Since 23 November 2016, Banque Populaire Méditerranée - created from the merger of Banque Populaire Côte d’Azur, Banque Populaire Provençale et Corse and Chaix bank - has been a reality. We meet Serge Crouzet, manager of the Monaco branch.
Is Banque Populaire Méditerranée the Group’s news item?
Yes, of course! Our new bank now radiates with much more strength in our territory, that extends from Menton to Marseille and Avignon via Corsica and MONACO. With almost 450,000 private customers, 65,000 professionals and 5,000 large companies we have become one of the group’s largest banks, with 244 branches, 9 departments and 2,380 employees. The creation of Banque Populaire Méditerranée is in line with history. Regulatory requirements of all kinds and profound changes to the banking model have required us to grow, to continue to serve our customers with the best conditions.
But most importantly, this merger enables us more than before to support our customers for all their needs, while maintaining our proximity and agility.
You have a strong presence in Monaco…
In Monaco we are represented by three branches: one at the Monte-Carlo Palace on Boulevard des Moulins and two in Grimaldi, including the corporate area. Our 35 employees are all at the service of our private and corporate customers.
… with a well-defined, clear strategy
Indeed, we wanted to strengthen our positioning and our organisation to have more influence on the business market i.e. our origins. Our corporate structure is now fully operational and our recent merger strengthens our financing abilities.
The resident private customer base remains mainly European, particularly Italian, British and Spanish, and also a strategic target group. Beyond the necessary skills of our employees, our differentiation lies in our relational proximity and our responsiveness.
In Monegasque territory we remain a small organisation on a human scale, that is mobile and listens to its customers, for whom we create personalised investment proposals with architecture totally open to all markets.
Our strength remains service proximity and personalisation.
Is transparency a benefit for the financial centre?
He could it be otherwise ?
The world is changing, rules are evolving. The choice the Principality has made to be part of AEOI is the only decision that allows the permanence of Monaco’s financial centre to be envisaged with confidence and peace of mind.
Nevertheless, this transparency profoundly changes the way we work and affects relationships with customers, that in some cases can become particularly ‘intense’. Keeping in mind the notion of the long-term, dear to Braudel, tomorrow we will be able to smile at the memory of these risks.
These developments are unavoidable and irreversible. Knowledge of customers, their income and assets and an understanding of flows form the basis for customer relationships on which our business relationship can be built healthily.
The development of the Monaco financial centre is now conceived on the basis of positive, indispensable data: transparency, customer knowledge, employee skills and professionalism, quality products and players.
In this perspective, all these indicators speak to strengthen Monaco’s attractiveness.
