What are you looking forward to, this entire event about disruptive technologies? How is the bank looking to get involved here?
No, it was great to be back in Hong Kong with all the executive board and the board of directors for a full week of sessions. And now we are also hosting our 11th event here on disruptive technology and gathering 1000 clients and really the pivotal moment for the sector. I think that we always saw a lot of innovations, particularly coming out of Asia, but now the acceleration is huge around AI, around robotics. And so we are looking forward to engage with clients. Right.
And I think you and I were just talking before we started here that, you know, people tend to overestimate in the short term how quickly things can change. But I think in this case, things are rather moving fairly quickly as far as this technology goes. How is your team looking at opportunities for the bank here, internal or external?
Yeah, it is fair to say that also at this time, probably there is an exaggeration of the estimation, but it is growing faster than what we saw in the past. But I'm pretty convinced that we are still underestimating the impact it will have over the long term. I think that for us is all about really preparing for the future. The biggest focus we have right now is how to make our processes more efficient on the back end, but also how can we help our client advisors as serving their clients in a more effective and efficient way, our analysts to be more responsive to market changes. And you know what, one point is very important. Technology will help humans being better. And in banking we will continue to see the emotional parts, the EQ part of the equation playing also a very important role.
Right. And you know, all of this is taking place. And I want to ask you a bit later on about the process and the updates on the integration.
I believe you're nine of the 13 billion in. I think we'll get to that in a moment. Can I ask you, though, about maybe one of your favorite questions, which is about FinMa and well, not to speculate, but where are conversations now?
Let me give you the mike on that. Well, I mean, there are no real conversation. There is a political process. I think that the regulatory authorities are part of this process. We have now a consultation on that process, on the proposals of the Swiss government to make some changes to the regulatory framework. We do accept that there is a necessity to fine tune many aspects of regulation in Switzerland. But on capital I think the requirements that are proposed are excessive and they are not really targeted to address what happened at Credit Suisse. So we are engaged in the public debates and in the next few quarters we will see some outcome of the political process. My understanding is any new regulation will kick in in about a year and a half, give or take.
And you have, if in fact, in its current form, it does kick in that way, then the bank has a few years to then adjust. I guess my question is, does this really affect how you plan the business short term, given that this is a multi-year process anyway?
No, look, short term, we have been very, very focused in staying close to clients and navigating a fairly challenging macroeconomic geopolitical environment with also volatility and changes affecting our wealthy clients and our clients across the board and institutional one as well. So we are very busy now in finalizing the integration and also, as we mentioned before, on AI and technology, preparing for the future. So of course this debate on regulation is a huge distraction that we try to minimize as much as we can from a client facing standpoint of view and day to day.
I mean, speaking of your ability to deal with your clients, I think one of the things that you've mentioned before, shrinking the bank is not something that you prefer. You know that the franchise is Swiss based and your global franchise gives you that competitive advantage. The reason I frame it that way is I wonder, and risking oversimplifying a complex issue here, does the regulation in some way handicap the Swiss competitiveness when it comes to banking?
Well, of course, when you have a proposal that would see our bank having to hold, you know, 50% more capital than your competitors, then of course, you would have an impact on that. But now it's difficult for me to see a successful global organization that is very close to clients, that is very resilient and strong in terms of capital embracing a strategy of shrinking as a good way to succeed in the future. So we are very focused to keep our global footprint. Diversification is a very, very important factor. If you look at our franchises in the U.S., in Europe, and particularly in this region, they are a core strength. So we believe that international footprint and business diversification should be maintained going forward to really also respond to clients demands.
The message you would give to investors, clients, employees that, you know, hear this almost on a regular basis, concerns around the bank shrinking and whether or not that's fully under your control. What is the message that you're able to give at this point in time?
Well, I think that we and the board of directors and the executive board are very determined to continue to execute our successful strategy. And shrinking is not an option.
How about the headquarters? The conversation there about, you know,
We want to continue to operate as a successful global bank based out of Switzerland. I think that we believe we can offer a lot to our Swiss clients and international clients by operating in this way. And we believe that we are also through that a good factor for the Swiss economy.
