(L-R): Alex Lawrence; Oliver Schimek; Laure Morsy; Mark Schmitz; Minister Pierre Gramegna; Holger von Keutz; Alex Panican; Cees Vermaa; Olivier Seli;

On Thursday 22 February 2018, CrossLend, with the support of the lux future lab and the LHoFT Foundation, held a conference titled “The Role of Luxembourg & FinTech in Securitisation” at the BGL BNP Paribas Auditorium, with more than 350 registered guests, among them banking executives, institutional investors and securitisation professionals.

After a welcome note from Olivier Selis, CEO of the lux future lab, Laure Morsy, COO of BGL BNP Paribas explained how the bank is supporting FinTech Innovation. Ms. Morsy added a personal note in support of CrossLend’s innovative approach to bridging the SME funding gap in Europe. 

Alex Lawrence, Managing Director of CrossLend in Luxembourg, then presented the company in a nutshell, focusing on how CrossLend’s business model aligns with the EU Commission’s plan to facilitate funding Europe’s collective future growth via a Capital Markets Union (“CMU”). The Commission has clear objectives to remove barriers to cross-border investment, to improve access to business-financing across Europe, to diversify how the various EU member states fund their respective economies and to develop various “high-quality” securitisation products with transparent and easy-to-understand structures. These objectives not only align with the potential inherent in CrossLend’s innovative securitisation solution, they also resonate with previous statements made by Pierre Gramegna, Luxembourg’s  Minister of Finance, that the CMU is “of the utmost importance” and that progress based on “transparent, simpler and better securitisations” needs to be made as quickly as possible.

Alex Panican, Head of Partnerships and Ecosystem at the LHoFT, moderated the subsequent panel discussion, titled “FinTech - a New Era for Securitisation”, with Oliver Schimek, CEO of CrossLend, Mark Schmitz, General  Partner at Lakestar, Cees Vermaas former CEO of CME Europe, Juha Lehtola, VC Investments Manager at the European Investment Fund and Holger von Keutz, Partner and Securitisation Leader at PwC. The open discussion covered a wide range of topics, spanning from Luxembourg as a FinTech hub and startup nation to CrossLend’s role in supporting the CMU vision and BGL BNP Paribas’ role supporting the FinTech ecosystem in Luxembourg.

The evening was concluded with a speech from honoured guest, H.E. Pierre Gramegna, Luxembourg’s Minister of Finance, discussing the diversity of Luxembourg’s FinTech ecosystem and the range of services offered by Luxembourg’s financial market. Mr. Gramegna is a staunch promoter of FinTech in Luxembourg and has been a strong supporter of the CrossLend journey.

Pierre Gramegna, Minister of Finance, Luxembourg declared: “Oliver Schimek, it is a pleasure to see you again, now in Luxembourg, after we met together in December in Berlin, where I got to know CrossLend, which we are celebrating here today as it opens its office in Luxembourg  They’ve chosen Luxembourg because, in terms of securitisation, we are the leader in Europe with 1,200 vehicles [...] and we can be proud of that [...]. Congratulations to CrossLend and all the best of success here in Luxembourg.”

Laure Morsy, COO of BGL BNP Paribas commented: “What CrossLend intends to do is really to put on the table the topic of creating a European Capital Market, and this is [...] a good reason to support the project [...] these are the topics of tomorrow, and we should give the means and attention to this issue [...]. I strongly support their project”.

Oliver Schimek, CEO & Founder of CrossLend commented: “It was a fantastic turn out and great to see more than 350 people registering from throughout the Luxembourg ecosystem and beyond - big names from across the industry, interested in the Capital Markets Union, funding for SMEs, and CrossLend in particular. CrossLend’s mission is to make the debt ecosystem more efficient, transparent and profitable - and Luxembourg is the perfect place to achieve that.”

Olivier Selis, CEO of the Lux Future Lab commented: “Over the last 5 years, we saw the Luxembourgish startups - and particularly the FinTech ecosystem - growing rapidly. It is very exciting to be part of this community and support a promising company such as CrossLend. By helping lenders to diversify and mitigate their risk at the single loan level, CrossLend will allow funds to flow to the real economy and unleash the true European economic potential.”

Alex Panican, Head of Partnerships and Ecosystem at the LHoFT added: “We at the LHoFT are thrilled to support CrossLend’s development - a promising FinTech company, revolutionising Europe’s lending market. CrossLend is a concrete example of how financial technology innovation benefits not only the industry but our daily life.”

Cees Vermaas, previous CEO CME Europe: “This technology opens new frontiers to overcome the obstacle for borrowers of a fragmented European capital market”