Reliability and Growth

In an interview with Blaise Goetschin, CEO of Banque Cantonale de Genève, he describes what attracts regional investors to Switzerland, how BCGE is expanding across the board and what he sees as the next key development in trade finance

Blaise Goetschin CEO of Banque Cantonale de Genève, BCGE

What is your view on the Swiss economy for the coming months? How might this influence your Middle Eastern clients?

The Swiss economy was very resilient, was very resistant to the pandemic and was able to produce a recovery quite quickly, except for businesses like hotels, tourism, events, these kinds of industries, they had difficulty, but the rest made a strong recovery.

Switzerland is solid and the Swiss franc is really a reflects this, and this leads us to the second aspect of the question. Our middle east eastern clients favour the stability, the solidity and also a strong currency.

In the 2021 half-year results, the bank reported an increase in assets under management. What is driving this growth?

Yes, we are very proud to have now reached today more than the equivalent of US$34-billion-dollar in assets under management. This is coming from our retail activity and private banking in Switzerland, and the bank is also strong in France too. Additionally, our offshore assets are coming from the Middle East and Asia who are also strong contributors, where there really was a flow of new funds, which was very positive. We also developed new funds too and we have funds under the brand Synchrony and under institutional management. So, with all these activities, because basically we are a universal bank, they brought us all their fruits.

What role does the bank play for Geneva and the canton’s economy?

It’s a fundamental role. We are the Geneva financier for SMEs, for basic companies, for people, for families; we are the number one local. This is very important.

There is also a very big competition in the Geneva market, there are a lot of banks, but we are proud to have the number one place.

Can you tell me more about your branches in Dubai and in Hong Kong?

Firstly, we are in these two places for more than ten years, so it’s not new to us; we go step by step. Secondly, we need windows on the world, and we have Middle East and also Asia as the two with the highest potential for us. This is why we have a small but very efficient teams there, and we can develop our different businesses internationally.

What are the plans for the future of the bank generally, and in this region too?

The plans are to go step by step in our different activities. Trade finance, there are a lot of clients working here. In the energy, metal, agricultural and also correspondent banking; we do a lot of business with banks, which is amazing.

We do also distribute our funds, mutual funds (we now have the ability to improve this distribution) and the private banking. We help, indeed I would say we are a contributor to the exchange between Emirates economy and Swiss economy. There are a lot of interactions.

How do you see private banking in Switzerland evolving?

Private banking in Switzerland is still strong. It is today around 25 percent of total worldwide offshore assets. So, we are still successful in this business, even if it is much more regulated and much more transparent.

So, I think this quality, with the strong Swiss franc, the stability of the country, neutrality also (political neutrality is important), makes Switzerland attractive for investors who wants to divest their position worldwide. Also, they deposit for safety reasons.

What do you think will be the next key developments in the evolution of commercial banking and trade finance?

The key point is digitalisation, which is also going to come with blockchain, bringing simplicity in dealing with the administration, by which I mean how to onboard a company, how to treat documents and everything. I think this is going to be the next move, and it will cost us a lot because we have to digitise our interactions with companies. I think this is the next move.