In this episode of the Connector Podcast, hosted by Objectway CEO Koen Vanderhoydonk and recorded live at the OWIN23 event in Venice, the guest is Gordon Taubitzer, Chief Operations Officer and Chief Risk Officer of Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe (HAL) Private Bank. Taubitzer explains that HAL is a German private bank focused on high‑net‑worth (HNW) and ultra‑high‑net‑worth (UHNW) individuals, noting that UHNW clients are more demanding and require richer product and service features. He discusses the bank’s recent growth through acquisitions—most notably Saal Oppenheim in Luxembourg and Bankhaus Lampe—highlighting the cultural and technical challenges of merging distinct corporate "DNA" and integrating two core‑banking platforms. Taxation across jurisdictions is identified as a critical factor, requiring a robust core system capable of handling diverse regulatory requirements. Taubitzer also reflects on his dual role as COO and CRO, arguing that operational and risk responsibilities can be synergistic and even drive innovation. While he lacks extensive experience outside Germany, he characterises German UHNW clients as highly demanding, often business owners and market leaders. The conversation turns to the key success drivers for the bank: adaptability, transformation, and embracing constant change. Taubitzer confirms that the broader event themes of innovation, trust, and sustainability resonate with HAL’s strategy, noting that both client demand and the bank’s own commitment push them toward sustainable products and practices. The episode concludes with thanks and a call to stay tuned for future episodes.
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Welcome to the Connector Podcast, an ongoing conversation connecting fintechs, banks, and regulators worldwide. Join CEO and founder Koen Vanderhoydonk as you learn more about the latest available trends and solutions in the markets. This episode is proudly sponsored by ON23, organized by Objectway.
Welcome to another episode of the Connector Podcast, and I'm here today with Gordon Gordon at the event from Objectway, live from Venice. So Gordon, who are you and who do you represent?
Hello, thanks for having me. My name is Gordon Taubitzer. I am Chief Operations Officer and Chief Risk Officer from HAL Private Bank, Hauptaufhäuser Lampe, as we say in Germany. And I have been with the bank since 12 years and I'm happy to be here and to join the Object Parade group.
Okay, nice. We're happy to have you on our podcast. So could you tell us and the audience a little bit more about the bank that you work for? I've heard it's a private bank, it's not a big one in Germany, so enlighten us please.
Haukauferse Lampe is a private bank in Germany. It is a very focused bank in Germany, a very popular bank in Germany. Our, I would say our focus customer is a high net worth individual or ultra high net worth individual.
When you talk private banking and you mean ultra high net worth, so these are the real rich and wealthy clients, do you see, or do you see a difference between an ultra high worth and a high worth customer? Because I think mass affluent, it's probably not in your region, or maybe it is.
Our Master Fluent is not in our region, no. But the difference between the high and the ultra-high, of course, they are more demanding. So there must be more features in all your products and all your service offering, of course.
What I've been doing, I've been doing a bit of research myself too. And what I found particularly interesting is that over the last couple of years, you've done a couple of mergers and acquisitions. So growth by actually taking in other private banks. Now, you could say from a technical point of view, this sounds like an easy job, but a private bank, it's all about who you are, the tradition. We heard it today, like being proud of being long in the business. So how do you do that cultural part?
So first of all, I would not admit that the technical part is easy. I will talk tomorrow on the panel how difficult it is to bring together 2 core banking systems, and I will talk about the migration that we had with the last acquisition of Bankhaus Lampe. But of course, you're right, the other side is hard as well. You need to find a DNA that is, I would say, that fits for both worlds. You put together 2 DNAs. mostly, and you have to define a new one. You cannot press people in some kind of shapes. You have to let them evolve, to develop, and things like that. So that's a pretty high thing. But in my view, we've done that pretty well by now. We had an acquisition with Saal Oppenheim in Luxembourg, and we had one with Bankhaus Lampe in the last 2 years. And to me, it seems it worked out pretty well.
Actually funny because Sal Oppenheim used to be my customer in Luxembourg a long time ago. It's a small world. It's a small world. But would it be— that's just a statement and I'll let you judge whether I'm right or not. But is it maybe because the wealthier customers, they are more high demanding? So at the same time, it's probably also more easy to adapt them into a new world, because it's all about the customer at the end.
Of course, you're right. It's all about the customer. But there are no 2 identical private banks and no 2 identical service offerings. So you always need to adapt. And this is, in my view, this is the biggest challenge of all. But when you try hard, you can do it. And in my view, it worked out pretty fine.
Oh, excellent. And while we talk about differences, so there's one thing about cultural differences, and maybe I made it sound too easy for systems to integrate. If you look at Europe like having a single European market, we're far from there if we talk about taxes. So how does that work? Because I hear you say a Luxembourg bank versus a German bank. So how do you deal with all these taxes?
Taxes is really a topic. It's, let's say, it's an issue because, of course, you're right that taxation is different in every country. So, you need a good system in the heart. You need a good core banking system that can cover all the requirements. Without that, it's not possible to expand to other countries.
You're a special kind in that sense that you're both the COO and the CRO. So an immediate question that came to my mind is, how are you combining the operational mandate versus the risk mandate?
We've heard that today on the panel. So I would say the regulation and the things around the regulations can be innovation drivers. And in my view, it's quite normal to have these 2 jobs combined in one. Because we need to cover the regulation and of course we need to innovate and that's what we do with IT and things like that. So for me it's quite normal.
You are traditionally in Germany. Do you think that a German customer per se is different than any, like a typical European customer if you talk about ultra-high work?
To be honest, I don't have that much experience outside of Germany, so I cannot really tell. I can tell that German customers are very demanding. They're often, I would say, they own a company, they have established a firm, they have gained success. Often they are a market leader even if you don't know their names.
Mm-hmm.
So these people are very special and they know exactly what they want.
If you talk in your domain, today we talked a lot about innovation, sustainability, all this stuff. So what for you would be the drivers of success for the bank that you're running today?
The driver for success is, of course, one thing that is, I would say, the most important is the ability to adapt. You need the ability to adapt, you need the ability to transform. You need to, I would say, accept that constant change is the only winning idea.
And is that something that today in the event, is it something that you found is resonating with the talks and the speakers?
In my view, yes. They're talking a lot about future, about innovation and things like that. And they're talking about trust. And I think that's the topics that are important and that cover my idea.
And are you guys also heavily focused on sustainability? Is it something that you are triggered by your customers?
It's both. We're triggered by our customers, and of course we want to be a sustainable company and to offer sustainable products. Because we see that this is inevitable. It's something that will be quite common in the future.
Thank you so much for joining us in this session, Gordon. I hope you have a nice rest of the event and thank you so much.
So thanks for having me. Goodbye.
You're welcome. And thank you also to the listeners. And please stay tuned. More to follow. Thank you.
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