The new National Centre of Excellence in Financial Technologies (NCER-FT) has been created to meet the needs of the financial sector. “As a leading future-oriented international financial centre, Luxembourg must have a state-of-the-art research environment that can match its level of ambition,” said Minister of Finance Yuriko Backes. “By focusing on cutting edge interdisciplinary research, the NCER-FT will play a key role in helping develop new talent in Luxembourg, support the competitiveness of our financial centre and strengthen our fintech ecosystem to drive the digital transformation of the Luxembourg financial sector.”
The centre will play a key role in helping develop new talent in Luxembourg, support the competitiveness of our financial centre and strengthen our fintech ecosystem.
Interdisciplinary approach to financial technologies
This interdisciplinary research approach remains rare in the world, but is essential for developing practical, sustainable solutions to the challenges of digitalisation in finance. This new initiative will strengthen Luxembourg’s position as an innovative financial hub by attracting talents and providing world-class research and education for the sector in Luxembourg. The NCER-FT research roadmap focuses on four topics:
- new frontiers for digital and automated finance,
- regulatory technology (regtech) and compliance by design,
- financial inclusion, as well as
- trust and security.
The centre is lead by researchers from the University of Luxembourg’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) and the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance. It has been created with co-funding from the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR), and with the support of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry of Finance.
Digital fintech solutions
The NCER-FT is dedicated to fostering the growth of digital finance in Luxembourg by leveraging advanced technologies. To this end, the initiative will strive to maintain an equilibrium between demand-driven research initiatives, real-world testing of research outcomes, and fundamental research endeavors that offer significant contributions towards long-term innovation.
ICT solutions that are secure, compliant, and trustworthy are a core component of the financial asset management and insurance sectors.
“ICT solutions that are secure, compliant, and trustworthy are a core component of the financial asset management and insurance sectors,” said Professor Yves Le Traon, leader of the NCER-FT and vice-director of SnT. “SnT and FDEF bring together expertise in these topics, including cybersecurity, blockchain, decentralised finance, Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, law, and finance. Together we will introduce exciting new directions for the financial industry to explore.”