Interview with General Manager Michel Pecheur:
How would you describe your bank?
Societe Generale Bank-Cyprus operates as a universal bank, providing to resident and non-resident clientele a full range of financial services, such as corporate banking, retail banking, private banking and customized financial services.
Of course, Societe Generale Bank-Cyprus is a relatively small bank in the Cypriot market, yet the Business Centre of SGBCy has the expertise to serve its clients not only on a local but also on an international level, providing financial services and advice to facilitate individual or corporate projects in Cyprus and abroad.
More importantly, our expertise at SGBCy is backed by the vast experience of Societe Generale Group whose presence in 77 countries gives us access to the Group’s international platform, a definite plus for our customers. Societe Generale France also supervises our internal audit and compliance departments, thus giving Societe Generale Bank-Cyprus a cutting edge approach of risk.
Where does Societe Generale Bank-Cyprus stand today?
Since 2008, due to the prudent credit policy and the strict assessment of risks, we have not faced any major problems with our loan portfolio. Our risks are well diversified and our portfolio has no concentration on any client or economic sector, or on real estate. Of course, we plan to keep up our good performance at this level, as this is key to maintaining a sound activity and financials, especially during hard times.
As for our capital adequacy ratio, it is well above the percentage requested by the Central Bank of Cyprus, and we have recently injected 20 million Euros in equity capital in order to comfort this favorable position.
Does the current financial crisis affect your bank?
Actually, I’m glad to say it does not. We have no exposure to the Greek market and although our policy is to make investments, our strategy is nevertheless not to carry any sovereign debts or corporate bonds.
Our balance sheet and our fundamental ratios are healthy, as they reflect our sound business practices. Our deposits are higher than the loans given out and any excess liquidity is prudently and diversely invested in the banking market
This outright strategy is actually greatly appreciated by our clients as they take comfort in dealing with a bank having international backing and quite conservative investment behavior.
What are your future plans?
We are determined to stay very active in the Cypriot economy and develop our presence on the banking scene. Cyprus has much suffered from the international and the European crises and we believe banks should be sticking by their clients in order to help them get back on their feet and get their businesses going. We are confident the Cypriot economy still benefits, despite the economic slump, from major advantages and significant attractiveness to foreign investors.
We are also keen on developing our client base further. On this note, we intend to invest in the acquisition of a building for our Head Office in Nicosia and enhance our IT system in order to cope with the increasing business and the growing needs of our customers, both individuals and companies.
