12 March 2019, Baku: Many meetings, dedicated to the development of political, economic and other ties and expansion of cooperation between two countries were held as part of an official visit of Mehriban Aliyev, the I Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan to France. Among the important meetings of the I Vice-President was the meeting with David René de Rothschild, Chairman of the Rothschild Global Financial Advisory. To note, the Rothschild Global Financial Advisory provides financial advisory services with over 3500 talented professionals in over 40 countries across the world.

Following the agreement reached during the meeting, Elman Rustamov, the Governor of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan and Arielle Malard de Rothschild, Managing Director of Rothschild & Cie Banque signed the Strategic Cooperation Agreement on provision of financial advisory by Rothschild & Cie Banque, highly reputable and experienced in the area of financial advisory services, to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan. Under the agreement, cooperation will cover the following 3 strategic directions:

• Current status of and the main factors influencing the banking sector will be assessed, business models of leading banks will be reviewed in line with the scoring methodology, and recommendations will be issued on critical measures to boost financial resilience of the banking sector and complete restructuring;
• Comprehensive assessment of the interbank, capital and debt markets, market participants, procedures and infrastructure, products, chances for banks to participate in international debt and capital markets will be maintained;
• Financial tools and markets in the national currency, their development outlook, the role of financial institutions, options for strengthening cooperation between local and international clearing and deposit organizations will be reviewed to be followed by recommendations.

The measures in question to be realized in light of best practices will contribute to realization of the targets set for deepening and development of capital and money markets, making the banking sector financially more resilient, and amplifying the role of the financial sector in economic growth.