ABBL enters a new chapter as Jerry Grbic prepares to step down

Since 2022, the ABBL has continued to evolve in response to a rapidly changing financial sector and an increasingly diverse membership.

Working alongside the Management Board and the entire ABBL team, Jerry Grbic has helped drive this evolution, encouraging greater collaboration across areas of expertise, more agility and a stronger culture of initiative.

Today, these ways of working and the capabilities developed over recent years are firmly embedded within the organisation.

A more agile and connected ABBL

Many of the challenges facing financial institutions today no longer fit neatly within traditional sectoral boundaries. Digitalisation, payments, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, sustainability or competitiveness increasingly require different areas of expertise to work together.

The ABBL has therefore strengthened its cross-functional approach and its ability to mobilise expertise across the Association. The creation of the Innovation Cluster, bringing together expertise around some of the major transformations affecting financial services, is one example of this evolution.

Getting closer to members has been another important priority. More regular exchanges and visits, changes to the way the Association communicates and a renewed organisation of its Board have contributed to strengthening the dialogue between the ABBL and its members.

This evolution has been accompanied by a significant broadening of the Association’s membership. The ABBL has grown from 171 full members in 2021 to 215 today – an increase of more than 25% in five years.

This broader membership also reflects the growing diversity of Luxembourg’s financial ecosystem and strengthens the ABBL’s ability to represent its different components in its dialogue with authorities and stakeholders.

Working together as a financial centre

The ABBL has also strengthened its cooperation with other stakeholders across Luxembourg’s financial centre.

Collaboration with the ACA and ALFI has developed further, alongside closer cooperation with Luxembourg for Finance, reflecting a shared interest in strengthening the competitiveness and attractiveness of Luxembourg’s financial ecosystem.

At the same time, the ABBL has become increasingly engaged in challenges that extend beyond financial regulation alone.

Issues such as housing and access to talent directly affect Luxembourg’s economy, its companies and its citizens. The Association’s approach has been to contribute its expertise and that of its members to the search for solutions, based on the conviction that the financial sector should not simply respond to Luxembourg’s economic and societal challenges, but should actively contribute to addressing them.

A collective transformation

For Jerry Grbic, the progress achieved over the past years is first and foremost the result of a collective effort involving the ABBL’s teams, its members and the many professionals who contribute their expertise to the Association’s work.

Yves Stein also highlighted Jerry Grbic’s personal contribution to the Association, in particular his ability to listen, build consensus and negotiate – qualities that have been particularly valuable in the ABBL’s role as a social partner.

Preparing the next chapter

Jerry Grbic will remain fully engaged as CEO until the end of October to ensure an orderly transition and the continuity of the Association’s activities.

The ABBL Board of Directors has initiated the process to appoint his successor.

The Association enters this transition on solid foundations: with an experienced Management Board and team, stronger cross-functional capabilities, closer relationships with its members and strengthened cooperation across Luxembourg’s financial centre.

The ABBL’s strategic priorities and ongoing work remain unchanged.

The search for the next CEO will seek to identify a leader capable of building on these foundations while bringing new experience, ideas and impetus. Ideally, the successful candidate will combine solid banking experience with a strong anchoring in Luxembourg’s financial ecosystem, together with the ability to federate a diverse membership and organisation.

The next CEO will therefore join a strong and experienced Association, ready to build on what has been achieved collectively and take the ABBL into the next stage of its development.