Falcon's new strategy is full-bodied: the bank sets itself apart from the competition with its digital expertise. That's not something that's won overnight...
...no, it has to be built up organically, of course. The new strategy has to be seen against the backdrop of our past. Then, the bank's structure and size didn't stand up to the way Falcon presented itself on the market.
«Profitable private banking was more side show»
Profitable and sustainable private banking was more of a side show. My job is to make it mandatory.
The high-gloss advertising featuring a gold-dipped woman doesn't really convey a new humility.
I can understand the objection. After our setback, perhaps people expected us to illustrate that we had broken with the past with the mountain-climbing, rope and safety pictures that are typical. We explicitly didn't want that – it doesn't fit with our differentiation strategy.
What do you still have to do?
We have to reduce the complexity of the bank, cut costs, and focus on markets and activities which make economic sense for us. In short: we have to establish a sustainably profitable basis for ourselves.
Are you saying that the «old» Falcon Private Bank neglected actual private banking?
No, but our cruising altitude and our ambitions didn't correlate to economic realities. For example, we were active in more than 100 markets, which was simply way too many for a bank of our size given today's regulatory environment.
«These deals were more useful for those executing than for the bank»
We had also strayed into lots of other businesses that were more useful for those doing the executing than for the bank: stake purchases, capital market business and – as 1MDB showed – transactions as well. All these positions are being evaluated point-by-point for their purpose in terms of capital and return as part of our restructuring process.
