Magazine_BEAST_2017_Edition_8_complet
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16<br />
#Business | FinTech<br />
FINANCIAL LEADERSHIP<br />
…IN TECH TIMES!<br />
BY ALEXANDRE KEILMANN<br />
Luxembourg is known all over the world for its financial<br />
sector, mostly for being the largest European fund<br />
domicile and the second largest fund center in the world<br />
after the US. The country is also the host for one of the<br />
largest numbers of international banks, listed the first<br />
ever green bond to enter the market and more recently<br />
launched LGX, the world’s leading platform dedicated<br />
exclusively to securities that are 100% green, social<br />
or sustainable. Over the last fifteen years, the country<br />
also has seen the birth and development of hundreds of<br />
ICT companies and tech startups. Inevitably, these two<br />
domains of expertise mixed and merged to witness the<br />
rise of Financial Technologies, or FinTechs, which have<br />
now been transformed into more specific terms such as<br />
InsurTech, FundTech or RegTech. The list goes on and<br />
resulted in the creation of a dynamic ecosystem.<br />
© Shutterstock - SFIO CRACHO<br />
Banks, startups, associations, regulators and the government<br />
of Luxembourg, notably through the Digital Lëtzbuerg or the<br />
Infrachain initiatives, are investing and moving towards the same<br />
direction with the goal of boosting innovation in the finance<br />
sector. In late June, Minister of Finance Pierre Gramegna, along<br />
with Nicolas Mackel (CEO of Luxembourg For Finance) and Nasir<br />
Zubairi (CEO of the Luxembourg House of FinTech), promoted<br />
Luxembourg as a FinTech nation in California and stated: «I’m<br />
happy to see that our country is recognized by the Silicon Valley<br />
startups as a top-notch financial center and European FinTech<br />
hub».<br />
Treasury + Tech<br />
«Behind the scene, evolution brings more performance and<br />
capabilities» explains François Masquelier, President of ATEL,<br />
Senior Vice President & Head of Treasury and Enterprise Risk<br />
Management, RTL Group. As a matter of fact, treasurers are<br />
facing all of these evolutions and must take the best out of them<br />
and understand how to use them to better focus on their added<br />
value. «Recipients of all the cash flows of their organizations,<br />
they are particularly well-placed to witness those changes. The<br />
major challenge is to find his way in this jungle of new solutions<br />
and FinTech companies. IT standards are still missing, on<br />
e-payments, for example. It is also to convince top management<br />
of the accuracy and reliability of proposed solutions. Eventually,<br />
IT evolution offers opportunities but requires also some IT<br />
knowledge and resources for implementation» he adds.<br />
The transformation of insurance<br />
When it comes to digital and innovation, OneLife is probably one<br />
of the most active players in the life insurance sector, working<br />
with several startups to develop InsurTech and RegTech solutions.<br />
<strong>BEAST</strong> MAGAZINE #8<br />
The company is currently working on integrating the digital<br />
signature, a must-needed step to reach its digital objective. Since<br />
2016, this life-assurance specialist has repeatedly performed<br />
digital feats to deliver genuine added value to its partners but<br />
also to its staff in-house. Marc Stevens, its CEO, explains: «The<br />
move towards digital technology is one of our three priorities for<br />
<strong>2017</strong>. What is at stake, though, is not just technology, but human<br />
beings». According to Christophe Regnault, Digital Marketing<br />
Manager, «OneLife positions itself as a genuine digital-technology<br />
leader in the radically-changing life-assurance profession».<br />
From physical to digital payments<br />
Ghela Boskovich is the Head of FinTech and RegTech Partnerships,<br />
Startupbootcamp Fintech. She shared her expertise and vision<br />
during ICT Spring <strong>2017</strong>: «Why are we so attached to the payments<br />
systems that are currently in place? We have to innovate and<br />
to stand out of the legacy system». According to her, there<br />
are diverse perspectives like taking inspiration from emerging<br />
markets or e-commerce giants: «Apps like AliPay combine perfect<br />
integration with commerce, social and… payments. Diversity<br />
matters and we challenge every institution to make a change<br />
and not to be only based on legacy».<br />
Local mobile payments player Digicash Payments lately met with<br />
success and recently joined forces with Payconiq to establish<br />
a Benelux-wide presence of the mobile payments initiative.<br />
«DIGICASH continues to prove that FinTech partnerships are well<br />
and truly a reality today and that Luxembourg’s retail banking<br />
sector is one of the most innovative in Europe» highlighted<br />
Raoul Mulheims, CEO of Digicash. On the partnership with ING,<br />
he added, with Frédéric Kieffer, Head of Retail Banking at ING<br />
Luxembourg: «We are offering ING customers a cardless payment<br />
solution, which is truly innovative, easy to use, 100% secure and<br />
<strong>complet</strong>ely free».