Cecabank Annual Report 2014

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The new standards emerging from
Basel III mean that institutions
are much more strictly regulated
in order to avoid the excesses
of the past. At Cecabank we are
highly focused on taking the
necessary steps to be a medium-
low risk profile entity. These last
few months have seen numerous
meetings and partnerships, both
internal and external, and this
collective effort is bearing fruit
in the form of a series of internal
standards approved by the Board
of Directors, which will be the basis
guiding future action.
What factors do you think will
affect how markets develop and
how will the bank utilise them?
The environment is clearly
complicated, but it is in
circumstances like these that
opportunities arise.
• Consolidation of the financial
system: new and bigger
institutions seeking to boost
their efficiency, which tend to
outsource services of all kinds.
Cecabank has the answers to
their needs.
• The regulatory framework may
favour one of the basic lines
of our strategy and our
business model, namely
Securities Services.
• Our specialisation in many
treasury products, together with
an enviable capital, liquidity
and leverage situation allow
us to take advantage of the
opportunities that arise. We are
an institution that is present
in all markets, and are highly
demanding in terms of product
innovation. A clear example is
our presence in fixed-income
central counterparties (CCPs)
and our commitment to
variable-income CCPs arising
out of securities market reform.
We clearly see that Cecabank
is going to be an extremely
important market player with a
clearly defined role.
What are the main challenges
facing the treasury platform,
the banknotes desk and the
corporate business?
Our main challenge—and it could
not be otherwise—is first and
foremost to obtain new clients,
but no less important is retaining
them. Therefore our distribution
desk and our traders focus their
efforts on providing the best
service. We have invested in
platforms, both in currencies and
fixed income, and we are always
available for any request.
The banknotes desk is the Spanish
market leader and has been for
many years. More importantly, it
is well regarded by its customers.
As regards corporate business, we
are making efforts jointly with the
risk department to establish more
and better operating links to allow
us to continue to grow in terms of
business and products.
Treasury management
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