I am a student in Financial Economics at EDHEC Nice. After completing a Bachelor's commercial banking internship at BNP Paribas, I wanted to do an internship in investment banking as part of a gap year.
The description of the internship was very detailed and very appealing, fitting in perfectly with my expectations: I chose the mission above all. I wanted to apply the theories I had learnt and to understand, from a more practical standpoint, how an investment bank works and the challenges it faces. The global reputation and the rating of Crédit Agricole CIB loan syndication were also criteria that influenced my choice.
Last but not least, during my interview, I had a very positive first impression from the members of the team, which encouraged all the more me to join them.

I am an intern in one of the origination teams - Western Europe - in the Global Loan Syndication department.
The department creates, structures, negotiates and syndicates major international operations for large corporate clients. We work with clients to finance their general needs as well as their acquisition projects.
The department consists of around thirty staff based in London, Paris and Madrid. My team of five people covers clients in Western Europe in the following areas: financial institutions, commodity traders, automotive industry, food and luxury goods.
In concrete terms, this means our clients look for bank debt to cover their financing needs. A pool of banks is formed, each of which has a specific role: coordinator, bookrunner, etc. The banks will then work together to create the financing conditions that are best suited to the client's request.

My mission is to help the originators to analyse the profile of the clients and draw up a coherent business proposition. Specifically, I carry out financial analyses: strengths and weaknesses, financial ratios, etc. This analysis gives rise to a score that will help the originators take their long-term decisions as to the amount and conditions of the loan granted to the client.
I also take part in preparing the sales presentation to the client.

First of all, I've become more aware of the operational and practical aspects, which go further than I had originally thought.
The diversity of the sectors we cover is a huge advantage because each sector has its own characteristics and therefore specific financing needs. The highly technical sector of financial institutions, and more specifically insurance, was of particular interest to me.
Secondly, I'm learning a lot about the interaction with other teams both in-house (syndication in London, mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets, etc.) and externally, especially with the other banks in the pool, both French and international.
Last of all, I had the ideal environment in which to enjoy my mission to the fullest. My colleagues are both attentive and keen to explain. I can ask them questions and learn a great deal from them. Over the weeks, they placed more and more trust in me and I quickly became more independent.

I really enjoyed this syndication assignment at Crédit Agricole CIB. To complement this approach, I plan to continue my course in Leverage Finance or acquisitions financing. I'm looking forward to new challenges with clients with different profiles from those that I have dealt with so far.