From Madrid to Mudam: Sixth Spanish bank officially opens in Luxembourg

Cecabank has become the sixth Spanish bank to officially open an office in Luxembourg, with a reception at the Mudam contemporary art museum on Thursday evening.

Cecabank is a niche wholesale bank that primarily services financial services firms, and its main business in Luxembourg is depositary banking. The Luxembourg business, which has been operational since March, has five staff members, Brenda Bol, head of the Cecabank branch in the Grand Duchy, told the Luxembourg Times at the launch event.

“Spanish financial institutions serve clients across Europe and beyond via Luxembourg,” Gilles Roth, the Grand Duchy’s finance minister, said in a speech at the ceremony. “It is happening today across banking, asset management, insurance and capital markets. And this is a good thing because Europe needs deep, connected, resilient finance, because heightened geopolitical risks are the new baseline, because we must finance security.”

“The energy transition, digital infrastructure and competitiveness, at the same, requires scale, speed and trust in how capital moves across borders,” Roth said. “This is how we create growth together. And as Spain is one of Europe’s economic engines, Luxembourg can help channel savings into productive investments.”

There are now six Spanish banks operating in Luxembourg, Roth said, a number which is “growing.”

“Over seven Spanish [fund] promoters manage Luxembourg investment funds and in the capital markets, 33 Spanish issuers list their securities in Luxembourg, ” he said.

Roth noted that he visited Cecabank’s corporate headquarters in Madrid “less than two months ago,” because “it is very important to me to maintain such interpersonal relations with your leadership.”

While the reception on Thursday marked the “official opening of your bank,” Claude Marx, director general of Luxembourg’s financial regulator, the CSSF, noted that Cecabank started operations in the Grand Duchy in March. The bank “is already up and running,” Marx said in a speech. “It’s not just a plan or a promise, which is always good to see.”

“As the minister of finance just [pointed out] you are the sixth Spanish bank setting up shop in Luxembourg and I hope this is not the last one,” Marx said. “We currently have 118 banks operating in Luxembourg and we very much welcome you from a regulatory perspective.”

Depositary banks safeguard investment fund assets and track transactions on behalf of investors. Collectively, depositary banks in Luxembourg look after roughly €10 trillion in assets and employ more than 2,000 staff, according to figures from the Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL).

Cash accounts for alternative funds

Marx said that Cecabank will also be opening “cash accounts for entities like alternative funds.”

Fund sector professionals have long complained about delays and complications in opening bank accounts, telling the Luxembourg Times that it frequently takes three to six months and several rounds of paperwork to establish an account for a new fund. Banks have said they are interested in new business, but have regulatory requirements to fulfil before opening accounts and client paperwork is often incomplete.

“This is an issue in Luxembourg,” Marx said. “It’s an issue in other countries and with you coming into the market and offering cash accounts for these funds, you will be providing a solution to a problem and to the market and I would like to thank you for that.”

Starting its Luxembourg branch “represents a significant expansion for Cecabank and also our commitment to serving clients in one of the most dynamic financial hubs in Europe,” Ainhoa Jáuregui, the group’s CEO, said in her speech.

“Our mission is clear,” Jáuregui stated. “We want to contribute value to Luxembourg’s depository ecosystem through our solid experience and our rigorous regulatory approach.”

Marx observed that Cecabank was formed by several regional Spanish savings banks in 2012.

Globally, the bank had €260 billion in assets under depositary and €360 billion in assets under custody as of May 2025, according to a company presentation. It employed a total of 467 staff at the end of December 2024, according to its latest annual report. Just over 100 people attended the event, Bol said.