AGEFI Luxembourg - mai 2025

AGEFI Luxembourg 46 Mai 2025 Informatique financière F romniche curiosity toboard- roompriority: crypto-assets have completed their remark- able journey intoLuxembourg’s financialmainstream, according to the third annual Crypto-assets Management Survey releasedon April 22 bybyThe LHoFT Foundation andPwCLuxembourg. The findings reveal a financial sec- tor undergoingprofound transfor- mation, with 81%of respondents nowviewing crypto-assets as strate- gically important for Luxembourg’s financial future – up from71%just two years ago. Thestudy,whichsurveyedover130finan- cial industry professionals with support from ALFI, ABBL – The Luxembourg Bankers’ Association, and the Luxembourg Blockchain Lab, captures a dramatic shift inmarket outlook: -Halfoftherespondentsbelievetheglobal crypto-assetsmarkethasreacheditsinflec- tionpoint - Only 19% still view crypto as a niche market, down dramatically from 44% in 2023 - Customer demand has more than dou- bled since the previous survey Perhaps most telling is the explosive growth in retail banking interest, which skyrocketed from a mere 5% in 2023 to 30% this year—signalling crypto-assets’s breakthrough into mainstream financial services. “The crypto-assets landscape in Luxembourgisshowingsignsofpromise. Compared to the previous edition of the survey, which took place during the so- called ‘crypto winter’ of early 2023, this edition shows growing interest in crypto- assets among all segments of the Luxembourg financial centre. This shift is partly driven by the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) which established a robust regulatory frame- workthatprotectsinvestorsandpromotes market integrity. Looking ahead, the sur- vey’s findings are clear: Luxembourg has the potential to become a key jurisdiction for serious crypto-asset service providers under MiCA.”, explained Dariush Yazdani,PwCPartnerandHeadofGlobal AWM&ESGResearchCentre. Tokenisation leads the charge The report highlights tokenisation as the driving force behind institutional adop- tion, with nearly half (47%) of respon- dents already offering or planning to offer tokenised products. Industry pro- fessionals cited instant settlement (80%) and round-the-clock trading (60%) as the most transformative features of these new assets. Oriane Kaesmann, Research Manager at The LHoFT, noted: “Tokenisation marks adeepstructuralevolutioninfinance.The underlying infrastructure shows that this system is truly interoperable at a global level. Round-the-clock markets are no longernovelties,theyarethenewnormal; and institutions internalising this shift are positioning themselves to lead the capital markets in the next decade.” ChallengesRemain Despite the optimism, significant hurdles persist. Limited local expertise (64%) and concerns about internal risk appetite and reputation (63%) continue to slow wider adoption. While infrastructure maturity has improved, with those viewing it as insufficient dropping from 73% to 59%, technological gaps remain. The implementation of MiCA regulation represents both a challenge and opportu- nity, with over half of respondents con- ducting gap analysis and 21% actively pursuing Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) licensing. Nasir Zubairi, CEOof TheLHoFT: “This year’s survey confirms that crypto-assets are moving from the periphery into the heart of financial strategy. Luxembourg is exceptionally well-placed to lead— our regulatory pragmatism, cross-bor- der expertise, and infrastructure are built for this transition. With tokenisa- tion gaining ground andMiCAoffering the clarity institutions need, we are poised to seize the opportunity. We must continue to foster talent, build con- fidence, and act with strategic purpose to secure Luxembourg’s role at the fore- front of this digital era.” ThefullreportisavailablefordownloadfromTheLHoFT website :https://lc.cx/ccFr2x Luxembourg financial sector embraces digital revolution T echSense Summit held on Tuesday,April 22, 2025, at DSquare, Deloitte Luxem- bourgmainbuilding, gathering 200 attendees. During this confer- ence, leading experts fromLuxem- bourg’s tech ecosystemshed light on the future of IT infrastructure in the hands of artificial intelligence (AI), exploring how this technol- ogy is reshaping services to be faster andmore efficient. The innovation and evolution of ITman- agement infrastructure is unstoppable. This Summit focused on clearing the fog over the relevance of AI’s intervention in IT infrastructure and the foundations of AI-driven IT infrastructure, operations, data as “the core of AI”, security & ethics inAI-drivenITandthesustainabilityofAI froma greenworldperspective. Theplenaryconferencekickedoffwithan opening speech by Summit moderator EricMansuy, GroupHeadofOperations, IT&Real Estate at Quintet Private Bank - THECIO25.Inafewwords,Ericlaunched thefirsteditionof2025TechSenseSummit, revealingdetailsoftheupcomingsessions, and introducing the first speaker. Keynotes fromsponsors: Insights onAI services, implementation and the sovereignty challenge Maurice Schubert, Partner, and Sébastien Genco, Partner at Deloitte Luxembourg took the stage for the first keynote, focus- ingontherevolutionarytransformationof Silicon Infrastructures toAI-based IT ser- vices and their foundations. The Deloitte Partners addressed the challenging issue of technological sovereignty, highlighting Europe’splan to invest heavily in this sec- tor. This independence, they noted, has become crucial and existential from all perspectives. The moderator then brought Audric Lhoas, Head of Product Management at Proximus NXT Luxembourg, onto stage to share with attendees crucial lessons fromreal-world business life. He explain- ed and clarified the strategies for AI and Data implementation,AI-powered ITop- erations,andAIOps.“AIdoesn’tmakeyou smarter;itisjustamathematicalmodel,an enabler.It’suptohumanstojudgewhatis correct and what is not”. With these words, Audric aimed to raise awareness for the right andwrong uses ofAI. Before pursuing, adding that to be an enable, AI needs data, which is “the fuel ofAI”. Yannis Nakos, Strategic Business Devel- opmentManageratNSILuxembourg,de- liveredaspeechrevealingthekeycompo- nentsandtheperfectcombinationforeffi- cient, compliant, and sovereignAI. Sailing through theAI era: Key insights for the future of IT In the next session, Manuel Fischer, Di- rector Global IT at Amazon Operations, outlined another side of the paradigm, showing the audience how AI agents will transform IT management. He shared examples fromAmazon’s opera- tions and discussed how this transfor- mation has shaped the company’s present and future.Manuel summedup the journey of this evolution with the words “Fail fast but act on it”. MichaelKeusgen,CEOofEllaMediaAG, brought an inspiring and engaging per- spective, focusing on the importance of findingtherightAIAgentstomanage,en- suring that they align with principles of sustainability and environmental respon- sibility. He then emphasized the signifi- cance of learning how to handle AI: “Be awareofwhatyoucandowithAI.Itisnot justasimpletool;itisanadaptivetechnol- ogy. Your processwill change and sowill yourwhole company andorganization”. Final round table: BalancingAI, sustainability and sovereignty Thesummitconcludedwitharoundtable discussionmoderatedbySébastienGenco, Partner at Deloitte Luxembourg. The ses- sion featured industry experts Yannick Huchard, CTO at BIL, Nataliia Iskra, Di- rectorandHeadofSecurityITatDeutsche Börse Group, Maxime Dehaut, Head of AI-based Product Development at Lux- embourg Stock Exchange, and Sofia Pogrebynska, IT Officer and Cloud Offi- cer at PayPal Europe. They shared valu- able insights and perspectives while discussing the impact of AI on IT infras- tructures and services. NataliiaIskrasharedhercaptivatingview- point on finding the right balance for an organization, stating:“The right balance lies betweenAI and human judgement”. She added: “AI gives us scale, humans give us sense”. Sofia Pogrebynska noted that “AI needs to be trustworthy, and our decisionsmust be explainable”. Maxime Dehaut addressed the question of whether AI and sustainability can co- exist,emphasizingthecrucialroleofthree pillars embedded to succeed: “Planet, People,Prosperity”.YannickHuchardac- knowledged: “Sovereignty in terms of datamust be tied to sustainability. If you want to invest, you need to understand the real cost”. ThefiftheditionoftheTechSenseSummit eventprovidedanopenstageforspeakers from the same industry, yet with diverse andrefinedexperienceswithin the ITsec- tor.Theexpertsofferedattendeesaunique opportunity to explore the various layers ofthisfast-evolvingfield,deliveringexclu- sive insights, ideas, and a comprehensive overviewoftheneweraofAIintervention in the IT infrastructure domain. Source: TechSense Highlights from the TechSense Summit 2025 Shaping the future of ITwithAI ©TechSense L a Luxembourg Space Agency et la BEI en- tendent soutenir une utilisation accrue des don- nées satellitaires dans le do- maine financier. Le nouveau programme pilote de re- cherche-développement sera dirigé par la LSAavec le soutiende la BEI. Le parte- nariat vise à renforcer l'auto- nomie stratégique de l'Europe enmatière de don- nées spatiales liées aux transactions financières. L'agence spatiale luxembour- geoise (Luxembourg Space Agency - LSA) et la Banque euro- péenne d'investissement (BEI) ont annoncé le 15 mai une collabora- tion visant une intégration plus poussée des applications spatiales européennesdanslesecteurfinan- cier. Une telle intégration bénéfi- ciera in fine notamment aux domainesde labanqued'investis- sement et de l'assurance. L'initia- tive«Spaceforfinance»metàpro- fit les atouts de l'Europe dans les applications pour l'observationde laTerreetlanavigation.Sonobjec- tifestd'améliorerleseffortsdesen- treprises de services financiers en matière de publication d'informa- tionetdedurabilitégrâceàdesso- lutions satellitaires innovantes. Àtitred'exemple,lessatellitespeu- ventcollecteràintervallesréguliers des données sur l'environnement et le climat. Cette couverture aide lesentreprisesàsuivrelesrésultats de leurs sites ainsi qu'à prévoir et gérer les risques, tout en facilitant les comparaisons entredifférentes implantations et activités. Dans le cadre de cette collabora- tion, le programme pilote de re- cherche-développementexplorera tout le potentiel de l'utilisation de l'imagerie satellitaire et d'autres donnéesspatialespourlesuivides projets et l'évaluation des inci- dences.Desprojetspilotesconcrets serontmisenœuvreàcetitre.Cela donnera lieu au lancement d'un appel àprojetsdestinéauxacteurs du secteur. L'initiative, signée ce jour à Luxembourg, vise à renfor- cer l'intégration de données satel- litaires dans les pratiques financières et bénéficiera in fine à des secteurs tels que la banque d'investissement et l'assurance. RobertdeGroot,vice-présidentde laBEI : «L'espacene se limiteplus à l'exploration, il s'agit de plus en plus de semontrer innovant pour apporter des solutions concrètes. Notre partenariat avec la Luxem- bourgSpaceAgencynouspermet d'utiliserlapuissancedesdonnées satellitairespouraméliorerlesuivi financieretstimulerledéveloppe- mentdurable.Ensemble,nousex- plorerons et redéfinirons la manièredontlesapplicationsspa- tiales peuvent renforcer l'autono- mie stratégique de l'Europe et aider le secteur financier à bâtir une économie plus résiliente et tournée vers l'avenir. » LexDelles,ministredel'Économie, desPMEetdel'ÉnergieetduTou- risme : «Le secteur spatial stimule l'innovationetlacroissanceécono- mique au Luxembourg et dans toute l'Europe. Il joue également unrôledéterminantpournotresé- curitédansunmondeenmutation rapide. La collaboration nouée avec la Banque européenne d'in- vestissementillustrenotreengage- ment à mettre les technologies spatiales au service de la société et du secteur financier. Ce partena- riat témoigne de notre volonté de soutenir l'innovation. Dans ce cadre, nous nous assurons que les activités spatiales en Europe sont durables, sûres et compétitives au bénéfice de tous et toutes. » Source : ministère de l'Économie / Luxembourg Space Agency / EIB La Luxembourg SpaceAgency et la BEI unissent leurs forces (de g. à dr.)Marc Serres, CEOde la Luxembourg SpaceAgency ; Robert de Groot, vice-président de la BEI ©BEI