Download Switzerland Report - The European Times

Canton of Berne
BEKB | BCBE
Creating Value with a Long-Term
Strategy
BEKB | BCBE now serves over 500,000 customers and
has developed an extensive network of 78 branches,
17 mobile banks and an online banking service.
Operating mainly in the Canton of Berne, where its
market share is around 25%, the bank specialises
in two core activities: providing retail banking
services for individuals and small and medium-sized
companies, and private and asset banking services
for individuals and institutional clients.
Personal service is the bank’s focus. “We aim to
be as close to our clients as possible. Through our
numerous subsidiaries and cyber bank, we effectively
bring our services to the customer,” says Jean-Claude
Nobili, CEO. He adds that the bank also emphasises
long-term strategies, aiming to earn returns over a 10-
year period. The bank makes sure its customers are
aware that 50% of the achieved free cash flow goes
to its shareholders with the rest used to develop the
bank.
Employees have a stake in the business
BEKB | BCBE was formerly fully owned by the
canton, but now it has more than 60,000 shareholders,
placing it among Switzerland’s top 10 companies
in shareholder numbers. In 1999, the bank began
to allocate its shares to private investors in order to
gain autonomy and boost efficiency. This was a major
innovation at the time which was wholeheartedly
supported by the Bernese population, the parliament,
the government and the Ministry of Finance.
Employees own around 5% of the bank, a unique
feature of which BEKB | BCBE is very proud. “Their
ownership ensures that our employees are working
hard towards the success of the bank and that they
feel part of the company they are working for,” Jean-
Claude Nobili explains. The bank also grants significant
autonomy to branch managers since they best
understand the needs of their local market.
The bank’s services include mortgage financing,
handling customer deposits, asset management and
property advisory. BEKB | BCBE sets itself apart from
its competitors through its focus on providing personalised
attention (every customer has a personal advisor
or advisory team), its efforts to ensure easy access to
the bank for all its customers, and its reliability. Jean-
Claude Nobili concludes, “We create value through
open, transparent communications with our customers,
through a limited and long-term compensation model
and a long-term qualitative orientation of our business
policy, which is a low-risk strategy.”
Bundesplatz 8, 3001 Bern
Switzerland
Phone: +41 (0)31 666 10 13
Fax: +41 (0)31 666 19 91
hanspeter.merz@bekb.ch
www.bekb.ch
17