Know Thyself! More than an aphorism, the motto is a constitutive programme.

Conceived in fall 2006 and formalised in June 2007, the private Banking Group, Luxembourg - ABBL's first sub-corporative group - includes 61 institutions, "the essential of what compounds the private banking industry in Luxembourg," according to its founders.

Its logo (two towers and an arrow) symbolises both the Kirchberg plateau and the sector's dynamism.

On June 29, the fourteen-member executive committee took a further step with the election of its President - Charles Hamer of Crédit Agricole Private Bank - and two Vice Presidents, Roger Hartmann (UBS) and Luc Rodesch (Banque de Luxembourg). Fernand Grulms of ABBL was confirmed the group's Secretary General.

The group's objectives are twofold: defend the private banks interests and participate in the promotion of Luxembourg as a financial centre. "The setting-up marks a new evolution for the financial place, Charles Hamer said. Our objective is to gather and think about the future of our industry."

Structured as a matrix-type organisation, unlike the usual geographic ones, the sub-corporative group intends to be a precursor within the ABBL.

The new banking group has already some constitutive topics in sight. The most important is the launch of a private banking high-level training, the Certified Private Banker Training Programme Luxembourg. "The complexity of the private banking industry requires a high ranking training structure, alike the ones Switzerland or Singapore implemented in their times," Roger Hartmann said.

Awarded by the Luxembourg School of Finance (University of Luxembourg) for a tuition fee of about 8,500 euros, the partly academic and partly pragmatic nine-month executive programme is dedicated to client advisers and those who assume directing responsibilities. A university degree (or equivalent), three to five years private banking experience, a good command of English are the main prerequisites. The candidates must also pass an entry test. The programme targets a maximum of 25 participants.
"Giving both these programme and certification an elitist tint will bring, we hope, an international credibility to the industry and the financial centre," Roger Hartmann explained.

Know Your Customers

Implementing a high level curriculum is certainly one of the first steps a professional group in the making ought to start with. But surprisingly, Luxembourg's private banking industry has no precise overall view about its own activities, nor does it really know its clients. "General figures regarding our staff - more particularly the number of wealth managers and customer relationship managers - remains imprecise, Luc Rodesch explained. The same with the origin, the portfolio structure and the total asset of our customers, as well as the types of services we provide them with."

A joint survey initiated together with the CSSF (Luxembourg's banking regulator), to be published in fall 2007, will certainly tell more.

Still to come on the group's agenda: an eventual launch of a common information platform on fiscal matters dedicated to clients. "A common structure gathering our competencies within a central entity is under study," Charles Hamer said. As well as a dedicated participation to specific economic missions on private banking; promotion campaigns of the financial sector, with workshops within the ABBL manifestations. An Internet Website shall also be created to promote the private banking activity.