François Martin (FM): Energy is one of Calyon’s major business sectors. The Bank has strong, historic positions in structured finance, and it also offers services in investment banking and capital markets. GEG’s aim is to make the most of Calyon’s expertise in energy and its access to clients to develop a world franchise in the sector, starting in the Oil & Gas sector.

FM: The first thing we did was to coordinate the different business lines that are active in energy throughout the world. GEG relies on client coverage everywhere in the world as well as five dedicated coverage centers, in Paris, London, Houston, Hong Kong and Milan. A joint venture with Global Investment Banking in London and Houston was set up to expand the corporate finance offer to include the Oil & Gas sector. GEG cooperates closely with all active product lines in the sector with vigorous development in the capital markets, especially commodities and bonds.

FM: Backing up client coverage, GEG works hand in hand with clients as far upstream as possible. To keep closely in line with their strategic thinking, we offer cutting-edge expertise in energy combined with a worldwide multi-product offer.
Jean-Marie Snyers (JMS): GEG strengthens client coverage in line with Calyon’s overall refocusing strategy. We want to make the most of each business line, and our partnership with EDF Trading fits perfectly into this rationale. We have the necessary expertise to work through this partnership and make this new offer to our clients. The large trading companies, for instance, are interested in increasing bank counterparties for these very specific products.

JMS: Some business lines, such as structured finance, have strong positioning in energy. GEG will develop the offer of other business lines working in this sector: mergers and acquisitions, debt and capital markets and loan syndication. The same goes for commodities, in particular the EDF Trading partnership, which provides clients with access to the physical European commodities market, where we will be focusing on coal, gas and power to add true value to the most complex financings. In the United States, gas-related activities are highly developed, and interaction with the other business lines is widespread thanks to the Energy hub based in Houston.