The Bank of London announces it has submitted its formal application for a European Union (EU) Banking Licence and “commits to €200M investment and hiring 300 people in Luxembourg over the next five years.”
The formal application has been jointly “lodged with the European Central Bank and Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) in Luxembourg.”
Formally establishing a base in the EU enables The Bank of London to support businesses in the world’s largest single market and trading bloc.
The €200M investment in Luxembourg and across the wider EU “will help power the bank’s EU growth and the creation of 300 new jobs including management, compliance, risk, product development and business control, technology and operations.”
Commenting on The Bank of London’s choice of Luxembourg, Head of Luxembourg for Finance, Nicolas Mackel, said:
“The choice by The Bank of London is an enrichment for Luxembourg’s financial services ecosystem and testimony to its attractiveness for such a technology-based operator.”
Guy Hoffman, Chairman of The Bankers’ Association in Luxembourg, said:
“Luxembourg’s digital technology programme was specifically set up to help businesses and consumers and the potential for The Bank of London’s unique offering is enormous.”
The Bank of London, powered by its patented technologies, “has a unique business model that actively protects its depositors’ funds by never lending, leveraging or investing these deposits.”
By choosing Luxembourg as its EU headquarters, there is an exciting opportunity “to offer Luxembourg and the broader EU market a new global digital clearing ecosystem for financial institutions and corporate commercial clients.”
Norbert Becker, Chairperson of the European Union region for The Bank of London, said:
“This is a major milestone for our business and follows the foundation established in the UK. Luxembourg is perfectly positioned to play a key role in driving the bank’s European business forward, and ensuring Luxembourg is the centre of clearing for the EU.”
Anthony Watson, Group Chief Executive & Founder of The Bank of London, said:
“Luxembourg is the logical choice for us to build out our offering across the EU, and marks the latest step in our international growth strategy and follows the successful rollout of our banking solutions across the UK.”
The Bank of London boasts Luxembourg-based Mangrove Capital Partners as one of its key shareholders.
As noted in the update, The Bank of London is “a principal clearing bank of the United Kingdom and the only mass-commercial sovereign-system reserve bank in the world.”
The bank prioritises “the preservation of depositor’s money and market stability over credit risk or chasing high returns.”
As a mass-commercial sovereign-system reserve bank, The Bank of London does “not generate credit, liquidity, or investment risk.”
No depositors’ money is “ever loaned, leveraged, or invested.” All depositor’s money is “held in full and unencumbered at the Central Bank (Bank of England). 100% of depositor’s money is liquid and available upon demand, in-full, en masse.”