What are Calyon's advantages on the Chinese market considered as complex?

Calyon is considered as one of the leading foreign financial institutions on the Chinese market. This recognition is due to its solid experience and advisory capacity in the arrangement of large scale projects, its deep understanding of the market and its ability to deliver the desired product within deadlines.

It benefits by the relationships established with the local regulators and financial institutions. The Crédit Agricole S.A. Group has been present in China for over a century now since it opened it first branch in this country back in 1898.

Calyon was also one of the very first banks to obtain a licence for transactions in renminbi (RMB), the Chinese currency. This full set of licences gives it the possibility to deal in USD and in RMB alike.

Lastly, it rests on the development of the Crédit Agricole S.A. Group in terms of image and presence. Indeed, the Group now has a wide-encompassing operational presence on the Chinese market through its subsidiaries Crédit Agricole Asset Management and Newedge.


What solutions does Calyon offer to its clients?

Calyon is primarily involved with major corporates and financial institutions. In China, it capitalizes on its local and global competencies and on the know-how of its network to offer adapted solutions to its clients.

Our workforce concentrate their efforts on capital markets and structured finance. Both are Calyon's expert areas enabling it to pioneer and innovate on this market. Calyon particularly successfully completed the first take over bid for part of the capital of a Chinese company for a foreign company and a leverage finance transaction.

Our teams increasingly assist the Chinese groups on their market as well as in their rapid international development. The objective is to achieve within two or three years a position and profitability on the market equivalent to those of the Calyon's best in class units in Asia (such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea and Australia).


What is Calyon's organization to meet changes in corporate requirements on the Chinese market?

Our senior bankers are at the heart of our local organization. They maintain and develop day after day the relations with their customers. Their role is to understand in depth the complex operation of the market to come up with adapted high value added solutions.

Present in 6 towns, we hope to be registered in early 2009 as a bank like our best competitors. The advantages of being a local bank will be to be able to open more easily new branches which can instantly work all the licences which are currently mainly granted to Shangai. These branches will work with a broader customer base of major Chinese corporates. Essential to the development of our activity, the registration will facilitate the deployment of the Group's existing businesses.

CLSA provides real support to the companies in Crédit Agricole S.A. and Calyon's customer portfolio. CLSA is Crédit Agricole S.A.'s brokerage company in the Asia Pacific region. It gives them a better understanding of the local environment. The Regional banks of Crédit Agricole S.A. in Asia, through permanent establishments in Shangai and Hong Kong, follows the SMEs which are client of the regional banks in Asia.
 

Calyon successfully completed the first take over bid by a foreign company, the SEB group, targeting part of the capital of a local company

Calyon and its subsidiary CLSA participated to the initial negotiations between the SEB home appliances group and potential partners in the Chinese market. These negotiations concerned the SEB group's bid for part of the capital of the Chinese company Supor. Calyon and CLSA jointly completed this innovating transaction for a total amount of EUR 327m.


Calyon, a major player in the Leverage Finance market in China

Calyon's expertise on the Chinese market rests not only on its experience with capital markets but also on its structuring and distribution skills in financing. In March 2008, the origination team based in Hong Kong finalized a transaction confirming Calyon's position as a major player on the market of leverage finance in Asia.

Calyon has been Mandated Lead Arranger and Joint Underwriter for a RMB 2.75bn (EUR 251 million) loan for Zhuhai Zhongu Enterprise Company Limited, the largest plastic bottle producer in China. The company is a listed company in China of which 29% equity interest was acquired by CVC Asia Pacific Limited in October 2007.

Calyon's team work and the competences developed in the areas of origination, structuring and debt distribution were key success factors in this transaction. Calyon's knowledge and understanding of the Chinese market permitted it to close this deal successfully despite the tightening of RMB liquidities.

The success of this transaction has further strengthened the relationship with CVC, one of the most active Financial Sponsor in Asia and also an important long term client of the bank.
 

Can you present your current job?
Being the branch manager, I have the global coverage responsibilities over the Chinese clients located in the regions under our coverage scope. They are mostly State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), municipal/provincial flagship companies or market leaders.


What is your background before joining Calyon Beijing?
After my studies at University Sun Yat-Sen in China and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris, I joined Calyon in 1996 in Paris. I started in Project & International Department before being transferred back to Calyon China (Guangzhou) in 1997. Later in that year, I joined the project finance team in Calyon in Hong Kong before taking over the Bank's Representative Office in Beijing in 2000. I went back to the project finance team in Hong Kong by mid 2004 before becoming the branch manager of Calyon in Beijing by late 2005.


What is a typical day like, as a senior banker?
An ideal day, as a senior banker, is to start with an in-depth preparation of a forthcoming client meeting. This means review of the exposure, product mix and profitability of a client account. Then discussion with the product-lines involved so as to have a good command of the key matters you would discuss with the client. Then after the client meeting, you clearly identify the potential opportunities and have in mind the following steps leading to the fruition of these opportunities.


How do you work with the senior bankers and other entities in Calyon?
We are four senior bankers in China and two in Beijing. We work closely together and share our experience in developing client relationship. As a senior banker, we act as global relationship manager for segmented clients and promote globalisation of the client relationship and cross-selling. In this regard, we actively support other Calyon entities in developing businesses with the subsidiaries of the clients for which we have the primary coverage role. The SCO and product lines are also fully involved in the marketing and origination vis a vis local customers.


What is the most interesting aspect in your job?
The better aspect is to originate the deal and create the conditions for it to be done in the satisfaction of the client's needs and the Bank's criteria.


What are the specific abilities for success in the relation with clients on Chinese market?
In my opinion, they are the product knowledge, the judgement, consistency and last but not least intimacy. It is also important to speak Chinese; all senior bankers in Calyon in China are Chinese.