On October 21, negotiations began between representatives of the Geneva bank Banque SCS Alliance and the management of the All-Russian Exchange Bank. The main result of the first round of negotiations was the achievement of an agreement in principle on the participation of the SCS Alliance in the privatization of Russian enterprises.

As stated by the Chairman of the Board of the All-Russian Exchange Bank Vasily Soldatov, the visit of such a representative delegation of SCS Alliance – the president of the bank, Mr. Pascal Node-Langlois and the vice-president, Mr. Jean-Marie Wery – is associated with SCS’s intention to take part in the ongoing privatization of Russian enterprises. The qualifications of the Geneva bank’s specialists, Soldatov emphasized, in this regard are beyond doubt: “Many bank employees are former financial brokers, and SCS itself is actively involved in the activities of the world’s largest stock exchanges.” For its part, the VBB offered its Swiss partner its own database of investment projects received by the VBB during the year. The proposed projects (totalling 37.855 billion rubles and 3.731 billion dollars) are, according to Soldatov, highly profitable, have a short implementation period (up to 1 year) and, thus, are of real interest to the SCS Alliance. Technical problems, Soldatov emphasized, have already been resolved: the existing mutual correspondent accounts of VBB and SCS Alliance will make it possible to quickly take into account the movement of purchased securities.

In addition, at the meeting an agreement was reached on the use of Swiss experience in the foreign exchange market in Russia. As Soldatov explained, “we are talking about the FOREX computer system, the use of which allows us to really assess the trend of currency movements and develop appropriate recommendations for the behavior of brokers.” Soldatov emphasized that the Russian foreign exchange market is in a difficult situation, since “the exchange rate emerging in the country is largely a political phenomenon, but the basics of the FOREX system can be applied in Russia.” To this end, VBB intends to send its dealers to study in Geneva, as well as place its own funds in a trust at SCS Alliance, instructing Swiss specialists to “work with Russian money.”

In addition to these central problems, proposals from Geneva bankers for deposit services for Russian clients in the SCS Alliance were discussed, options for working with American Express and VISA credit cards were considered, as well as the possibility of creating offshore companies in Switzerland with an account in the SCS Alliance.

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