Société Générale is aiming to succeed in both the banking and markets businesses in Asia following a rethink of its entire organization and strategy, according to management in the region. The strategies appear quite different in style. In markets, Société Générale is aiming for a cutting-edge modern trading house with onshore presence in the key markets, and a broad-based flow business built on top of its traditionally strong structured products and derivatives capabilities. In banking, by contrast, the model resembles an update of a more old-fashioned style of traditional banking with the focus on lending, project finance and selective client advisory rather than large volumes of primary markets underwriting and headline-grabbing M&A.
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"We are aligning globally to create a cross-asset platform" Andrew Wardle, Société Générale |
Take the markets business first. "We have almost completed what we are calling an evolution of the bank," says Andrew Wardle, head of global markets Asia. "We had a geographically centred model in Asia, with Australia, Japan and emerging Asia operating as autonomous businesses, whereas now we are aligning globally to create a cross-asset platform."
The change is in a sense unsurprising: most investment banks in Asia, indeed globally, have already adopted similar models.