ABN Amro has been awarded a mandate by Groupe Caisse d’Epargne, one of the largest financial services institutions in France, to provide outsourced and whitelabelled trade services.

 

The agreement, believed to be the first of its kind in mainland Europe, will see Groupe Caisse d’Epargne make use of ABN’s trade services technology and global network. This should enable Groupe Caisse d’Epargne to compete more effectively for trade business and build its market share by providing market leading services to its clients, backed by ABN Amro’s ongoing investment in scale and new functionality.

 

Gary Page, global head of commercial banking at ABN says: “This is a milestone for financial institutions on the continent. Long-term partnerships of this type require a significant amount of confidence and trust between institutions.”

 

ABN Amro’s award winning trade portal, MaxTrad, will be white-labelled with a full French translation, enabling GCE to retain its own brand and client franchise, whilst offering their customers online access to a broad and expanding range of trade finance products and services.

 

“We have today announced the creation of a new group subsidiary, ‘la Banque Palatine’, which will serve the needs of corporate clients. Our partnership with ABN Amro will enable us to provide market-leading trade finance services – a core part of that offering,” explains Nicolas Merindol, member of the board of directors responsible for commercial banking and strategy of la Caisse Nationale des Caisses d’Epargne.

 

Groupe Caisse d ‘Epargne is the third largest banking network in France with around 26mn customers. It comprises 32 regional Caisse d ‘Epargne and member banks Banque San Paolo France & the Financire OCEOR.

 

“Our approach to the development of products and services continues to be one of providing significant value-add, rather than a basic product set,” says Daniel Cotti, managing director, transaction banking group at ABN. “The trade business is an area that requires significant ongoing investment and product innovation to maintain and grow market share. Groupe Caisse d’Epargne can benefit from ABN Amro’s long-term commitment to providing traditional and emerging trade services and solutions, whilst significantly reducing their fixed costs.”