Luxembourg hosted the second-largest number of EU cross-border investment firms last year, according to a report released on Monday by the bloc’s markets regulator.
Last year, Luxembourg hosted 15% of all EU cross-border investment firms, the report by the European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) found, behind only Cyprus which is home to 20%.
Just three EU countries – Luxembourg, Cyprus and Germany – accounted for approximately half of all companies involved in cross-border services, according to the report, which was based on data collected by Esma and national authorities between December 2023 and March 2024.
Luxembourg was home to 59 cross-border investment firms last year, while Cyprus 78 hosted such firms and Germany 55.
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In 2023, the European market for cross-border investment services included 386 firms operating across 30 EU and EEA member states, serving approximately 8 million retail clients, Esma noted.
The report noted that investment firms were the predominant players in the cross-border market, comprising 56% of all firms, with credit institutions accounting for the remaining 44%.
Luxembourg was particularly noteworthy in this regard, hosting a substantial number of credit institutions involved in cross-border operations. In 2023, Luxembourg housed 30 credit institutions offering such services, down from 33 in 2022.
Across the EU as a whole, the primary destinations for cross-border investment services were Germany, France, Spain, and Italy, collectively serving 53% of all retail clients. On average, each firm catered to approximately 20,700 cross-border clients.