Commerzbank: helping French SMEs to export

Founded in Hamburg in 1870, Commerzbank has never lost its passion for foreign trade. “We finance 16% of German exports and 40% of the country’s SMEs choose us as their bank,” says Felix-Maria Ruether, who was appointed Managing Director of Commerzbank France early this year. In the fragmented world of German banking, where rumours about privatisation and consolidation abound, Commerzbank is a solid, generalist establishment which can be relied upon to offer global solutions. Based in Paris, the bank’s largest continental European subsidiary specialises exclusively in serving corporate needs, particularly the financing of export transactions.

“A large number of French companies come to us because they know that their German competitors use our services in, for example, many ex-Soviet Union countries and in the Balkans where we are well placed,” says Étienne d’Izarny, Vice-Director of Export and Asset Financing. One of the characteristics of Commerzbank is its highly impressive international coverage, with credit lines in countries all over the world (the Middle-East, South America, South-East Asia) including the most isolated ones. That is what has attracted leading French agricultural and industrial raw materials firms and trading companies, for whom documentary credit is vital.

Attracting leading SMEs
While in Germany, Commerzbank is the natural partner of Mittelstand SMEs (small to medium sized, mostly family-owned companies), the new head of Commerzbank France is intent on attracting French mid-caps and SMEs by making the financial side of the establishment’s export offer, which includes documentary credit and standby guarantee facilities, as well as medium-term export credit, even more competitive. “French SMEs often lack the tools to export in this field. Fortunately, however, business people in the sector are beginning to reappraise their needs, and we will focus our development strategy on SMEs at the forefront of their particular markets,” says Felix-Maria Ruether, who has already identified a potential target market of 360 French firms.

Commerbank’s approach to helping businesses, notably by means of export credit facilities, is entirely compatible with the French government’s new measures designed to encourage foreign trade (the Loos Bill of 2005, Trade Minister Christine Lagarde’s 2006 export plan) which make it easier for SMEs to benefit from Coface (French Foreign Trade Insurance Company) guarantees. At the same time as developing its export credit services for SMEs, Commerzbank continues to work with trading companies, for which it issues around a quarter of its documentary credits. According to Mr d’Izarny, “the raw materials sector is experiencing a real boom and the trend shows no sign of abating. Consequently, demand for financial services will continue to rise and financial packages will become more and more complex.” Including credits, the export department accounts for a third of Commerzbank France’s entire turnover. And, it seems, this is only the beginning.