Standard Chartered officially inaugurated its new office in Luxembourg on 1 July 2025, establishing a foothold in the grand duchy’s financial sector as it seeks to scale its digital asset services across the EU.

Located in the Hamilius district on Boulevard Royal, the Luxembourg entity was set up in January 2025 and forms part of the British bank’s wider strategy to serve institutional clients in the crypto custody space. Speaking to Paperjam, Laurent Marochini, CEO of Standard Chartered Luxembourg, confirmed that the entity has been registered as a virtual asset service provider (Vasp) since 16 December 2024 and is currently pursuing a full markets in crypto-assets (Mica) licence.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Luxembourg finance minister Gilles Roth (CSV) described the move as “a clear show of trust in our financial centre” and praised the bank’s approach to digital finance. “With this licence, you are defining what institutional-level digital asset custody should look like in Europe: compliant, resilient and trusted,” Roth said in a Linkedin post, offering special recognition to Marochini as “a leader in digital finance”.

Marochini said Luxembourg was an obvious choice for Standard Chartered’s EU crypto operations due to its “well-balanced regulatory and financial environment,” calling the jurisdiction “unique when it comes to innovation, finance and trust”. He added that the country served as an ideal gateway for meeting growing institutional demand for digital asset custody services under the bloc’s evolving regulatory framework.

The Luxembourg office has launched with a team of three employees, supported by Standard Chartered’s wider financing and securities services teams across Europe and globally. Marochini confirmed that the local team is expected to grow over the next three months.