Electronic payments firm PayPal has expanded its regional headquarters in Luxembourg.

The company, which is a unit of US-based online retailer EBay, first set up shop in the Grand Duchy seven years ago. On Wednesday, finance minister Luc Frieden helped PayPal officially inaugurate its revamped offices on Boulevard Royal.

Frieden later said on his Twitter feed that he was “delighted that PayPal is consolidating its presence in #Luxembourg”.

“As of Dec 31st PayPal was the 10th largest bank in Luxembourg in terms of capital”, a company spokesman told Delano on Wednesday after the ceremony.

He reported that: “we have around 70 PayPal employees, including the senior management team for Europe, Middle East and Africa” working at the firm’s  Luxembourg City office, which the spokesman said “have been extensively refurbished from their original bricks and mortar bank incarnation.”

Hiring plans

“We do intend to appoint more people to work in Luxembourg over the coming year,” he added.

In addition, the PayPal spokesman noted that: “sister company EBay Marketplaces also has a number of entities based in Luxembourg, while [online ticket exchange] StubHub, another EBay company is also applying for a license to run its European operations from Luxembourg.”

“Luxembourg is the engine room of PayPal’s European growth,” Rupert Keeley, head of PayPal’s Europe, Middle East and Africa operations, said in a press statement on Wednesday.

Keeley added that: “the celebration today recognizes the success of our investment in Luxembourg and our intention to continue building from here for many years to come.”