Chief Executive Officer, Swissquote Group Holding
Marc Bürki: «100 Millionen Franken waren unser Ziel» (05.11.2019)
Die Leute traden, aber weniger, sagt Marc Bürki im Interview mit finews.tv. Das beunruhigt den Mitgründer und CEO der ersten Schweizer Online-Bank jedoch wenig. Denn im asiatischen Markt würden sich enorme Wachstumschancen bieten – und im Geschäft mit Kryptowährungen mischt das Unternehmen ebenfalls an vorderster Front mit.
About Marc Bürki
In a November 2019 interview with finews.tv, Marc Bürki, CEO of Swissquote Holding, stated that the company had already reached its goal of managing 100 million francs locally in Singapore, having obtained a license there that year. He described Singapore as an interesting market for Swissquote, where the company planned to target asset managers, smaller brokers, and family offices by offering services ranging from interfaces to full banking solutions. Bürki commented on the U.S. trend of eliminating trading fees, saying he did not believe this would happen in Switzerland due to different market structures and regulations such as MiFID II, which he said made practices like payment for order flow "practically impossible" in Europe and Switzerland. He also noted that Swissquote offered real-time trading and custody for five major cryptocurrencies, which he said accounted for about three percent of the company's revenue, and mentioned that he personally owned some bitcoins. Looking ahead, Bürki said the company's plans included integrating the recently acquired Internet Bank in Luxembourg to expand its services in the European market.
Transcript (20 segments)
I
Interviewer0:05
Mr. Bürki, you are not a big football fan, actually not? Nevertheless, Swissquote has been sponsoring Manchester United for several years. Why?
M
Marc Bürki0:14
It is mainly because of Asia, because Manchester United has a very strong brand in Asia, and we needed a company that helps us strengthen our brand in that region. Swissquote was the first purely digital bank and launched online banking in Switzerland. Meanwhile, the stock exchanges are very highly valued. Are people still trading? I must say, they are trading a bit less because, as I said, the stock exchanges are very high and there are also certain uncertainties in the market. But nevertheless, there remains a residual number of transactions that customers must execute, around 20.
I
Interviewer0:59
One trades, one trades a bit less. In the USA, large providers like Charles Schwab have switched to completely eliminating fees. What do you think about that, and will that also come to Switzerland?
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Marc Bürki1:13
I don't think that will come to Switzerland. The American market is a completely different market from Switzerland and Europe. It is also a market where you can make money. For example, you can sell the flow from customers, the so-called payment for order flow (PFOF). And that is almost impossible in Europe and also in Switzerland due to regulation, MiFID II and so on.
I
Interviewer1:37
Now Swissquote recently expanded to Singapore. What are the intentions behind this step?
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Marc Bürki1:44
Yes, we have very good services, technology, we have good interfaces, and we believe that Singapore is an interesting market for Swissquote. We will primarily approach asset managers, smaller brokers, family offices, and so on, and we will offer them our service capabilities, really from the interface to the whole offering.
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Interviewer2:14
What goals have you set there, or where do you stand in this development?
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Marc Bürki2:15
We actually wanted to have the license this year, and we achieved that. And then we also set goals for the end of the year. We wanted to have around one billion in assets under management locally, and I can say today that we have already achieved that.
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Interviewer2:32
In Asia, but also in Switzerland, interest in cryptocurrencies is growing. What is also interesting for you? Do you personally own any?
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Marc Bürki2:41
I have bought all five cryptocurrencies that we offer in trading. I also bought some bitcoins a few years ago, unfortunately too few. Yes, I find it an interesting investment opportunity.
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Interviewer2:55
And what exactly does Swissquote offer in this area, and how much do you earn from it?
M
Marc Bürki2:59
We offer trading in the five major cryptocurrencies, and we will continue to expand that. Really real-time trading. You can buy and sell these currencies with us, you can also store them. We are one of the places for custody of these currencies. And if you have cryptocurrencies somewhere in a wallet and you want to transfer them to Swissquote Bank, we can do that. In terms of revenue, it is not yet a huge business, about three percent of our income.
I
Interviewer3:31
What do you think about the Facebook currency, Libra?
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Marc Bürki3:35
I fundamentally think it's a great idea, really. And I believe the world also needs such a global cryptocurrency that is stable. What I fear, however, is that it is a political issue, and I am not convinced that it will be allowed.
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Interviewer3:53
Looking to the near future, what are your plans with Swissquote in the next year?
M
Marc Bürki3:55
We have big plans. We have acquired this bank, the Internet Bank in Luxembourg, and we are now in the process of integrating this bank into the Swissquote Group. That means not only the interface for the customer but also the entire banking system, the banking systems we need to build for the Internet Bank. That takes some time, and it will keep us very busy next year. And we are doing this because we naturally want to roll out our services in the European market.
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Interviewer4:29
What does your personal future look like? Are you still fully involved, or have you already initiated succession?
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Marc Bürki4:36
I am again fully involved. But we have also expanded the management. We now have eight members in the executive board, and there are also succession possibilities among these eight.
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Interviewer4:53
Thank you very much for the interesting conversation.
M
Marc Bürki4:55
Thank you.