On October 21, negotiations began between representatives of the Geneva-based Banque SCS Alliance and the management of the All-Russian Exchange Bank. The main outcome of the first round of negotiations was an agreement in principle on SCS Alliance's participation in the privatization of Russian enterprises.
According to Vasily Soldatov, Chairman of the Board of the All-Russian Exchange Bank, the visit of such a representative delegation from SCS Alliance—the bank's President, Pascal Node-Langlois, and Vice President, Jean-Marie Wery—is connected with SCS's intention to participate in the ongoing privatization of Russian enterprises. The qualifications of the Geneva-based bank's specialists, Soldatov emphasized, are beyond doubt in this regard: "Many of the bank's employees are former financial brokers, and SCS itself is actively involved in the activities of the world's largest stock exchanges." For its part, VBB offered its Swiss partner its own database of investment projects received by VBB over the course of the year. The proposed projects (totaling RUB 37.855 billion and USD 3.731 billion), according to Soldatov, are highly profitable and have short implementation periods (up to one year), thus representing genuine interest to SCS Alliance. Soldatov emphasized that the technical issues have already been resolved: existing mutual correspondent accounts between VBB and SCS Alliance will allow for the prompt tracking of the transactions of the acquired securities.
Furthermore, an agreement was reached at the meeting to utilize Swiss experience in the foreign exchange market in Russia. As Soldatov explained, "This involves a computerized FOREX system, the use of which allows for a realistic assessment of currency movements and the development of appropriate recommendations for brokers." Soldatov emphasized that the Russian foreign exchange market is in a difficult situation, as "the exchange rate that develops in the country is largely a political phenomenon, but the fundamentals of the FOREX system can be easily applied in Russia." To this end, VBB intends to send its dealers to Geneva for training and also place its own funds in a trust with the SCS Alliance, entrusting Swiss specialists with "working with Russian money."
In addition to these central issues, proposals from Geneva bankers regarding 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.