Delano: The ABBL is turning 85 this year. What can you tell us about its origin story?

Yves Stein: In 1939, ten banks came together and decided to establish an association to better represent their common interests. No doubt a legitimate approach for any industry. It should also be noted that the law on associations had just been passed a few years earlier in 1928.

Although we had already had a stock exchange since 1929 and some banks already had cross-border activities, it would have been premature to speak of a “Luxembourg financial centre” as such back in 1939. The evolution from what was initially a banking centre into a fully-fledged financial centre only properly began in 1963 with the arrival of Eurobonds. Back in 1939, however, the Luxembourg economy was still predominantly characterised by steel and agriculture. And yet, bankers’ willingness to join forces and set up the ABBL suggests that the seeds of today’s financial centre were already being planted 85 years ago.

The Second World War interrupted the initial impetus of this group, which then reorganised itself to gradually become the voice of the sector. At the end of 1947, the association's activities focused on organising--with the support of the Chamber of Commerce--the first training courses for banking staff and, from the 1960s onwards, on negotiating collective agreements with union representatives. The increasing internationalisation of the financial centre gradually transformed this association, which initially focused on purely Luxembourg issues, into a group defending the interests of the financial centre both at home and abroad.

What’s something about the ABBL’s history that few people know?

I think that our name, Association des Banques et des Banquiers, hides a little the place we occupy within the ecosystem of the financial centre and does not sufficiently convey the diversity of the professions we represent.

Today, the ABBL represents banking services in the broadest sense, i.e. not only banks, but also payment services, investment firms, fintechs, consultancy and audit firms, law firms, etc. As of 2023, more than 50% of our 280 members and associate members are no longer banks.

What’s the biggest mistake that the ABBL has ever made?

I would not so much talk of a mistake than of a regret. I regret our inability to instil in our fellow citizens the same pride for the financial centre that they once held for the steel industry, despite its remarkable international success.

We haven’t effectively been able to convey either the nobility of our profession or its usefulness to society.

That’s why one of the first objectives I set the ABBL team when I took office was to strive for a banking sector our children aspire to work in.

This article first appeared in the Summer 2024 issue of Delano magazine.