Robert Scharfe, CEO of LuxSE, shares how he imagines the financial world will change in the coming 10 years.

Q: Changing capital markets: what does it mean for your organisation ?

Robert Scharfe, CEO of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) : It means nimble players like us will have the upper hand or at least we believe so. We are an exchange unlike any other, we specialize in listing securities and data gathering and dissemination, which allows for diversification and flexibility.

We’ve seen the needs of issuers and investors constantly changing and we’re used to thinking ahead and anticipating coming trends. Most of the changes and adaptation efforts will revolve around technology and regulation. Blockchain, digital data, intelligent use of enriched data, artificial intelligence-enhanced automatic database feeding, all of these requiring a continuous update of regulatory frameworks. We need to take stock of all these trends and embrace them to remain competitive in terms of service delivery and costs.

We have to keep on moving, as our slogan – ‘always in motion’ – says. That’s what makes our job challenging and fascinating at the same time.

Q: How do you then see the evolution of sustainable finance and more specifically of the Luxembourg Green Exchange ?

Robert Scharfe : The financial sector has a tremendous role to play here, providing funding and pushing forward the agendas. Finance has to become sustainable, as well, and sustainable finance has to be the norm in the future rather than the exception.

LGX will leverage on the potential of FinTech and sustainability, two themes that fit perfectly together, to evolve into a global data hub, bridging the international market with large national markets, such as China and the US. We will develop LGX into a worldwide leader for the next phase of sustainable finance, which will be the mainstream phase. We will carry on our efforts to connect China with the international market and we expect our involvement with the big US operators to pay off soon.

I’m convinced that sustainable finance will be the norm ten years down the road, the same way as sustainable economies will be.

Q: You personally spend quite some time in China: how do you see the Chinese evolution ?

Robert Scharfe: China is still a developing country, but already the world’s second economy. Its technology and infrastructure advance at a very high pace – we are no longer dealing with a country known for its copy/paste technologies and second-hand machinery-based industry. China has understood the importance of a sustainable environment, supporting societal peace and economic development. We should look at China for inspiration.

Q: A final message for the audience at this celebratory moment ?

Robert Scharfe : I think the time has come to rethink our nation-branding slogan. We could move from “Luxembourg, Let’s make it happen” to “Sustainable Luxembourg, Let’s make it happen”.