There is a real pride to buy his first car Rumours had indeed discussed BHP and CVRDA vote will be held if more candidates areToo late and too little for Northern RockThey give the illusion of a talent at allIt will be associated with certain appointmentsRisky asset classAttention to unpleasant surprisesThe current officers of listed companies are therefore concernedThere is no comparable to New York places273 people during the first 9 months of 2007Charles-Henri Filippi leaves tomorrow HSBC France less than four years after was appointed its head, replaced by Peter Boyles. He remains Chairman of the Board of Directors. Who has spent twenty years in the ex - CCF, bought in 2000 by HSBC, aspires to finance other know yet precisely how, says in "echoes". He leaves while the strategic plan 2005-2008 the Bank is on track, even if the migration to the computing platform of the Group accuses a year's delay. It is particularly pleased with the commercial dynamism of the Bank and its financial performance.
You decide to leave HSBC France only fifty-five years and before the end of the 2008 strategic plan. It is a little early.
You forget that this is in fact twenty years I have worked in this group. I am entered precisely on September 1, 1987. I served the State for ten years, the Bank for twenty years. It is not unreasonable to aspire to do something else today.
I have a great esteem for HSBC and its leaders. It is a very large group with a future of success before him.
What will you do
I have no intention of starting to do the same job in a competing Bank, but I consider myself not retired so far. I have not yet made a decision. I want to take the time to the reflection. One thing is certain: I want to be independent. I have not waived finance but I would like to do it otherwise.
That said, I does not leave quite HSBC since I am still President of the Board of Directors of the Bank in France and two other large banks of the group administrator.
What are your relations with Peter Boyles, your alternate head of HSBC France
Peter Boyles is a very good choice. He knows very well the ex - CCF and of course, the HSBC Group. It was the understanding of both cultures. I am available to help in the future to further grow our business. And, as Chairman of the Board of Directors, it is me up, of course, to ensure the proper functioning of the Bank which I remain responsible agent. Finally, the social dialogue in this company has always been quality and I will support the action that will lead Peter so she continues in the best conditions.
What balance are you getting your years at the head of HSBC France
Back in France the head of the RTC, I spent three years at HSBC in London. There, I could understand the qualities of this group and measure how combine them with those of the RTC to more fully leverage the strengths of the two banks. On one side, the mark and the global HSBC network, its long-term, mobility and home culture. On the other, specific forces of the CCF with its commercial culture, its heritage dimension and his good knowledge of the Bank for investment and asset management business. It seemed necessary to unify our France banks, too fragmented, and bring together on a single platform to strengthen both our productivity and our force commercial.
Is not HSBC which me a requested to adopt its mark. This was my choice and that of our branch in France. He was naturally required and it is a great success. The mark was quickly adopted by employees but by the customers also. It was a global reputation in France of 1 in mid-2005, of 16 at the end of the year 2005 and 50 at the end 2006. We hope to reach more than 60 end 2007. The completed route is considerable.
But the transfer of all banks on a common it platform is more laborious.
This was, also, a major strategic choice that goes well beyond the computer. Align the Bank on the models of the group according to the same segments of clients and trades is a heavy change in terms of management and business organization. We have approximately a year's delay from the initial forecast, which, given the magnitude of the task, is to me an acceptable period of time. We completely migrated two of our banks (UBP and Bank de Picardie) on the computer platform "hub" of the group. The ex - CCF will follow the end of October. We now have great confidence in the success of this migration.
Why migration of Union bancaire PRIVE is incorrectly passed
Say that elle went hard in its initial phase. Systems of testing and the appropriation of the tool by the employees were not satisfactory.
This is why, using without hesitation the security and quality of service to clients, I decided to review our migration process and relax the calendar.
This resulted in additional costs of EUR 20 million on a total budget of 150 million. Adopt a global computer platform is more painful in the first place half of the "hub" including to be adapted to integrate the French regulations but it is also more beneficial then. This will gradually allow us to achieve productivity and quality of international service than our competitors.
What are your main points of satisfaction
Beyond the adoption of the mark, it is the commercial dynamism found: Bank investment and companies like Bank of individuals, where we have attracted 90,000 new customers last year and 50,000 in the first half.
On sale net, our customers, so-called "Prime", grew by 6 last year of 7 on first six months of the year. It is also the financial success. In the first half, we identified a taxable result higher than that of the whole of 2004 slightly more than 650 million euros and a performance of the own funds of 19.7 after tax. End of 2007 we will be redistributed, since the acquisition, not far from half of the purchase price of the CCF in dividends. This was made possible by the rationalization of the Bank, the corresponding transfers of assets and the performance of the Bank for investment and asset management.
In retail banking, on the other hand, the results are less good than publish your main competitors.
Today, our retail banking productivity is lower than our main competitors of the fact the insufficient efficiency of our platforms banking, yet fragmented, and spending that we agree to unify them. This, coupled with the erosion of the margins, leads us to a global exploitation coefficient of 63.5 significantly higher than the average of the HSBC Group.
It was until the second half of 2008 we will see our winning efforts but we are starting now to feel from income dynamics of our commercial action: in mid-2007, our financial commissions in individual bank increase of 18 over the past year.
Your decision to return to 100 of your insurance subsidiaries is part of this strategy
For our France retail bank, insurance is an essential dimension of our activities. It is also for the HSBC Group, which wants to bring to term 20 share of this trade in our profits. In these circumstances, it was natural to want to take complete control of our subsidiaries, including to better meet the needs of our customers and to advance our penetration rate above its current level of 20.
HSBC was the first establishment to discuss its difficulties in the "subprime". What is your analysis of this crisis
HSBC has brought the first, as early as November 2006, the difficulties awaiting the "subprime" segment in the United States. In doing so, it has shown its transparency for investors and proved his extraordinary financial strength since the "subprime" did affect our overall result to height of a few percent in 2006.
Of course, the "subprime" crisis is first an expression of the excess and the underpricing of risk to which the long prosperity of recent years has led the financial system. But, as a train that hides another, it did arise liquidity problems that challenge the way in which the structure of the financial system has evolved over the last fifteen years. In my opinion, the most striking in this evolution is what might be called not "financial disintermediation" but the "intermediation débancarisation", which led to that more and more non-bank players transform short resources and liquid supposed savings in long jobs.
That being so, we are probably in a healthy crisis of puberty of the new system in its general challenge, with a single clear consequence: the globalized economy is a huge finance pump was needed, in the heart of its liquidity of commercial banks powerful, transparent and well regulated. These same banks that, in recent years, investors and the market is were sometimes put to find a bit "boring".
