Transcript UBS 2005 - HEC Paris

To be or not to be
in France ?
That is NOT the
question !
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Corporate Profile
 Clients and investors are 100% French.
 Sales and research platform for private
banking and corporate banking (120
staff)
 Private banking distribution over private
customers through Paris and provincial
branches (300 staff).
 Limited activities in financial markets
(50 staff).
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Brief Overview
 1987 : SG Warburg : 100% UK merchant bank,
takes over Backwallin, a top-notch French
stockbroker, also active in M&A and « SVT ».
 1995 : SBC takes over SG Warburg .
 1998 : Merger UBS – SBC. Choice of SBC
structure
 1999 – 2004 : development of Wealth
Management business through provincial
branches.
 2004 : Transfer of back-offices to London.
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Why UBS came
to France…
 Historic presence in France due to the
various mergers.
 Overall international strategy.
 Intrinsic Market strength : France = 15 %
of the EU : second continental economy.
 Geographical and cultural proximity with
French clients and banks.
 UBS in France = 10% UBS in Europe.
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Corporate values
 International culture relying upon global
recruitment policy : fluent English, no
favoured diploma, fondness for travels.
 No typical French values but full compliance
with UBS values and image (e.g. Internet
Charter).
 Centralised control of remunerations, unlike
previous period.
 Historical constraints in Paris :longstanding
presence of the management team, hence
need for more identity and dialogue.
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Non Deciding Constraints
 Working costs : actually borne by staff;
labour cost/ salary ratio leveled off
wherever the Firm is settled.
 Trade Unions : actually less powerful
and quarrelsome than in Anglo Saxon
countries.
 Taxes : lobbying carried out by French
banks.
 Regulation : French AMF depends on UE
decisions  harmonized regulation.
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Market Constraints
 Limited prospects on Equity Products
due to high concentration of the
French market players.
 « Cold money », customer loyalty.
 Little permeability to new products
and newcomers on the market place.
 Bridled innovation in creation of startup companies.
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Real Cultural Constraints
 Lower pricing of Financial services.
 Mitigated/poor image of the Banking
Industry.
 Slow innovation for establishing new
companies : bureaucratic behaviour.
 Paris less international than London.
Comparatively few expatriates as a
result of intricated administrative
procedures.
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Key Benefits
 Large population large market place,
easy to operate.
 Staff’s loyalty and strong team spirit.
 Traditional image of France.
 Good technology.
 High quality Public infrastructures.
 Good social security system (albeit
mostly public with little room for private
products).
 Very good education system (maths,
computing) but growing expatriation.
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Key Advise : Take it easy …
 Settling down in France is not a
problem. Irrelevant theory of the
«French decline».
 Paris seen as buffer between HQ and
French operations.
 France is an open country in the most
open area of the planet.
 A Private Banking group is not countrydriven but business-driven : primary
focus on market potential.
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Special Thanks to
 Mr Tibi, CEO
UBS France
 Mr Fine, HR Director
UBS France
 Mrs Bonfante, Deontology Adviser
UBS Europe
 Mr Segalla, Best in France Coordinator
HEC School of Management
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