Alain Closier
Jul 23, 2023
Q: What are your views on the consolidation of banks in Europe?
Monthly Commentary
Q&A with Alain Closier
Alain Closier,
Senior Advisor
Paris, France, Europe
Question:
What are your views on the consolidation of banks in Europe?
Answer:
In Europe, banking consolidation has been significant, especially before the 2008 financial crisis, leading to the emergence of major national and global players such as BSCH in Spain, Unicredit in Italy, and BNPP in France. These consolidations created "too big to fail" entities. However, after the 2008 crisis, the banking industry faced lower profitability, decreased interest rates, and stricter regulatory constraints, which complicated mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and limited their scope.
The current challenging environment for banks suggests a continued need for consolidation to reduce costs and achieve critical size. Yet, large-scale mergers remain complex and costly, requiring significant synergies and effective integration of IT infrastructures and staff reductions, which are often underestimated. Therefore, I believe the priority for European banks in the coming years will be optimizing their business portfolios rather than pursuing global expansion through major mergers.
While mergers and acquisitions remain the quickest route to becoming significant players in Europe or globally, I think large banking mergers will be rare except in specific situations like the UBS acquisition of Credit Suisse. The focus will likely be on refining business strategies to become leaders in selected sectors rather than chasing expansive consolidations.
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Alain Closier, Senior Advisor
Paris, France, Europe
Alain Closier is a former member of the General Management Committee of the Société Générale group. With more than 35 years of experience in international banking and finance, he is, and has always been, passionate about creating innovative activities.
Alain Closier is a graduate of the National School of Statistics and Economic Administration (ENSAE) and holds a post-graduate degree in Economics from Panthéon-Sorbonne University, in Paris. He began his career as an economist, before joining the International Treasury department of Société Générale.
In the 90s, Alain was responsible for the international development of FIMAT. Originally only a French brokerage company, FIMAT has become in just a few years an international leader specializing in brokerage on derivative stock markets with a presence in more than 25 countries.
Alain Closier was also the creator of FIMATEX, a precursor of online brokers. In 2000, FIMATEX was one of the largest IPOs in Paris in the internet sector. After several mergers and acquisitions, FIMATEX became Boursorama, today one of the French leaders in online banking.
Alain Closier's work has been rewarded on several occasions by international financial institutions. As Director of Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS), he was elected “European Personality of the Year in Asset Servicing” in 2010 by Funds Europe magazine. Its teams were recognized both for their expertise in emerging markets and for their presence on a European scale.
Overseeing the development of the bank's venture capital activities in Silicon Valley during the 2000s, Alain Closier acquired in-depth knowledge of the problems encountered by start-ups, both in the United States and in Europe.
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