
Michael Burch, CEO and Country Manager ING Luxembourg
Please introduce yourself to our AmCham Newsletter audience so our readers understand the history of who you are?
I am Swiss by origin and a global citizen by experience. I consider myself an open-minded person that is passionate about work. My international career has taken me across various countries, allowing me to work for diverse, international clients. A key part of my professional journey was my time in New York with the Boston Consulting Group as well as my five years at BlackRock, both have significantly influenced my career.
Today, I am based in Luxembourg where I am the Country Manager and CEO of ING. We focus on affluent and private banking, as well as Wholesale Banking, covering corporate and institutional clients.
In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family, skiing, and running with my Husky.
What are the values which most guide your decision-making and why are these values important to you?
The values that guide my decision-making are being customer-oriented. I believe that putting our clients first is crucial for our success, because without our clients, we wouldn’t exist as a bank. Understanding and meeting our clients’ needs builds trust and long-term relationships, which are essential for sustainable growth.
Another key value is prioritizing the well-being and development of our teams. We ensure that we have a motivated workforce, which in turn enables us to provide exceptional service to our clients. As a CEO, I recognize that I can’t do everything myself. Empowering our teams and meeting them with trust, honesty, and empathy, is key to creating a positive and productive environment where everyone can thrive.
What is the mission of ING Luxembourg?
ING in Luxembourg is part of the international ING Group. In Luxembourg, we offer investment and wealth management services for Personal and Private Banking clients, but we also offer lending, hedging solutions, payment and cash management, and fund services to large corporate, institutional and investment fund clients.
With more than € 6,000 billion in net assets under management, Luxembourg is Europe’s number 1 hub for investment funds and the second largest in the world after the US. This is what gives ING Wholesale Banking Luxembourg a unique advantage known as the “ING Difference”. With a diverse range of financial services that connect investors and markets around the world, we can provide our clients a seamless local experience with a global perspective on different sectors. Our know-how in funds management makes Luxembourg ING’s global center of expertise for the Group.
How have your staff relations and practices evolved during the Covid and post Covid period?
Since I joined in 2022, my focus has been on the post-Covid period. During the pandemic, our teams stayed connected through online solutions, maintaining a sense of community and ensuring collaboration. We’ve learned valuable lessons, including a greater focus on remote work, which offers flexibility and better work-life balance. Although we offered remote work before Covid, it wasn’t widely used. Today, many companies, including ours, have embraced it for its numerous advantages.
However, it’s important to note that a culture is not built with people being at home. While offering more flexibility, I also believe that to truly experience and be part of a corporate culture, you need to spend time in the office to help shape and to “live” the culture.
In addition, Luxembourg residents and cross-border workers are currently not treated equally, as they have different limitations with regards to remote work, and differential treatment is something I don’t like.
What is your assessment of the attractiveness of Luxembourg as an international business location in Europe?
Luxembourg is an exceptionally attractive international business location in Europe. Its strategic central location provides excellent access to European and global markets. The country offers a highly skilled, multilingual workforce and a business-friendly environment with robust digital infrastructure and top-notch logistics services.
Luxembourg’s resilient economy, consistently rated highly for its stability and creditworthiness, coupled with its innovative and supportive policies, makes it an ideal hub for businesses looking to expand their footprint in Europe. I also think that the new government is committed to maintaining and increasing the attractiveness of Luxembourg as a business destination, ensuring that it remains a top choice for international enterprises.
What changes would you and your ING colleagues be pleased for the newly elected government to initiate to improve the attractiveness of Luxembourg as a business location?
If the new government would like to initiate changes to enhance Luxembourg’s attractiveness for the banking sector, key areas could include supporting financial innovation and fintech development, streamlining regulatory processes, and ensuring tax transparency. Additionally, improving digital infrastructure and providing incentives for sustainable banking practices would be beneficial. These changes would help attract more international banks and support the growth of existing financial institutions.
To improve the attractiveness of Luxembourg as a business location in general, the government has already made significant efforts in enhancing the country’s appeal, such as reducing corporate tax rates and making tax adjustments for expats, which have been beneficial. However, there are areas where we can do more. Investing in fast transportation from the borders of Luxembourg, such as high-speed trains that would provide quick connectivity to Luxembourg City, is one such area. Additionally, we need to be cautious not to negatively impact the competitiveness of Luxembourg. The country is becoming increasingly high-cost, making it more expensive for internal organizations to operate. This comparative cost has become a disadvantage.
What changes would you and your ING colleagues be pleased for the newly elected government to initiate to improve the attractiveness of Luxembourg for the benefit of working employees?
I believe it is crucial to increase the availability of affordable housing, as this would significantly help attract and retain young talent. Affordable housing options would not only make it easier for young professionals to settle in Luxembourg but also enhance their quality of life, making the country a more appealing place to live and work.
Additionally, improving public transportation and infrastructure to reduce commute times is essential. Efficient and reliable public transportation systems would alleviate traffic congestion, reduce environmental impact, and make daily commutes more manageable. Enhancing infrastructure, such as expanding public transit networks and upgrading existing facilities, would ensure that people can move around the city and its surroundings with ease. That being said, I really look forward to seeing how the tram extension will progress.
Do you have much need to recruit employees who live outside Luxembourg? If so, what challenges and concerns do potential external employee candidates raise and how much difficulty do you have addressing those issues?
Even though Luxembourg already offers a diverse talent pool, we also recruit employees who live outside Luxembourg because the demand for talent is higher than the local supply. This can be challenging as the public sector is one of the biggest employers and a key competitor in the job market, offering attractive employment opportunities. As a result, we have to look beyond our borders to find the skilled professionals we need, which in turn also brings in fresh and new perspectives.
However, potential external candidates often raise concerns about the high cost of living and housing in Luxembourg. The expense of relocating and settling in a new country can be daunting, especially when housing costs are significantly higher than in many other regions. Additionally, navigating the local administrative and regulatory requirements can be challenging for newcomers. The complexity of these processes can be a barrier to attracting international talent, as it adds to the overall difficulty of transitioning to life and work in Luxembourg.
In recent months there have been complaints about increased crime and drug trafficking in the Gare area. How have these issues impacted ING which is located directly across from the main train station?
It is indeed an issue, predominantly at this time of the year, when it’s cold.
We have invested a lot in security and safety measures, especially for our employees, and have partnered with other institutions and companies in the Gare area to find a common solution. We have also had meetings with the authorities, but unfortunately, progress has been slower than we anticipated. While social workers and support personnel are present on the ground, the situation has, unfortunately, not improved significantly.
The wellbeing of our employees is essential, which is why we have implemented several measures to protect them from any potential threats that are in the area.
ING recently partnered with the initiative of a march against violence. Please tell us about this project and ING’s motivation to be involved.
Indeed, for this special initiative, we collaborated with LUX WMN, who organized the event called “Take back the night”. It was a march, starting at ING Lux House and ending with an afterparty at Glacis, intended to raise awareness of violence against women. We walked and chanted together to stand up for women’s rights.
At ING, we believe in inclusion and equal rights for all, so I’m proud that we were a part of this event. I have also joined the march myself, as these are values that are very close to my heart, being the father of a 14-year-old girl. I was happy to see so many people coming together for this initiative, and I particularly enjoyed marching together with your Chairman and CEO Paul Schonenberg.
Please identify and answer any additional questions which you would have liked us to ask!
Well, you have not asked me about the elephant in the room. After the reactions in the press about our strategic shift, I would have expected a question regarding this topic. So, how did we take it? We realized that we are a bank that is widely known, and we’ve learned a lot from the experience and how we’ve been perceived. Moving forward, we want to put more emphasis on communication, be more proactive, and reach out to our clients and stakeholders. We understand that change can be challenging, but it also presents opportunities for growth and improvement. Change is an inherent part of doing business. Having said that, I would like to be very clear about one thing: At ING, we are committed to Luxembourg and we continue to stay here for the long term.