Further to their announcement back in September 2017 that they would work together to provide solutions to the Italian online trading market, Italian bank Banca Generali SpA (BIT:BGN) and Copenhagen based online trading giant Saxo Bank have announced that they have signed an agreement to offer a unique range of digital and global trading services.
The companies have created BG-SAXO Sim, the new joint venture, which will provide Italian clients with access to Saxo’s innovative technology and expertise.
BG-SAXO Sim is expected to start operating in the second half of the year.
The Board of Directors of Banca Generali has (on 9 March) approved the final agreement with Denmark’s Saxo Bank which sets up an exclusive partnership for the provision of online trading and digital services to Italian clients. The objective of the partnership, which has a duration of eight years and may be renewed upon expiry, is to offer clients, on an exclusive basis for the Italian market, access to an innovative platform for advanced trading based on Saxo Bank’s technology.
The agreement, which has already been approved by the Saxo Bank board, envisages the establishment of a new entity, BG-SAXO Sim, with a standalone Board of Directors consisting of seven members and requiring a qualified majority for all of the company’s strategic decisions. It will also have a steering committee, with guidance functions, composed by the two partners’ CEOs, CFOs and COOs.
Banca Generali will make available to the partnership its banking platform and its leading market position in private banking to foster synergies and develop new opportunities for its financial advisors and clients, who will thus enjoy access to one of the most comprehensive suites of global trading tools. The technology will be implemented within Banca Generali’s home banking platform, thus ensuring a seamless experience for its end clients.
BG-SAXO Sim has an innovative business model, primarily targeted to financial advisors and their clients (B2B2C), but also to potential individual clients (B2C), as the platform is easily accessible for both professional traders and clients who prefer to carry out their operations autonomously.
Saxo Bank is globally recognized as one of the leading fintech banks in Europe and Asia, with a multi-assets platform supported by a range of digital services — not only trading but also dynamic hedging services — with a particular expertise in FX.
BG-SAXO Sim is expected to start operating in the second half of the year, once the required approval, inter alia, has been obtained from the competent supervisory authorities.
Gian Maria Mossa, Banca Generali
Commenting on the agreement, Gian Maria Mossa, Chief Executive Officer, Banca Generali, said:
We are pleased to partner with one of the best companies in the world for digital trading services, and its outstanding, innovation-oriented management team. This partnership opens up new opportunities for our bank, which is expanding its exclusive solutions with a range of excellent digital services, and especially for our network of financial advisors and clients, to whom our private bank will be able to provide an even more extensive range of tools which will add value and greater choice.
Kim Fournais, Saxo Bank
Kim Fournais, CEO and founder, Saxo Bank:
We are very proud to partner with Banca Generali and the cooperation is testament of how partnerships are a transformative force that can ensure a best-in-class client experience. With Saxo Bank’s unique technology stack and Banca Generali as a very strong local partner, clients benefit from the best trading experience with regards to product, platform, price and service. We believe that the trading and investing industry can thrive if it leverages mutual strengths of different market participants and are fully supportive of the open banking model.