Original article by Holger Alich published in Handelszeitung

This Woman Aims to Challenge UBS

Enna Pariset heads the Swiss subsidiary of the French banking giant, focusing squarely on Swiss clients—including in private banking.

The Offensive in Swiss Private Banking

Pariset is not only focusing on corporate banking—BNP Paribas’ traditional strength—but also targeting private banking. “My goal is for the Swiss market segment in our wealth management to grow so significantly that it becomes the largest revenue generator,” she states.

Currently, BNP Paribas’ Swiss operation manages 27 billion Swiss francs in client assets, with about 10 billion of that coming from Swiss clients. The rest stems from traditional offshore business with clients from the Middle East, Germany, France, and Italy.

Unlike most foreign players in wealth management who primarily cater to international clients, Pariset sees significant growth opportunities in the Swiss market, particularly in conjunction with the firm’s corporate banking business. BNP Paribas aims to attract top managers and business owners. “I believe the business model of those banks that only offer asset management will come under increasing pressure,” says the BNP Paribas banker.

1300 Employees in Switzerland

To bolster her ambitions in Swiss private banking, Pariset recruited help from UBS, hiring Beat Bachmann, who has been leading Swiss wealth management at BNP Paribas since August 2022. Overall, 260 people work in this division.

While Pariset did not partake in the mass recruitment from Credit Suisse, she does not endorse poaching entire teams, as it risks diluting the firm’s corporate culture. Nevertheless, twelve individuals from Credit Suisse have joined BNP Paribas Switzerland.

Pariset has been leading the Swiss branch of the French bank since July 2023. Across all areas, the bank employs 1300 people in Switzerland. Its parent company is the largest bank in the Eurozone by balance sheet, employing 183,000 people across 63 countries.

Pariset, a seasoned investment banker, spent most of her career with the French financial giant. After earning an MBA from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, she joined the World Bank in 1994. Three years later, she moved to JP Morgan’s investment banking division. In 2004, she began her stint at BNP Paribas in London, where she was responsible for investment banking in commodities and metals.

In Switzerland, financing commodity trade has long been one of the French bank’s strengths—until 2014, when the U.S. fined BNP Paribas a record $8.9 billion for violating sanctions with countries like Iran and Sudan. The Geneva branch was also reprimanded by FINMA.

Financial Strains

Following these events, the Paris headquarters discontinued its commodity business, a decision still impacting the Swiss branch’s finances: In 2022, the Swiss bank reported a loss of nearly 58 million Swiss francs as it continues to clear legacy issues, which incurs costs. Additionally, in 2019, a cost-cutting program was initiated to centralize certain back-office functions at a group level.

“The balance sheet of our Swiss bank only reflects a portion of our business here,” Pariset explains, noting that their business with Swiss clients is profitable overall, though specific figures were not disclosed.

Besides wealth management, Pariset emphasizes corporate banking, having already shifted focus to Swiss corporate clients before the Credit Suisse crash. The target clients are companies generating over 200 million Swiss francs in annual revenue. Thirty employees manage 1500 Swiss corporate clients.

“A corporate loan is not necessarily the entry product,” notes Pariset. “Some customer relationships, for example, started with us taking over cash management.”

With the restructuring of Credit Suisse, Pariset doesn’t foresee a credit squeeze for corporate clients. However, she expects that the new UBS might scale back some customer engagements to avoid excessive risk concentration, presenting opportunities. In the first quarter, BNP Paribas ranked first in syndicated loans, although these league tables are highly volatile; the bank was sixth in the previous quarter.

BNP Paribas ahead of UBS

Pariset views the size of the parent bank as a competitive advantage—from mergers and acquisitions to financing foreign trade, currency management, and capital market transactions, BNP Paribas offers a comprehensive range of services. “Among the foreign banks operating in Switzerland, BNP Paribas certainly has one of the greatest potentials here,” comments a CEO of a prominent Swiss industrial company who has dealings with several banks but has not yet done business with BNP Paribas. Thanks to its strong capital base, the bank has ample capacity for loans and can also offer its clients a global payment infrastructure.

Determined to fill the gap left by the dissolution of Credit Suisse, the Paris headquarters has set a target for the Swiss subsidiary to increase revenue by 9% annually between 2021 and 2025. “We have already reached this target in investment banking by the end of 2022, which led to our revenue goal being increased by 100 million,” Pariset reveals. The race to challenge the market leader UBS has truly begun.

• BNP Paribas moved to Via Nassa 11, an iconic address in the centre of Lugano.
• Present for 150 years in Switzerland and for more than 50 years in Lugano, BNP Paribas in Switzerland has thus confirmed its development and investment strategy, serving its clients and the economy in Ticino.

On 12 October 2023, BNP Paribas inaugurated its new premises at Via Nassa 11, an iconic address in the historic centre of Lugano. This move demonstrates the importance that the bank attaches to the development of its activities in Ticino, whose economy is characterised by dynamism and innovation.

Established in Switzerland since 1872 and currently with 1,200 employees, BNP Paribas in Switzerland continues to invest and grow, being the preferred partner for corporates, financial institutions and private clients.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by members of the Board of Directors of BNP Paribas (Suisse) SA, Yves Martrenchar and Marina Masoni, Enna Pariset, CEO of BNP Paribas (Suisse) SA and Head of Territory for BNP Paribas Group in Switzerland, as well as Beat Bachmann, CEO Wealth Management Switzerland & Emerging Markets and Fabio Spinelli, Site Manager Wealth Management Lugano.

On this occasion, the bank also showcased the work of Swiss artist Douglas Mandry, supported by the BNP Paribas Swiss Foundation as “Young Swiss Artist 2023”. One of his art works, exhibited in Lugano, has been added to the Foundation’s art collection.

© Photo Header – Antonio Sessa

^* Subject to approval from FINMA and the Board of Directors of BNP Paribas (Suisse) SA

The Skilly award 2022 in the category “Team Project Competence Development” goes to our Swiss Learning & Development team.

It is important for our L&D team to show that the once-classic pattern of obtaining a diploma and having a job in the same company all your life is now obsolete. We must regularly take the lead and reinvent ourselves, and it is our role to raise awareness among our employees and our Business Lines about this.

Marie-Angélique Rault, Head of L&D and Talent Manager

Find out more about our development culture in the interview (in French) of our Head of Learning & Development and Talent Manager, Marie-Angélique Rault.

BNP Paribas announces a new governance for Switzerland ahead of celebrating its 150 years in the country in 2022.

BNP Paribas in Switzerland and Gamned!, an expert pioneer in programmatic advertising since 2009, are joining forces in an environmental and social responsibility drive by launching an advertising strategy adapted to consumer expectations. This joint approach illustrates BNP Paribas in Switzerland’s growing commitment to more responsible investing.

How does it work? Gamned! is building on the charitable scheme used by Goodeed, donating part of the invested budget to the association ZeroWaste Switzerland, chosen by BNP Paribas in Switzerland. The aim of this arrangement is to highlight the commitment of the different brands by demonstrating to internet users that advertising can be used for charitable purposes. To date, tens of thousands of people have been able to make contributions to the association’s projects.

BNP Paribas (Suisse) SA has decided to discontinue its Commodity transactional financing activities. The conditions of this retrenchment will allow the interests of the clients of this business to be preserved.

In this respect, the Bank is considering implementing a social plan which could impact up to 120 employees in Geneva.

A consultation period is therefore starting today, to allow employees to propose any suggestions which might mitigate the effects of the plan and to negotiate any accompanying social measures. In parallel, the Bank strengthens its development in Switzerland supporting its clients through its business lines Global Banking, Global Markets and Securities Services within Corporate and Institutional Banking and its Wealth Management activity.

BNP Paribas has been present since 1872 in Switzerland, which represents a strategic market within the Group’s European network, and today follows a strategy built around these two activities. Corporate & Institutional Banking focuses its development on large and mid-cap Swiss companies, multinational corporations, and financial institutions. Wealth Management in Switzerland concentrates on entrepreneurs and on High Net Worth clients supporting them over the long term by providing global solutions to their financial and estate planning needs.

Marie-Angélique has led the Learning & Development team with boundless enthusiasm since joining BNP Paribas in Switzerland a year ago. Lifelong learning is a key priority for the company and an integral part of our commitment as an employer to the continuous professional development of each and every staff member.
The training we offer is constantly adapted to address employees’ skills gaps and career objectives, and it has proven more important than ever in 2020.
Marie-Angélique spoke with us about the challenges she has faced this year and how she succeeded in overcoming them.

Please could you introduce yourself in a few sentences ?

After stints working for other banks, I joined BNP Paribas in 2013 in Canada as part of the Cash Management team. I moved into L&D in 2015 and then transferred to Switzerland in June 2019 to head up Learning & Development for the Swiss region within the HR Change Management team.

What does a typical day at L&D look like for you?

Day to day, my role is to define, build and implement programmes to develop the skills of our staff in line with the Bank’s strategic priorities. I am also responsible for fostering a culture of lifelong learning.

Has demand for training among staff members changed at all since the start of the year?

My feeling is that demand among staff members has risen over the months. We have noticed that they are spending time on their development not only to meet a specific need but also out of a simple desire to progress. Equally, our community of “internal trainers” has expanded. I think that they are noticing the benefits of sharing their expertise and the value of highlighting their work.

How have you and the L&D team continued to support staff members during the lockdown and now that lockdown has been lifted?

Throughout the COVID-19 period, all of our classroom training sessions were put on hold. We worked with the Change Management/L&D team to find an alternative, though, because we thought that it was essential to keep in touch with our colleagues. That led us to set up remote training on a wide array of topics linked to what we were going through as a workforce (parenting while working from home, digital tools, time management and priorities in a home office, the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and more). These short-form sessions were an instant hit and, in the end, even after lockdown, we’re planning to continue offering them.

What was this period like for you personally? What will you remember about it ?

Personally, I had a very positive experience. The Change Management/L&D team managed to bounce back very quickly, stay present for staff members and continue to help them to develop. I find it very interesting that we’ve lived through this period in which, practically overnight, we’ve had to adopt new working methods, make better use of our digital tools and just work together more effectively.

Are there any positive experiences you would like to share? Or a specific message?

I have two messages. The first is that I hope that this enthusiasm for development continues and grows and that the L&D/HR team will be there to help. The most important thing is that every member of staff takes the time to think about their needs and makes an effort to draw up their Personal Development Plan.
The second is that I’m obviously always on the lookout for new “internal trainers”! The bank is bursting with experts in every topic under the sun and we want to make the most of their expertise!

The Geneva Resilience Hack, which took place in mid-June, is an initiative of Open Geneva, the Department of Economic Development of the Canton of Geneva, the University of Geneva and HES-SO Geneva. This event is part of the work of the Crisis and Resilience Innovation Fund, of which BNP Paribas in Switzerland is a partner.

The goal of the initiative is to come up with innovative and cooperative solutions to existing and future challenges to address the economic setbacks caused by the recent health crisis.

We met up with one of our staff members who participated in the event, Frédéric Lahoude, to hear his thoughts.

What’s a hackathon?

It basically involves pooling a range of skills to do some fast-paced brainstorming on a topic. It’s like a fast-track incubator.

Which project did you work on?

Someone in the group suggested working on a self-evaluation tool to improve the remote work experience.

At the start of the hackathon, almost 30 people signed up to work on this topic, and nine of us remained active.

There was a range of professional backgrounds, which made the discussions even richer.

Participants came from academia, HR, consulting, business services, government bodies, and then there was me from the private sector.

Having such a complementary team was a genuine asset for our group.

So, our working group chose to develop a solution to help (remote) workers and their employers set up or improve the remote working experience. This included a self-evaluation option, leading to personalised recommendations, advice and best practices. The system is intended to act as a tool to support well-being at work, help employees organise and justify remote working arrangements, help manage remote work, and help employers decide whether to implement or expand remote working.

During the hackathon, we worked on an open source tool that offers conversational interfaces and a recommendation engine drawing on a broad set of remote working resources. As such, it provides support at various levels (individuals, teams, departments/services, company), while also serving as a data pool for scientific research on remote work.

What’s next for the project?

After the hackathon, six of us have stayed in contact and are keen to continue the adventure.

Our initial goal is to come up with a model effective enough to complete a few pilot projects with different groups.

How will the Resilience Hack have a positive impact post-COVID?

Whether in relation to the theme my team worked on, or the other topics covered, working on real projects helps generate ideas to combat future crises (a pandemic, or something else), taking the COVID-19 experience on board and the ideas put forward during the hackathon. We covered a broad range of topics, problems and solutions (SMEs, tourism (including business tourism), culture, healthcare, employment, training, automation of certain high-risk professions, local manufacturing, remote project management for NGOs, technologies for shops and restaurants, etc.).

Even though not all the ideas will take shape, the discussions and insights will help change certain habits after lockdown, and will help us manage future crises more effectively.

What have you taken away from this experience? Would you recommend it?

The three days at the hackathon were definitely intense (I planned on a personal investment of 10 hours, but ended up doing double). In addition to being my first hackathon, it was also a remote hackathon. So I came into contact with and learnt to use a whole range of collaborative tools (Slack, MIRO, Rocket.Chat, MindMeister, Zoom, Google Docs, etc.).

For me, the diversity and complementarity of participants’ backgrounds helped spark engaging and fruitful discussions.

I would definitely recommend this experience.

Carole Ackermann was born in 1970 and grew up in Zurich.

As CEO and Co-founder of Diamondscull AG, she invests early in companies in the technology/ICT field. Carole is also non-executive director of several companies such as Allianz Suisse, BKW, BVZ Holding, the innovation agency be-advanced, co-president of the Female Innovation Forum and a jury member of Venture Kick.

With a PhD in marketing from the University of St. Gallen she is a senior lecturer for business administration/Integration projects.

She has an entrepreneurial spirit with an integrative mind-set and down-to-earth behaviour. She is eager to identify, discuss and promote new ideas and help transferring them into concrete projects and results. She also participates on panels or as speaker at conferences on entrepreneurship, start-ups and women in this field.