03.BNP Paribas SA , Paris , France

BNP Paribas SA , Paris , France


BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP, TYO: 8665) is one of the main banks in Europe. It was created on 23 May 2000 through the merger of Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) and Paribas. Together with Société Générale and Crédit Lyonnais (now known as LCL), it is one of the "three old" banks of France. It is a constituent of the CAC 40 index.

On 9 August 2007, BNP Paribas announced that it could not fairly value the underlying assets in three funds as a result of exposure to U.S. subprime mortgage lending markets.Faced with potentially massive (though unquantifiable) exposure, the European Central Bank (ECB) immediately stepped in to ease market worries by opening lines of €96.8 billion (then US$130 billion) in low-interest credit.The long term debt of the group is currently ranked AA+ by S&P, Aa1 by Moody's and AA by Fitch.

History
In 1869, a group of bankers and investors including Adrien Delahante, Edmond Joubert and Henri Cernuschi founded the Banque de Paris, with its headquarters near the Opera at 3 rue d'Antin, Paris. Jonathan-Raphaël Bisschoffsheim and his brother founded the Nederlandsche Credit en Deposito Bank (NCDB) or Banque de Crédit et de Dépôt des Pays-Bas.

After the end of World War II, the French State decided to "put banks and credit to work for national reconstruction". René Pleven, then Minister of Finance, launched a massive reorganization of the banking industry. A law passed on 2 December 1945 redefined the regulatory framework governing the industry and decreed the nationalization of the Banque de France and the four leading French retail banks: BNCI, CNEP, Crédit Lyonnais and Société Générale. It went into effect on 1 January 1946.

Shares in these companies were transferred to the French State, which assumed complete ownership of the financial institutions. The boards of directors were dissolved and twelve new directors were appointed at each bank. BNCI and CNEP were merged in 1966 to form BNP.

BNP was privatised in 1993.

Originally the Compagnie Financière de Paris et des Pays-Bas (Finance Corporation of Paris and the Netherlands), the Compagnie Financière de Paribas became simply Paribas in 1998 after acquiring the Compagnie Bancaire. Claude de Kemoularia was an important executive in the bank in the 1960s and 1970s.

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 leading to a merger of BNP and Paribas one year later on 22 May 2000.

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 the 12th of December.

On 14 December 2008, BNP announced it could lose €350 million as a victim of the Madoff fraud.

Profile
BNP Paribas is the largest bank in the Eurozone by total assets and second largest by market capitalization according to The Banker magazine. It employs 162,700 people, of which 80,000 work in Europe, and maintains a presence in 87 countries. The bank is active in the finance, investment and asset management markets.

In France, BNP Paribas is active in retail banking with 2,200 branches and over 3,200 ATM machines. In Paris alone the Bank has 187 agencies. [9]BNP Paribas serves over 6 million French households and 60,000 corporate customers.

In the United States, BNP Paribas owns Bank of the West. It also has investment banking capabilities via its BancWest subsidiary. In particular, it is strong in equity derivatives, structured products and project finance. In addition, BNP Paribas maintains a strong middle market merchant banking group. This group focuses on providing leveraged acquisition finance to private equity sponsored leveraged buyouts, both through senior secured syndicated loans, high yield bond offerings, equity co-investment, and mezzanine financing.

On 11 June 2008, BNP Paribas formally signed the final terms of an agreement to purchase the Prime Brokerage Services division of Banc of America Securities. The sale is widely believed to be completed by the end of the 3rd Quarter, 2008.

Politics and public service
* Louis Alphonse of Bourbon, Duke of Anjou - considered by royalists as the head of the French Royal House.
* Jacques de Larosière - managing director of the International Monetary Fund (1978-87); Governor of the Banque de France (1987-93)
* Lorenz of Habsburg, Archduke of Austria-Este