Market Access & Operational Efficiency

Guiding Members Through Regulatory Market Access

Access to financial markets begins with regulatory authorisation. The ABBL supports its members in navigating this first critical step by:

• Monitoring licensing and supervisory requirements at both EU and local levels, including substance requirements, fit & proper assessments, and documentation standards.
• Providing practical guidance on compliance expectations, and helping institutions understand what is required to establish and grow operations in Luxembourg and across the EU.
• Maintaining close dialogue with supervisory authorities to ensure transparent, consistent, and proportionate interpretations of evolving rules.

This support framework empowers members to enter and operate in the market with clarity and legal certainty.

Advocating for Efficient and Secure Market Infrastructure

The ABBL actively contributes to regulatory dialogue on market infrastructure frameworks that impact the backbone of Europe’s financial system. We focus on:

• EMIR (European Market Infrastructure Regulation)
  Ensuring transparency in derivative markets, mitigating counterparty and operational risk, and reducing systemic vulnerabilities.

• CSDR (Central Securities Depositories Regulation)
  Harmonising and improving the efficiency and safety of securities settlement processes across the EU through stronger settlement discipline and infrastructure standards.

• SFD (Settlement Finality Directive)
  Strengthening legal certainty for settlement systems by ensuring that transfer orders and netting arrangements are final and irrevocable, particularly in times of market stress.

Through these efforts, the ABBL helps maintain a level playing field and operational consistency for Luxembourg-based market participants across borders.

Driving Evolution in Payments Infrastructure

As the European payments ecosystem modernises, the ABBL plays a proactive role in shaping and supporting pan-European integration and regulatory coherence. Our work includes:

• Payment Services Directives (PSD2 and upcoming PSD3): promoting innovation, open banking, and security in retail and corporate payments.
• Instant Payments Regulation: supportingreal-time, pan-European payments.
• CESOP (Central Electronic System of Payment Information): helping members prepare for enhanced reporting of cross-border payments, in line with anti-fraud objectives.

We work closely with banks, PSPs, and public authorities to balance innovation with interoperability and security, ensuring that Luxembourg remains a trusted jurisdiction in European payments.

Supporting Digital Market Transformation and New Instruments

The ABBL closely follows regulatory frameworks that enable the use of emerging technologies in financial market operations, while maintaining investor protection and systemic safeguards. Our focus areas include:

• DLT Pilot Regime: supporting members in experimenting with distributed ledger technology for trading and settlement of tokenised financial instruments under controlled conditions.
• Wholesale central bank money settlement: evaluating the design and implications of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for retail and wholesale financial services, ensuring it complements existing market infrastructure without crowding out innovation.
• EU retail digital euro: engaging in the ongoing dialogue around the European Central Bank’s digital euro project to ensure it meets consumer expectations, protects financial stability, and reinforces the role of banks in the digital payment ecosystem.

• Artificial intelligence in financial services: contributing to the development of trustworthy AI frameworks in the EU by supporting the implementation of the AI Act and helping members adopt responsible, explainable, and human-centric AI solutions in banking.
• Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA): assisting members in navigating MiCA compliance requirements and shaping a secure, innovation-friendly crypto-asset environment that fosters the expansion of banking servies and reinforces consumer trust.
• Cloud computing adoption: promoting secure, resilient, and compliant cloud usage by supporting financial institutions in implementing best practices inluding the ones related to sovereign cloud, aligning with EBA/ESAs guidelines, and leveraging cloud scalability for digital transformation.

By bringing expertise and practical input to regulators, the ABBL helps shape future-ready, technology-neutral regulatory approaches that enable safe adoption of innovation.