourg, LU

Banking & Fintech: EY responds to market developments by pooling its resources

EY Luxembourg announces that it is bringing together its financial services for the banking and fintech sectors.

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Julien Delpy

EY Luxembourg Head of Markets and Communications

Experienced Business Development and Marketing professional. Passionate about business, people behind and their stories.

EY Luxembourg announces that it is bringing together its financial services for the banking and fintech sectors. A multi-disciplinary team with a unique set of skills, led by Gaël Denis and Bernard Lhoest, will now be at the service of players in these two sectors.

EY was a pioneer in Luxembourg in the field of financial services for companies specializing in financial technology, with the creation of a team dedicated to Fintech within the TMT (Technology, Media & Telecommunications) sector as early as 2011. At that time, the term "Fintech" mainly referred to payment and e-money players and was very focused on mobile payment and e-commerce payment solutions. Since then, the sector has undergone significant developments, particularly around payment, financing and blockchain technologies. The solutions offered today by Fintechs resemble what is offered in the banking world through financing solutions for example.

19 payment institutions and 12 electronic money institutions are currently established in the country, with all the dynamism they can bring to the financial center. These pure players, which are entering a new phase of expansion, have business models and regulatory requirements that are increasingly converging with the banking sector, bringing the two industries closer together.

With 125 well-established banks in Luxembourg, traditional banks provide the stability and market knowledge that Fintechs need to sustain their business. Conversely, Fintechs will be a key partner in accelerating the digital transformation of banks through the adoption and implementation of new technologies such as blockchain, which promise to have a significant impact on the financial sector in the coming decade.

EY Luxembourg is a key partner for Luxembourg’s banks, but also for Fintechs. With significant market shares in Audit, Advisory and Tax, EY is now ready to evolve its services to better respond to client needs and market developments, including future regulatory changes.

It is on the basis of this deep knowledge of both worlds that the firm has made the decision to merge its teams internally to create a pool of around 100 multi-disciplinary talents with a unique skill set in the market.

Bernard Lhoest, Partner, Banking and Capital Markets Leader, comments: "Fintech is seen as a challenger, sometimes even a rival to the traditional banking sector. The two worlds are in fact complementary, with the requirement for quality of customer - and/or user - service as well as regulatory and governance requirements in common. EY Luxembourg intends to use its expertise to anticipate the trends of a market that is leaning more towards convergence than rivalry - convinced by the added value that these two worlds can bring to each other.”

Gaël Denis, Partner, TMT Leader, adds: "This rapprochement does not deny the cultural specificities of these two worlds. On the contrary, EY's ambition is to nurture them by enabling its talents to get the best out of both worlds. Beyond the synergies to be generated, it is a question of capturing the energy of a market to recycle it and enrich the dynamics of the market.”