Saudi Arabia - Financial Sector Conference
Financial Sector Conference (FSC), Saudi Arabia
16 Mar 2023
|
|
English
Conferences
A multi-faceted banker, professor, and activist—or, as his close associates call him, a "Grounded Humanist Explorer"—Arnaud Leclercq has spent three decades traveling across Eurasia, the Middle East, and Africa. Yet, it is in Northern Brittany that he has always found his roots, committing himself to this region with its captivating identity.
Currently Non-Executive Chairman of an asset management firm in the Gulf, and formerly a Limited Partner and Executive Committee member of a Swiss private bank, Arnaud is also a professor of geopolitics, author, and investor. He is deeply involved in preserving Breton heritage, defending the rights of rural landowners, and actively contributes to strategic foresight regarding Brittany's future.
He holds an MBA from HEC Paris and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, with a degree in Private Law from Paris II University. A former student of the Paris Doctoral School of Geography, he earned his PhD from Paris I Sorbonne with highest honors. His dissertation was published in 2013 by the academic press Ellipses under the title "Russia, a Eurasian Power: A Geopolitical History from its Origins to Putin," which has since become a standard reference work.
Following its publication in France, and as he has been teaching the Global Geopolitics course for the HEC Paris MBA since 2014—under the title "Geopolitical Shifts & Global Consequences" (see excerpt from the course)—his analyses have been frequently sought after by the media.
Arnaud Leclercq was born in 1967 in France, on the shores of the Channel. After attending Collège Stanislas in Paris and briefly considering a career as a military officer, he chose instead to pursue studies in business law.
In the early 1990s, he worked closely with the Senior Partner of a prominent Paris-based corporate law firm, contributing to the first major acquisitions (M&A) and joint ventures in Eastern Europe.
Moscou
1991 Moscow Putsch
Moscou
1993 putsch attempt in Moscow
At 25, he decides to set up his own consulting firm in Moscow with a bias to provide legal advice to international corporations. Ultimately they demand to package new large offices to conquer the Russian market and Leclercq’s firm thus provided services to groups such as Unilever, Microsoft, Digital Equipment, Schlumberger, Lazard and others (see Le Nouvel Observateur, The Moscow Times and more). These years are shaken by two “coups d’Etat” attempts and a high level of insecurity. At the same time, a big breath of an exceptional feeling of freedom, open to wild entrepreneurship and true friendship built in difficult times.
The dangerous and complex experience of 1990s Russia served as a life-shaping crucible. Subsequently, a shift in focus became necessary to build a family and take a hiatus by embarking on business management studies.
Upon HEC Paris MBA graduation, Leclercq joins the construction conglomerate Bouygues International. During this period, he took part in challenging assignments in Poland and in Turkmenistan where he also was an Advisor to the Office of the President for international contracts. It is in this peculiar environment that he gets acquainted with the “Great Game” of geopolitics and its condensed regional ingredients: oil, pipelines, Caucasus, Iran, Afghanistan, Caspian Sea or lake…
Back in Moscow in February 1998, he witnesses the August 17 default of the Russian Federation and its catastrophic consequences: predatory capitalism by certain oligarchs, autism of some international financial organizations, impoverishment of middle classes and worse. Still, he senses that despite the “Russian bashing” voiced by the Western media the big Bear will soon wake-up and bounce back to become again the major power it once was.
In 2000, Leclercq relocates to Switzerland as he was invited to join Credit Suisse as a private banker where he shortly after became one the 20 most senior Managing Directors.
The Future of the World Financial Architecture
European Banking & Financial Forum, Czech Republic
- 24 Mar 2010
In uncertain times, the swiss financial centre has solid advantages
Business Mir, Switzerland
- 20 Sep 2008
The changing world economic order
City 7, UAE
- 06 Jun 2010
Peace of mind
The Business Year, UAE
- 17 Feb 2012
July 2006, Leclercq joins Swiss private bank Lombard Odier. In 2007, Leclercq was awarded “Outstanding Young Private Banker - Europe”.
Teaching is a commitment to society and to future generations. At a humble level, it ensures the continuity and evolution of culture while fostering social bonds. Transmitting and sharing knowledge gives one’s own expertise a concrete and practical purpose.
Beyond the fact that HEC Paris is his alma mater, the choice naturally fell on this institution of excellence—consistently ranked among the world’s best by the Financial Times—for its global impact and its unique community of students and faculty.
More than just prestige, it was first and foremost the great trust placed in him by the Dean to pioneer a Global Geopolitics curriculum for MBA students. Since 2014, this course has had to carve out its own place alongside traditional subjects like finance and marketing. Over the years, as paradigms shifted in the "Great Game" of global powers, it has become a "must-take" course, regularly winning awards from the student body. How could one imagine a future leader ignorant of the fundamentals of geopolitics? What a pleasure it is to begin this course with brilliant young minds from every continent—often skeptical at first about the relevance of such a non-quantitative subject—and to witness their growing enthusiasm as the hours pass, culminating in their high-quality analytical work.
Married to a painter, the couple have four children. Despite many trips to countries whose cultures he greatly appreciates and where he enjoys strong friendships, he remains very attached to his roots and devotes his leisure time to outdoor activities in the magnificent Valais mountains or under the sun of the northern Brittany.
THE GULF COUNTRIES
Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (registered as Chairman of Aventicum Capital Managment Ltd), active
Dubai International Financial Center (registered as Chaiman of Lombard Odier Middle East Ltd), 2022-2025
Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, active
SWITZERLAND
Steering Committee of the Swiss Bankers Association, private banking (2022-2025)
Harvard Club Switzerland (Alumni Harvard University)
Swiss Who’s Who
FRANCE
Anciens de Stan
HEC Alumni
La Demeure Historique
BRITTANY
Musée Amoureux de la Bretagne
Fédération de la Propriété Privée Rurale du Finistère
IDL Le Keréden
Manifeste pour une diplomatie de développement de la Bretagne
Revue Conflits, France
06 Nov 2017
|
|
French
Internet
Vladimir Poutine: quelles ambitions pour sa Russie
RTS, Geopolitis, Suisse
01 Oct 2014
|
|
French
Television
Swiss role: Arnaud Leclercq shares his private banking priorities
Arabian Business, UAE
15 Dec 2018
|
|
English
Internet
Press