For the past four years, AUREL BGC Monaco SAM has been leveraging the strength of a global group and a local approach to expand in the Principality. Its Head of Administration and Compliance, Alexandra Jouberjean, looks back on the creation of the office and its local ambitions.
I am originally from Paris. After attending an international school and completing a Master’s degree in market finance between Paris and London, I joined Aurel Leven for my end-of-studies internship eighteen years ago. That company then merged with BGC in 2009. This means that I have spent my entire career with the BGC group, first in the front office for fourteen years, working on various financial products, in direct contact with clients and travelling internationally extensively.
When the group decided to set up in Monaco, they needed someone who could represent the entity locally, liaise with the Monegasque authorities, manage compliance, administration, training and, more generally, the operational functioning of a small structure. I seized this opportunity and became Head of Administration and Compliance at BGC Monaco SAM.
This move was primarily a response to post-Brexit strategy. As a global leader in financial market intermediation with a presence in many countries, BGC wanted to strengthen its footprint in Europe and get closer to a particularly demanding international clientele. Monaco was an obvious choice in this regard.
There is also an extremely strong human and institutional dimension in Monaco. It is a place where people know each other, where dialogue happens quickly and where opportunities arise through proximity. The size of the market in no way reduces its dynamism or exposure to high-level economic decision-makers. It is a stimulating environment in which we wanted to participate fully.
We have built a model based on the technological and operational power of the BGC Group and the adaptability of a human-sized office. Our activities are entirely B2B and based on high compliance standards. We are in close and continuous contact with the Monegasque authorities, such as the CCAF and the AMSF, to ensure absolute transparency in our operations from the outset and throughout the client relationship. This approach is central to our presence in the Principality.
These three dimensions are inseparable. In terms of growth, we want to continue the controlled development of our traditional activities, particularly in derivatives, fixed income and equities, while exploring new asset classes such as structured products and commodities. In terms of innovation, we have recently digitised our entire monitoring plan, which is a priority for both the group and Monaco. In terms of consolidation, we are strengthening our teams and further deepening our integration with other entities in the group in order to bring everything up to the same standard.
We operate autonomously at the local level, while being fully integrated globally. The group provides us with its technological strength, tools, control processes and recognised expertise. However, we maintain a governance structure that is tailored to the realities of the Monegasque market. Daily exchanges with the teams in Paris and London are essential and ensure that our operations comply with the group’s international standards.
Today, around two-thirds of our employees come from the group and wanted to move to Monaco, which demonstrates the attractiveness of the Principality and the interest in our project. However, we remain open to external recruitment. We are looking for brokers who are passionate about their work, able to thrive in an international environment and knowledgeable about local specificities. Responsiveness, rigour and customer relations skills are essential. Adaptability is also key, as Monaco is a unique ecosystem. Finally, we attach great importance to continuous training in order to maintain a level that complies with the group’s enhanced standards.
The first challenge is regulatory and operational. Our licence covers the receipt and transmission of orders, but not their execution in Monaco. All orders we receive from our clients are transmitted to Aurel BGC for execution in the systems set up by the BGC group. We have discussed this issue with the CCAF, but at this stage Monegasque law does not allow local execution by our entity. However, execution is at the heart of our historical business, which is necessarily a constraint. We are adapting with adjusted processes, but this remains a significant challenge.
We work exclusively with professional clients. Historically, our client base has consisted of investment banks, investment firms and institutional funds. The opening of the Monegasque office aims to accelerate our development with family offices and private banks, particularly those based in Monaco, for whom local proximity is a highly valued asset. This is clearly our priority target.
Our difference lies in the combination of two strengths. The first is the solidity of a group with a global presence in financial intermediation and an extremely strong corporate culture. The second is our proximity to our clients, thanks to a local team that is attentive, available and rooted in the reality of the Monegasque market. It is this combination that makes us unique.
I would like to reiterate our motto: act globally and remain local. Last year, the group generated revenue of three billion dollars, spread significantly across several asset classes such as commodities, fixed income and equities.
Our social commitment through Charity Day is significant. We organise it every year in different financial centres in memory of the 658 group employees who died in the 11 September attacks. Our headquarters were in one of the towers in New York. This day brings together public figures to raise funds for charities mainly focused on child protection. This initiative is very important to the group and we hope to be able to replicate it in Monaco one day.
