SG conducts a sophisticated repertoire

Is Japan still a tough nut to crack?

François Barbé was head of private banking, Japan, at BNP when that bank merged with Paribas and decided to withdraw its trust bank operation from Japan. Luckily for him Société Générale had just decided to move into the Japanese market, so Barbé switched firms and is now chief executive of a private banking operation that has the respect of many of his peers in the industry. Most banks hoping to “build relationships” with reporters will offer them pens, umbrellas or perhaps a travel clock, but it’s typical of the image that Barbé wants SG to project that the information pack he hands Euromoney when it goes to interview him contains a CD of classical music.