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Engineering success
Philippe Seyll, co-CEO of Clearstream Banking, believes the ability to run a global business
is a constant balancing act between emotional and scientific intelligence.
Global Custodian: Can you describe your career path at Clear-
stream?
Philippe Seyll: I graduated as an engineer, so not surprisingly I
was one of the only ones in my class to go into banking. Looking
back, my engineering background is a blessing when working in
this business. Throughout my career, I have always worked at
international firms, be it SWIFT, BNY Mellon, and now Clear-
stream. Working with various nationalities, all with differing
points of view makes you think differently. I would say I have
become a more holistic person because of how my career path
was shaped. For me, all aspects of the business are important.
This starts with putting the client at the centre of attention and
goes to looking at the operational, strategic and sales sides.
Throughout my career, so far I’ve had two bosses who have
particularly influenced me. The one I spent most time with is
Jeffrey Tessler, former executive board member of Deutsche
Börse Group, and before him it was Patrick Zurstrassen. They
were both great coaches and gave me the freedom to develop
myself.
GC: What were some of your most notable career highlights?
PS: I have the pleasure to be working with a great team. Jointly
with this team, we managed to achieve some great business
wins. We made a number of acquisitions, one of them was Citco
Global Securities Services in 2014. This deal was exemplary for
its strategic fit and the attention paid to its integration into the
Group. Most recently, we acquired Swisscanto’s Fund Services
business. I am thrilled about this addition to our portfolio. We
learned a lot from our previous acquisitions, which I believe, has
helped us enormously in closing this deal successfully.
GC: How has your background as an engineer shaped your indus-
try outlook?
PS: Think before you act. In engineering, there is very little room
for interpretation. I would, however, say that I am not a typical
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Global Custodian
Fall 2018
engineer. I think the art is to take the engineering background
and add the right level of emotional intelligence to the equation.
Finding the adequate balance between emotional and scientific
intelligence is key to get the right mix to run a business.
At Clearstream and Deutsche Börse Group, we are not only
a market infrastructure provider, but also an IT company. It is
essential for us to have solid systems in place for the millions
of transactions of assets or corporate actions messages we deal
with. This means that despite – or actually because of – our
focus on our clients’ needs, we need engineers to help maintain
the system.
GC: How have you seen the industry change over time?
PS: In the late 1980s, when I worked for SWIFT, banking con-
centration was a big topic. You could see banks getting bigger
and bigger, acquiring one another – and then in the 90s, consol-
idation began to kick in. From the 2000s onwards, everything
was about specialisation. Especially in the securities services
industry, there were ever fewer custodians operating, let alone
global custodians. At the end of the 2000s and around the global
financial crisis, cost discipline and concentrating on one’s core
business came into the focus. As a market infrastructure, we’ve
been able to support the market in this development by mutual-
ising a lot of costs across the industry.
Now, we are in the middle of a technology shift. I have never
really believed in the disruptive nature of new technology, as
I am convinced that bankers are well enough equipped to ac-
company the change. There will be more technological changes
to come over the next five to 10 years, compared to what we’ve
seen over the past 20 years. The way we interact with finan-
cial institutions is different now compared to what it was five
years ago, and looking at our industry, the possibility offered by
technology is immense. Partnerships between technology firms
and financial institutions will pave the way to a more secure,
streamlined, client-friendly environment.