“Good riddance--they were only there to create business opportunities for themselves!” The remark is blunt. Rarely in public, but much more often in private, the comment “welcomed” the departure of three of the Big Four (PwC, EY and KPMG) from the Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL). But obviously not at the ABBL this Thursday afternoon, where comments remained politically correct. Inevitably politically correct.

After a year of negotiations to secure a discount on their annual membership fees, the three firms have not even managed to dampen the ABBL’s positive momentum, which saw a net increase of 21 new members in 2025, comprising 116 banks (+1), 83 investment firms (-8), 18 payment firms (+2) and 13 e-money firms (+1).

“We have around 3,000 experts across our various working groups and clusters,” said the CEO of the ABBL, Jerry Grbic. “We carried out our own analysis and replaced the Big Four experts who left us with other experts. Lots of people came forward when the news was published! And we can see that this has absolutely no impact whatsoever in terms of quality, expertise or anything else.”

36 people and 3,000 experts to monitor… and anticipate

“Move along, there’s nothing to see here,” suggest the CEO’s aides. He does, however, offer an explanation. “It should also be made clear that we gave these three companies the opportunity to remain members at a different level. Discussions on this idea lasted a year, but we couldn’t offer them what they were expecting in financial terms. A very significant reduction. All the more significant when you consider that a consultancy firm of the same size as a bank already pays 60% less, to take into account the fact that a consultancy is not entirely focused on the banking sector. We have our own organisation and operating framework, and we must also respect our other members!”

Although the ABBL never provides details of its financial position or even the scale of these much-discussed membership fees, it acknowledges that the coming financial year will require it to be vigilant. “We have not accepted this significant reduction, even though it means a shortfall in membership fee income. We have sufficient reserves to absorb this impact this year and in the years to come. It is the management’s responsibility to ensure that the ABBL’s financial stability is maintained,” he adds, gesturing towards the three other people around the table, from left to right: General Secretary Sandrine Roux, Chairman of the Board Yves Stein and a member of the executive committee Ananda Kautz.

“There will be no shortage of expertise because other members will be contributing to our work. It is this diversity, in a way, that enables us to cope with this departure, which we regret. We would have preferred them to stay. But there are other players of equal stature who are staying on, who are continuing to work and contribute to these efforts,” reassures the CEO of the ABBL. And there are many such efforts.

In a European market where it is necessary to jostle with the major players, and where discussions cut across sectors, the Luxembourg association is seeking to cover all areas: resilience, cybersecurity, education, wealth management, instant payments, regulation and investment funds, reviving the housing market, attracting talent, account opening, employability, developing the Luxembourg toolbox with the High Committee of the Financial Centre, and promoting distributed ledgers and tokenisation. In no particular order. But with a clear direction. With a team of 36 people, including two and an intern in Brussels. And therefore with 3,000 market experts. But not including those from three of the Big Four. For now.