Minister of Finance Gilles Roth travelled to London from 20 to 22 March 2024 as part of a financial mission to further strengthen ties with the United Kingdom.
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(fr. l. to r.) Gilles Roth, Minister of Finance ; Bim Afolami, Economic Secretary to the Treasury and Minister for the London Financial Centre
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(fr. l. to r.) Keith Bottomley Deputy Policy Chairman at City of London Corporation ; Gilles Roth, Minister of Finance
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Gilles Roth, Minister of Finance
The bilateral meeting with Bim Afolami, Economic Secretary to the Treasury and Minister in charge of London's financial centre, focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation and the respective priorities of the two countries in the field of financial services. In this context, Minister Roth emphasised that "our financial centres are among the most international in the world, while being highly complementary. For decades, Luxemburg has been acting as a hub for fund distribution and asset management for UK fund managers. What's more, as major financial centres, Luxembourg and the UK are ideally positioned to help mobilise private capital for the green transition. This is one of the areas in which we want to strengthen our cooperation.
Whilst in the UK, the Minister took the opportunity to meet senior executives from the UK financial sector. The various players emphasised that Luxembourg plays a key role in their European strategy and that they will continue to develop and expand their activities in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Gilles Roth reiterated: "Developing our financial centre and our innovation ecosystem is a priority for this government. It is therefore crucial to ensure a propitious environment for the financial sector to innovate and seize new opportunities, including in the area of hedge funds and digital assets."
The Minister also held discussions with the City of London Corporation and representatives of financial institutions in London on the challenges facing the financial sector in the UK and the EU in the current macroeconomic and geopolitical environment, as well as the main trends and opportunities in financial services.
The Minister of Finance also attended an event organised by Luxembourg for Finance (LFF), which brings together professionals from the financial sector, where he emphasised; "The UK and Luxembourg are among the most internationalised economies in the world and home to leading financial centres. Luxembourg recognises the need to have open and interconnected financial markets on a global level in order to provide the best services to our companies and our citizens".
Press release by the Ministry of Finance