CATAPULT:
Future Foundation

The LHoFT’s Catapult: Future Foundation Program is a strategic initiative designed to address the most significant challenges and opportunities in the Luxembourg financial services industry.

Our mission is to foster the development and deployment of technology platforms that serve mutualised objectives, essentially creating shared utilities for collective benefit.

Drawing from industry insights, we identify and systematically address each pressing issue. We invite Fintech and Tech firms to propose innovative solutions based on clearly defined requirements. The most promising contenders are selected to participate in an immersive one-week bootcamp in Luxembourg.

This intensive programme culminates in the selection of a winning solution, which we support for deployment across Luxembourg institutions.

Guiding this initiative is our distinguished Steering Committee, comprising executives from all associations representing Luxembourg’s finance industry.

This collaborative approach underscores our commitment to harnessing collective expertise to drive innovation and growth for Luxembourg.

The Steering Committee

The Steering Committee sets the vision, goals, and objectives of the program, reviews and approves requirements and criteria, and monitors the progress and outcomes.

Hind El Gaidi

Head of Luxembourg, ICG
- - -
Chair Person

Ananda Kautz

Head of Innovation, Payments & Sustainability - Member of the Management Board of ABBL
- - -
Vice - Chair Person

Nasir Zubairi

Chief Executive Officer, Luxembourg House of Financial Technology

Jean Elia

Chief Executive Officer, SOGELIFE S.A.

Loïc Le Foll

Chief Executive Officer La Mondiale Europartner, AG2R LA MONDIALE

Cara Browne

Head of Relationship Management, Conducting Officer UCI Administration, EQT Group

Esther Bauer

Strategy & Corporate Development Team Leader, Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL)

Joseph E. Hendry, III

Principal and Country Head, BBH in Luxembourg

Frank Mausen

Partner, Allen & Overy

Holger von Keutz

Partner, PwC

Pierre Schoonbroodt

Chief Financial Officer & Member of the Executive Committee, Luxembourg Stock Exchange

Sinan Sar

Managing Director United International Management S.A.

Alan Dundon

President L3A; Relationship Manager & Executive Sponsor, Alter Domus

The Steering Committee Observers

Natasha Deloge

Deputy Head of the Innovation, Payments, Markets Infrastructures and Governance Department, CSSF

Pierre Oberle

Sustainable finance and financial centre development advisor, Ministry of Finance.

How
It Works

The Steering Committee, assisted by the LHoFT’s dedicated program team, define and prioritise a set of challenges/opportunities that are faced by a large group of financial services’ actors whereby a shared utility, a “mutualised solution”, would add value.
Working with industry experts and the steering committee, the addressable priority is broken down into a SMART objective that forms the basis for the next edition of the Catapult: Future Foundations program.
Detailed business requirements are written and agreed upon, working with industry stakeholders. The business requirements are approved by the steering committee.
Luxembourg has built up a very supportive and strong startup ecosystem including easy access to public and private decision makers, incubation facilities, a balanced mix of public and private funds, the presence of major international players as key potential partners.

A “call for applications”, based on the business requirements, is launched inviting proposals that address the requirements.
Proposals are assessed and the top proposals are selected to participate in a one-week bootcamp in Luxembourg working with the industry to discuss and refine proposed solutions.
Final proposals are submitted, assessed by an expert Jury and a winning proposal is chosen.
The LHoFT program teamwork with the winning company to finalise the development of the solution, run a PoC with Luxembourg institutions and eventually deploy the commercial platform across the industry.

Catapult

The LHoFT's Catapult: Future Foundation

Facing multifaceted challenges in AML, KYC, IT security, and ESG, financial institutions and their clients are in a complex interplay of compliance, inefficiency,
and data privacy concerns.

The Steering Committee have pinpointed four key clusters that the Catapult: Future Foundations program
will focus on.

The
Key Priorities

THE KEY PRIORITIES

AML/KYC

KYC – a centralised “clearing” platform for customer documentation.
KYC – a customer document exchange
KYC – a technology-driven solution to foster the creation of an industry-wide benchmark for KYC processes
AML – AI-Enhanced Transaction Oversight and Reporting

Data

Secure regulatory reporting and information exchange facilitating standardisation
Secure data/document exchange between entities

Cloud Security

Cloud management solutions guaranteeing data protection and operational excellence.
Open-source vulnerability data sharing
Mutualized cybersecurity standards and certifications

ESG

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) data collection, verification, storage, exchange, and reporting.
Certification of energy consumption data aligned with ESG principles.

Why?

Our program is dedicated to the development and implementation of mutualised technology platforms for the Luxembourg Financial Services sector. Its primary mission is to establish collaborative utilities that deliver collective advantages.

Who?

Technology companies of all shapes and sizes. We aim to select a minimum of five applications to participate in the intensive one-week bootcamp.

What?

The program’s scope encompasses industry-specific challenges and opportunities. Each edition will place a distinct focus on enhancing operational efficiency and ensuring compliance.

When?

The inaugural edition of our Program will occur in 2024.

How?

Our program team will collaborate closely with Luxembourg’s financial services associations and a diverse spectrum of financial services stakeholders to meticulously gather solution requirements. These requirements will guide the application requirements for the program.