The power of inclusive teamwork

The Luxembourg Stock Exchange operates at the heart of Luxembourg’s dynamic financial centre and is recognised worldwide as a pioneer in sustainable finance. We sat down with CEO Julie Becker to learn more about the essential role that inclusive teamwork has played in LuxSE’s success.

You founded the Luxembourg Green Exchange in 2016, which has paved the way for the sustainable finance agenda ever since. What role did teamwork play in this development?

Given the rather complex nature of our core activities as an exchange, teamwork is central to all the new initiatives that we have established at LuxSE. Whenever we want to develop something new, we need a range of different skillsets and competences around the table, including finance and listing professionals, sustainability experts, market experts, data experts, regulatory experts, the commercial team, project managers as well as colleagues with different technological expertise, to mention a few.  Working as a team across departments was the only way to address all the different types of questions that came up when we were building the very first platform for sustainable financial instruments. 

Before launching LGX, the entire management team came together for an offsite to finalise the project. This offsite was instrumental in solidifying the decision to proceed with the creation of LGX and the collaboration within this smaller group served as a catalyst for fostering teamwork across all departments. 

Apart from its leading role in sustainable finance, LuxSE is also known as a first mover when it comes to tech. How come?

Most people are not aware of this, but exchanges operate technological platforms and require considerable IT teams with a lot of different specialisations. Capital markets operations are complex and as a market operator, we need to make sure that we have the technical architecture and infrastructure in place to ensure a stable and secure environment for transactions and investor protection. Hence, IT teams at LuxSE are not only support functions, they play a key role in our core business. 

A few years back, we became the first financial institution in Luxembourg to move our entire IT infrastructure to the cloud, which required tremendous efforts and which all employees now benefit from. More recently, with the rapid take-up of generative Artificial Intelligence, we built our own internal AI tool and we are exploring how to make certain tasks more efficient across different teams. We are still at an early stage, but this work is another great example of how teamwork ignites innovation. Technological developments need to have a business purpose and bring benefits both for our clients, our teams and the broader industry. 

LuxSE has an international scope, what is the role of teamwork when it comes to approaching new markets?

LuxSE is the world’s leading exchange for the listing of international debt securities and we serve 1,800 clients across 100 countries. Every year, we strive to gain a foothold in new markets and contribute to the development of sustainable finance initiatives in new regions. There is no one-size-fits-all, we need to understand the specific needs and expectations of different sectors, industries and geographical regions, and continue to innovate and create new products and services addressing these needs. This is only possible with diverse and inclusive teams. 

Our goal is to contribute to making capital markets more connected, sustainable, digital and accessible. One thing is clear, we are much more likely to succeed when we bring people with different ideas, perspectives, expertise and backgrounds together and listen to and learn from each other. 

This interview was first published by Luxembourg Official in Decision Makers Luxembourg 2024.