Germany's Federal Ministry of Finance announced the appointment of the co-chairs of a Franco-German Taskforce on the Future of Digital Finance, a joint initiative launched by German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil and his French counterpart Roland Lescure at their meeting on 19 January 2026. Working with stakeholders from the private and public sectors, the taskforce will examine how to promote euro-denominated digital payments to strengthen the resilience and competitiveness of European payments. It will also assess the potential of distributed ledger technology in financial markets to improve efficiency, deepen capital market integration and open new financing channels for companies across Europe. The co-chairs are Tim Armbruster (Treasurer and Head of Financial Markets at KfW) and Alain Demarolle (financial investor and former senior adviser to the French prime minister and finance minister). The taskforce plans to publish interim findings in June 2026 and a full report in the second half of 2026.
Ministry of Finance (Germany) 2026-04-22
Germany's Federal Ministry of Finance names Tim Armbruster and Alain Demarolle as co-chairs of Franco-German digital finance taskforce
The German Federal Ministry of Finance has appointed Tim Armbruster and Alain Demarolle as co-chairs of the Franco-German Taskforce on the Future of Digital Finance. The taskforce will work with public and private stakeholders to promote euro-denominated digital payments and assess the use of distributed ledger technology in financial markets to enhance efficiency, capital market integration and corporate financing in Europe.