All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
Advantage BNP Paribas
Many major banks sponsor tennis tournaments but no banking group has supported tennis with the enthusiasm of BNP Paribas The banks head of communications, Antoine Sire, talks to Douglas Blakey about its hugely successful commitment to the sport, from grass roots level all the way to the Davis Cup Frances largest banking group, BNP Paribas (BNPP), is to serve up its first-ever worldwide advertising campaign, based around its longstanding sponsorship of tennis, as it looks to emphasise its global credentials
Big remains better
A new report from VRL KnowledgeBank looks at the key developments of industry M&As since the turn of the century and what we can learn from them.As the global bank merger trend accelerates, it becomes increasingly important to evaluate issues such as the estimated and actual synergies achieved, the critical success factors in achieving these results, and the outlook for M&A both in the wake of the current credit crisis and over the longer term.Judged by actual M&A outcomes, a mixed profile emerges
A world of millionaires
The number of countries with more than one million dollar-millionaires will increase from seven to 12 by 2017, predicts a new Household Wealth Index by UK bank Barclays and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).By 2017, the number of high net worth households with in excess of $1 million in the top ten wealthiest countries will almost double to 62.8 million compared to 34.5 million in 2007 Their combined wealth will exceed $154 trillion.The number of households in excess of $5 million in these ten countries will reach 5.2 million within ten years, compared to two million in 2007.Barclays and the EIU say that while the US will remain at the top of the index, a number of emerging markets will perform strongly over the next 10 years.China will accelerate from seventh to third place in the overall wealth rankings; India will jump from 14th to 8th place; and Russia is catapulted from 19th place to 11th place putting it on the verge of becoming one of the top 10 wealthiest countries.Established economic superpowersMichael Dicks, head of research at Barclays Wealth, said: By 2017 China, Russia and India will overtake some of the worlds most developed countries, and this suggests that it is no longer accurate to label these markets as emerging and developing economies.Twelve countries will be home to more than one million dollar-millionaire households in 2017, compared to seven currently
Dresdner Bank takes on ING Direct
Dresdner Bank, the banking subsidiary of Europes largest insurer, Allianz, is rolling out a wide-ranging direct banking service in its domestic market with the aim of growing online customer numbers by 50 percent to three million within the next three years and has the six-million-strong German customer base of ING Direct firmly in its sights.The launch follows disappointing first quarter results from Dresdner: an overall net loss of 513 million ($794 million), including 845 million in bad loan write-offs, and an eye-watering cost-income ratio for the quarter of 160 percent It also comes at a time when Allianz has announced it is to split Dresdners retail and investment banking arms into two separate units.Dresdners launch of Direct24 offering seven online products, including savings and term deposit accounts, a current account, personal loans and a prepaid card offering is a bold attempt to raise the banks cross-sell statistics by targeting Allianzs insurance clients The bank says it can attract clients from the likes of ING Direct by leveraging both Allianz and Dresdners physical networks to offer face-to-face advice, combining the accessibility of the online channel with Allianzs 10,000 sales outlets and Dresdners 900 branches.Its all about good financial adviceJrg Grnwald, Dresdners head of market management, consumer banking, told RBI: Customers realise it pays off to invest time and money in receiving good advice when it comes to more complex financial services such as private pension provision, investments in securities, financing their home purchase
BNP Paribas rejigs European consumer finance submissions
Three months after forming BNP Paribas Personal Finance, a division focused on consumer and mortgage finance with an estimated 23 million clients, BNP Paribas says it is merging other subsidiary units to form national consumer finance champions in Portugal, Belgium and Poland.The French bank is bringing together the country units of its specialist consumer finance arm Cetelem with LaSer, a 50:50 joint venture with the second-largest French retail chain, Galeries Lafayette
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get industry leading news, data and analysis delivered to your inbox
Rebranding that never sleeps
US banking giant Citi has rolled out a new tagline only months after unveiling Lets Get It Done The stricken group, looking to ditch around $500 billion in non-strategic assets, is hoping the new motto, reinforced with a major advertising campaign in five global markets, will help kick-start its recovery
A ?30bn consumer finance goldmine
Douglas Blakey talks to Bart Vanhaeren, CEO of KBC Consumer Finance, about the groups plans to become a major player in a market becoming overloaded with foreign competitors.The potential offered by Romanias fast-developing consumer banking market has lured another foreign group, KBC Following the likes of ING and Erste Group, Belgiums third-largest financial services group has set up a consumer finance business in Romania and has said it is on the look out for consumer finance opportunities arising in other Central and Eastern European (CEE) markets
JPMorgan Chase shrugs off subprime worries and boasts about its future
Speaking at an investor conference in mid-November, JPMorgan Chases CEO, Jamie Dimon, gave a very upbeat assessment of his company and said the countrys third-largest banking group was looking to grow significantly all of its core businesses, including retail banking, credit cards, commercial banking and asset management.Home loans expansionIn particular, JPMorgan Chase is looking to expand its home loans business at a time when a number of its rivals are restricting their mortgage lending in the face of the US subprime collapse.We are still continuing to invest in mortgages We think this is one of the great opportunities, Dimon said, adding that he did not believe Chases exposure to the mortgage subprime sector, at the root of recent write-downs for several rival banks, including Citi, Bank of America and HSBC, will become a major problem for the group.We do not have any SIVs special investment vehicles that we sponsor so we think we are fine.While JPMorgan Chase had $2.5 billion in write-downs in the third quarter, Dimon said subprime lending will not go away because it remains a good business.It was something good that went way to excess, he said
Sberbank looks to go global
Against a souring economic and political backdrop in Russia, the countrys largest banking group, Sberbank, has rolled out a five-year strategy plan underpinned by an ambitious target: to become a global banking giant by 2014. According to the strategy document, Sberbank which dominates the Russian market with over 20,000 branches, a 51 percent share of deposits and 31 percent in retail lending plans to double group profit by 2014
Banking on recommendations
Bank of Montreals major push to improve its customer loyalty is starting to pay off, but it faces a fight to close the gap on its more successful Canadian rivals, writes Douglas Blakey The group is making retail banking its primary growth engine in 2008, targeting a cross-sell ratio of seven products per household Bank of Montreal (BMO), Canadas fourth-largest banking group by assets, has given an optimistic report of its efforts to revitalise its once-flagging retail banking business