Luxembourg-Ireland, the fight for the new EBA house

Luxembourg has 'thrown its hat in the ring' to become the new home of the European Banking Authority (EBA) after Brexit and says it has a "legal claim" to host it.

Citing a European Union law dating back to 1965, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel made his case in a letter to EU Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker, following the triggering of Article 50.

In the past, two exceptions to the decision have been made with the ECB going to Frankfurt and the EBA going to London.

"Those exceptions had been made in agreement with Luxembourg and were regarded as exceptional derogations. This time, we want the 1965 decision to be respected and therefore claim that the EBA’s new host should be Luxembourg," a spokeswoman of Luxembourg's Permanent Representation in Brussels said.

Making the case for Luxembourg as the new base for the EBA, she continued: "Luxembourg has a great deal of experience when it comes to hosting EU institutions, ever since the founding of the EU.

The core areas of the EBA's work are regulatory policy, supervisory convergence and risk assessment, as well as consumer protection and financial innovation.

The institution is currently based in London and is in a hurry to secure a new home and it employs some 170 people and could boost Ireland's credentials as a major financial hub.

The Irish Government is set to contest Luxembourg’s claim: a spokesman for the Department of Finance said Ireland was continuing to actively pursue its bid for the relocation of the EBA to Dublin. “As an English speaking and well-established financial services centre, we believe that Dublin offers the least disruptive option for EBA relocation,” the spokesman said. “To date, Ireland’s bid has been well received. The ultimate decision on relocation will be a matter for the European Council", the statement said.