BNP Paribas


BNP Paribas is a French multinational universal bank and financial services holding company headquartered in Paris. It was founded in 2000 from the merger of two of France's foremost financial institutions, Banque Nationale de Paris and Paribas. It also incorporates many other major institutions through successive acquisitions, including Fortis Bank in Belgium, Direkt Anlage Bank in Germany, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro in Italy, Banque Générale du Luxembourg in Luxembourg, and Türk Ekonomi Bankası in Turkey. The group has also been present in the United States through its subsidiaries Bank of the West until 2023 and First Hawaiian Bank until 2019. With 190,000 employees, the bank is organized into three major business areas: Commercial, Personal Banking & Services ; Investment & Protection Services ; and Corporate & Institutional Banking.
BNP Paribas is listed on Euronext Paris and is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index. It is the second largest bank in Europe and eighth largest bank in the world by total assets. It became one of the five largest banks in the world following the 2008 financial crisis. It is considered a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board. In the Forbes Global 2000, BNP Paribas was ranked as the 33rd largest public company in the world. It has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision in late 2014, and as a consequence is directly supervised by the European Central Bank.
Although a French banking group, the Belgian government has been a significant shareholder since 2009 as a result of the group's acquisition of Fortis Bank Belgium, heir to the Société Générale de Belgique established in 1822.

History

Creation of BNP Paribas Group

In 1999, BNP and Société Générale fought a complex battle on the stock market, with Société Générale bidding for Paribas and BNP bidding for Société Générale and counter-bidding for Paribas. BNP's bid for Société Générale failed, while its bid for Paribas succeeded, which led to a merger of BNP and Paribas one year later on 23 May 2000.
In 2006, BNP Paribas purchased Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, Italy's sixth-largest bank. On 9 August 2007, BNP Paribas became the first major financial group to acknowledge the impact of the sub-prime crisis by closing two funds exposed to it. This day is now generally seen as the start of the 2008 financial crisis and the bank's quick reaction saved it from the fate of other large European banks such as UBS.

2008 financial crisis & acquisitions

On 6 October 2008, BNP took over 75% of troubled bank Fortis' activities in Belgium, and 66% in Luxembourg, in exchange for the Belgian government becoming the new group's major shareholder. The sales of the Fortis shares was suspended by a court order from the Court of Appeal on Friday, 12 December. In the end of January, the Belgian government and BNP negotiated for a 75% partnership in Fortis Bank Belgium. Fortis Insurance Belgium would be reintegrated in Fortis Holding.
On 11 February, Fortis' shareholders decided that Fortis Bank Belgium and Fortis Insurance Belgium should not become the property of BNP Paribas. However, the acquisition was completed, and BNP Paribas took 75% shareholding and renamed the new subsidiary BNP Paribas Fortis. After this only Fortis Insurance International was left in Fortis Holding and this was renamed as Ageas, a business that had Insurance all over Europe and Asia. In April 2024, it was announced BNP Paribas had acquired Fosun International's entire 9% stake in Ageas, worth €730 million. The remaining Fortis Bank Netherlands was in the hands of the Dutch Government which merged it with other ABN AMRO holdings it already owned under the name ABN AMRO.
In May 2009, BNP Paribas became the majority shareholder of BGL, the State of Luxembourg retaining 34% making BNP the eurozone's largest bank by deposits held. On 21 September, the bank's registered name was changed to BGL BNP Paribas and in February 2010, BGL BNP Paribas became the 100% owner of BNP Paribas Luxembourg. The transfer was finalised on 1 October 2010 with the incorporation of BNP Paribas Luxembourg's business in the operational platforms of BGL BNP Paribas.

Post-financial crisis expansion

BNP Paribas reached an agreement in December 2013 to acquire Rabobank's Polish unit BGZ Bank for around $1.4 billion. In 2013 BNP Paribas was awarded the Bank of the Year award by The International Financing Review, Thomson Reuters' leading financial industry publication. In September 2014, BNP completed the purchase of BGZ Bank for a final fee stated in the media to be $1.3 billion.
In December 2021, BNP Paribas announced to exit US retail banking business by selling its Bank of the West to the Bank of Montreal for $16.3bn.
In April 2024, BNP Paribas acquired Fosun International's entire 9% stake in Belgian insurance company Ageas for €730 million, and BNP Paribas further increased its stake in Ageas up to 15,07% in February 2025. In September 2024, BNP Paribas acquired HSBC private banking activities in Germany. BNP Paribas has around $80 billion under management in Asia by 2024. The bank has hired 20 private bankers, including Tiffeny Situ from Morgan Stanley, Wendy Chan from Citigroup and Martin Loh from Credit Suisse Group, as part of its expansion program.
BNP Paribas and BPCE have finalized an agreement of a joint venture to create Estreem, to become a top-three European payment processor in February 2025. The company is expected to handle 17 billion transactions annually, which will make it the leader with 30% volume of card payment in France.
In February 2025, Karine Delvallee has been appointed as the new regional head for Southeast Asia by BNP Paribas and the CEO of its Singapore branch. Delvallee, who was formerly the CEO of BNP Paribas Australia and New Zealand, will now be overseeing operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, with a focus on growth strategy and strengthening client relationships. However, she will also continue to supervise service over Australia and New Zealand as well.
In February 2025, Philippe Maillard was appointed as group COO by BNP Paribas. His tenure would be effective from 11 February, replacing Laurent David. As a company veteran since 1992, Maillard will oversee technology, IT, data, and operations. He will also be joining the bank’s executive committee.
In March 2025, Matthew Ponsonby, BNP Paribas' UK head of global banking, resigned from his position. The bank stated a successor will be announced soon. Ponsonby, who joined in 2017, expressed pride in the progress made during his tenure and mentioned moving to an undisclosed "compelling opportunity." Under his leadership, BNP Paribas expanded its investment banking activities in Europe, particularly in the UK, making notable progress in mergers and acquisitions.
The first of July 2025, BNP Paribas acquired Axa Investment Managers from Axa.
On 22 September 2025, the Financial Times reported that BNP Paribas had dropped its previous pledge not to finance companies involved in the production of so-called controversial weapons. The policy change aligns with a broader shift in European banks' approach to defense sector financing.
In December 2025, BNP Paribas announced an expansion of its investment banking activities in both the United States and the United Kingdom, including new hires in London and New York aimed at strengthening its mergers and acquisitions advisory capabilities.

Financial data

In 2022, total revenues of €50.4 billion represent an increase of 9% compared to 2021, BNP Paribas remains at the top of the French banks' ranking in terms of activity. During this year, BNP Paribas Group net income attributable to equity holders increased to 7.5%. The geographic breakdown of Net Banking Income at the end of 2020 is as follows: Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and others.
Year2013201420152016201720182019202020212022
Revenue38.82239.16842.93843.41143.16142.51644.59744.27546.23550.419
Net Income5.4390.5077.0448.1158.2077.5268.1737.0679.48810.196
Assets1,800.1392,077.7591,994.1932,076.9591,960.2522,0412,1652,4882,6342,666
Employees185,000188,000189,000192,000196,000203,000199,000193,000190,000190,000

Corporate identity

The BNP Paribas logo since 2000 is called the "courbe d'envol". The stars allude to Europe and universality. The transformation of the stars into birds conveys openness, freedom, growth, and the ability to change and adapt. The shape and movement of the curve places the logo in the universe of life. The green square symbolises nature and optimism.

Corporate structure

Executive Committee

The General Management and the executive committee are composed as follows:
  • Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, Director and Chief Executive Officer
  • Yann Gérardin, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Chairman of Corporate & Institutional Banking
  • Thierry Laborde, Chief Operating Officer, in charge of Commercial, Personal Banking & Services
  • Renaud Dumora, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, in charge of Investment & Protection Services
  • Yannick Jung, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, in charge of the commercial and personal banking businesses in the Euro zone within CPBS
  • Olivier Osty, Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer of Corporate & Institutional Banking
  • Michael Anseeuw, Director and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Board of BNP Paribas Fortis
  • Marc Camus, Chief Information Officer
  • Elena Goitini, Chief Executive Officer of BNL
  • Elise Hermant, Head of Communications
  • Stephanie Maarek, Chief Compliance Officer
  • Pauline Leclerc-Glorieux, Director and Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas Cardif
  • Isabelle Loc, Head of Commercial & Personal Banking in France
  • Stéphanie Maarek, Chief Compliance Officer
  • Lars Machenil, Chief Financial Officer
  • Philippe Maillard, Group Chief Operating Officer
  • Sofia Merlo, Head of Human Resources
  • Anne Pointet, Head of Company Engagement
  • Frank Roncey, Chief Risk Officer
  • Gilles Zeitoun, Director and Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas Personal Finance