ABBL Institutional
ABBL Annual General Meeting highlights resilience and competitiveness
Published on 06 May 2026
Resilience, competitiveness and collective action at the heart of ABBL’s 2026 Annual General Meeting.
Summary
The ABBL held its 2026 Annual General Meeting on 7 May, bringing together members and stakeholders to discuss the outlook for Luxembourg’s financial centre in an increasingly demanding environment.
Discussions focused on competitiveness, resilience, innovation and digital transformation, as well as the sector’s ability to adapt to geopolitical uncertainty and regulatory change. The meeting also marked the publication of the ABBL Annual Report 2025.
A resilient sector in a changing environment
Despite a more challenging economic and financial context, Luxembourg’s banking sector continues to demonstrate resilience and adaptability.
Luxembourg’s financial centre continues to benefit from a highly diversified and international banking ecosystem, serving both domestic clients and global markets.
Presentations during the General Meeting highlighted several key developments observed in 2025:
- Stable employment levels across the banking sector
- Continued diversification of banking and financial services activities
- A more demanding operating environment linked to geopolitical uncertainty and evolving monetary conditions
- Growing pressure on competitiveness, costs and regulatory requirements
While banking profits remained at a high level overall, the sector has entered a new phase marked by lower interest margins, increasing operating costs and heightened expectations in terms of innovation, governance and resilience.
Competitiveness, innovation and resilience at the core of ABBL priorities
The discussions also highlighted the ABBL’s continued commitment to supporting Luxembourg’s financial centre through advocacy, coordination and collective initiatives.
Over the past year, the Association pursued several strategic priorities, including:
- Contributing to the debate on smarter and more proportionate financial regulation in Europe
- Supporting the sector’s digital transformation, cybersecurity and operational resilience
- Advancing work on instant payments, artificial intelligence and innovation
- Promoting financial education, employability and talent development
- Strengthening collaboration between financial institutions and public authorities
The ABBL also continued to expand its role as a platform for expertise and dialogue across the financial sector.
In 2025:
- 267 corporate members contributed to the Association’s activities
- Around 3,000 experts participated in ABBL committees and working groups
- 50 events were organised throughout the year
- 22 opinion papers were submitted on European and national consultations
Competitiveness as a strategic priority for Europe
Competitiveness emerged as one of the central themes of the discussions, both at Luxembourg and European level.
The ABBL continues to advocate for a regulatory framework that preserves financial stability while enabling banks to finance growth, innovation and Europe’s strategic priorities more effectively.
This includes work on:
- smarter and more proportionate regulation
- reducing market fragmentation
- supporting digitalisation and innovation
- strengthening the European banking sector’s global competitiveness
Read the ABBL’s proposals to reinforce the competitiveness of the EU banking sector.
A strong and diverse governance structure
The Annual General Meeting also marked several developments within the ABBL’s governance bodies, reflecting the diversity and international nature of Luxembourg’s financial centre.
The Association welcomed new representatives to its Board of Directors across a broad range of banking and financial services activities, including retail banking, private banking, corporate and institutional banking, fintech, consulting and international banking groups.
The discussions also highlighted the strong engagement of ABBL members in the Association’s governance and activities, reinforcing the ABBL’s role as a collective platform representing the diversity of Luxembourg’s financial sector.
The General Meeting further approved the election of a new Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors.
“Competitiveness and resilience require collective action”
The Association also underlined the importance of maintaining an attractive and stable framework capable of supporting sustainable growth, investment and innovation across the financial centre.
In an increasingly complex environment, preserving the competitiveness and resilience of Luxembourg’s banking sector requires collective action, innovation and long-term vision.
Yves Stein
Chairman of the ABBL
Looking ahead
While 2026 is expected to bring a more demanding environment for the banking sector, discussions during the Annual General Meeting highlighted Luxembourg’s strong fundamentals and capacity to adapt to structural transformation.
Competitiveness, innovation, operational resilience and talent attraction are expected to remain key priorities for both the sector and the Association in the years ahead.
In this evolving environment, the ABBL will continue to advocate for a balanced framework supporting growth, innovation and long-term competitiveness.
Sandrine Roux
Secretary General, ABBL
Published on 06 May 2026