Now that redundancies have come to London, if you’re a financial services professional with an accounting qualification and an urge to see the world, you might want to check Luxembourg.
Recruiters in Lux say there’s still plenty of hiring going on there.
“It’s been picking up since last year,” says Robert Van den oord at Robert Walters in Luxembourg. “There’s much more willingness to build teams, particularly in risk, compliance, accounting and private banking.”
“It’s very busy,” confirms Andrew Notter at recruiters Badenoch & Clark in Luxembourg. “We’ve just taken on an extra four people to cope with the demand, there’s just a huge amount of activity.”
The most sought-after sorts of people in Luxembourg seem to be accountants of all species (ACCA or ACA) with knowledge of IFRS reporting standards – both Notter and van den Oord cite IFRS qualified accountants as being especially desirable.
Failing that, they say there’s also biggish demand for private bankers, lawyers and admin staff to work in family offices and the trust companies that help overseas businesses make the most of Luxembourg’s generously low tax rates.
The downside is that you won’t get paid enormously in Luxembourg. Notter says packages of €150k or more are usually reserved for the MDs of trust companies.
The other downside is that there’s a lot of competition. Notter also says that the average financial services job in Luxembourg probably receives between 20-30 applications, although most are no good.
The upside is that if you get one of these jobs and relocate to the Duchy you won’t pay much tax. “It’s hard to earn more than €100k as an accountant, but the tax rate here is between 25-30% for a single person,” says Van Den Oord. “And there are discounts of you move with your family. If you look at the stats, people in Luxembourg have one of the highest levels of net income in the European Union.”
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No. Just no.
Luxembourg is a very boring place suitable only for equally dull French bankers not smart and exciting British bankers.
Luxembourg has evolved a lot during the last years and qualifying it as a dull place proves you don’t have much knowledge of it. As for “exciting British bankers”, you would be surprised by their number here…
The quality of life is excellent and you’re within reach of several big airports should you feel the need to see something else. I moved here 4 years ago and would do it again without hesitation. As for the 150k it exists, you just have to look at family owned companies amongst others… Last but not least, people are not affraid of quitting, knowing there are plenty of jobs available…
Erika you are stupid. because what you say is right.
I worked in Luxembourg for a couple of years and it is a great place. It is in the center of Europe so you can easily drive away for a weekend. Everything is so close.
Of course, Luxembourg is small but there are plenty of young expats so you can always find things to do. I used to go out much more often than I do now. Everyday commute on the tube (hate district / circle line!) takes too much energy.
Oh, my total comp (base +IC) used to be over EUR 150k and I was not MD. I also had a company Mercedes that I still dearly miss.:) Am still wondering why I moved to London.
I cannot believe there’s people finding British bankers exciting and dismiss Lux as a place to be. Having the choice to relocate to London, I chose to stay in Lux even though it’s a tiny place in comparison (and me coming from Berlin). Accomodation is, though expensive, no comparison to London standards, costs and quality of living is by far in favour of Lux – I guess I am being bias here as I have to support a large family, hate public transportation (though quite agreeable in Lux, hate it in London) and quite like doing what I am doing here…
You would have to earn a fortune to afford a life in London with a nice house, two luxury vehicles, children in private schools, restaurant visits etc., while in Lux you have this all in easy reach…
So, you exciting British banker, stay where you are and enjoy your London (or the tube and your house in the suburbs)!!!
P.S. While you may never have been to Lux, I did live several years in the UK…
quickcook – With your English it is really better to stay in Lux.
Luxembourg is definitely not a boring place! I live here since 2008 and enjoy it more than any other place I lived in before, and there were several. The job itself, the benefits, the central location in Europe, the taxes, the international environment, the cleanliness and public order, it all makes it worthwhile. Clubbing scene is a bit week and the prices are higher than beyond the borders in Germany and France, but these borders are 25 km away and one can be in Paris, Munich, Brussels or Koln in 2-4 hrs drive! I have not heard of people who came to Luxembourg and left because they were bored. I am staying, for now!
@ Lawrence – Is it possible to survive there with English language only? Do you know what an acceptable base salary would be in banking?