BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas is a French multinational bank and financial services company. It is the world’s 8th largest bank by total assets and one of the four largest in Europe. The bank was founded in 2000 following the merger of Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) and Paribas. It is headquartered in Paris and has operations in over 70 countries and territories.

The bank offers a range of services to its customers, such as retail banking, corporate and investment banking, asset management, reinsurance, and private banking. It also provides specialized financing and advisory services to corporate and institutional clients. The bank has a presence in all major financial markets and has a strong retail network in France, Italy, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

BNP Paribas is committed to responsible banking, with a focus on sustainable development, ethical practices, and environmental protection. It is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Banking and is a member of the Global Compact. The bank is dedicated to the growth of its clients and communities, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and supporting entrepreneurship.

BNP Paribas results from a series of French and international mergers. Particularly notable was the merger of Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris and Banque Nationale pour le commerce et l'industrie that formed BNP in 1966 and the latter's merger with Paribas in 1999–2000. Other significant recent transactions involved the acquisitions by BNP Paribas in 2006 of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro in Italy and in 2008 of Fortis in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Banque Nationale de Paris

On 7 March 1848, the French Provisional Government founded the Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris in response to the financial shock caused by the revolution of February 1848. The CNEP soon developed the largest international network of any French bank.

BNCI resulted from the combination over time of a number of pre-existing banks: the Banque franco-égyptienne , which in 1889 became the Banque internationale de Paris; the Banque française d'Afrique du Sud ; and the Banque Nationale de Crédit .

After the end of the Second World War, 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 and which went into effect on 1 January 1946 nationalized the four leading French retail banks: Banque Nationale pour le commerce et l'industrie, Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris, Crédit Lyonnais, and Société Générale.

In 1966, the French government decided to merge Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris with Banque Nationale pour le commerce et l'industrie to create one new bank called Banque Nationale de Paris.

The bank was re-privatised in 1993 under the leadership of Michel Pébereau as part of a second Chirac government's privatization policy.

Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas

Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas was established on 27 January 1872, through the merger of Banque de Crédit et de Dépôt des Pays-Bas, whose origins go back to the bank established in 1820 by Louis-Raphaël Bischoffsheim in Amsterdam, and Banque de Paris, which had been founded in 1869 by a group of Parisian bankers. It went on to develop a strong investment banking business both domestically in France and overseas.

During the period 1872 to 1913, it was involved in raising funds for the French and other governments as well as big businesses through a number of bond issues. It helped the French government raise funds during the First World War and raised further capital and expanded into investments in industrial companies during the Great Depression. It stagnated and lost assets during the Second World War.

After World War II, it escaped the nationalisation of other French banks due to its status as an investment bank and managed to take advantage of that by expanding its operations overseas. It also directs its activity towards businesses and participates in the development and restructuring of French industry, including names such as Groupe Bull and Thomson-CSF.

The bank was nationalized in 1982 by the government of Pierre Mauroy under François Mitterrand as part of a law that nationalized five major industrial companies, thirty-nine registered banks, and two financial companies, Suez and Paribas. It was re-privatized in January 1987 by the Chirac government.

In the 1990s, Paribas had an active policy of acquisitions and divestiture. This included selling the Ottoman Bank to Dogus Holding and setting up the joint venture lending company Cetelem in Germany. It sold Crédit du Nord to Société Générale and in 1998 it merged with Compagnie Bancaire, renaming the bank with the official name Compagnie Financière de Paribas.

Founding of BNP Paribas

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 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 subprime crisis by closing two funds exposed to it. This day is now generally seen as the start of the credit crisis and the bank's quick reaction saved it from the fate of other large European banks such as UBS. 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 were suspended by a court order from the Court of Appeal on Friday 12 December 14 December 2008, BNP announced it could lose €350 million as a victim of the Madoff fraud. At the end of January, the Belgian government and BNP negotiated a 75% partnership in Fortis Bank Belgium. Fortis Insurance Belgium would be reintegrated into 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 Ageas, a business that had Insurance all over Europe and Asia. 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. In 2013 BNP Paribas was awarded the Bank of the Year award by The International Financing Review, Thomson Reuters' leading financial industry publication. The IFR awards are a key industry benchmark and Bank of the Year is the top honour awarded.BNP Paribas reached an agreement in December 2013 to acquire Rabobank's Polish unit BGZ Bank for around $1.4 billion. In September 2014, BNP completed the purchase of BGZ Bank for a final fee stated in the media to be $1.3 billion. 

In June 2014, BNP Paribas pleaded guilty to falsifying business records and conspiracy, having violated U.S. sanctions against Cuba, Iran, and Sudan. It agreed to pay an $8.9 billion fine, the largest ever for violating U.S. sanctions at that time. 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.

According to the website:

“BNP Paribas' mission is to contribute to a responsible and sustainable economy by financing and advising clients according to the highest ethical standards.

We offer secure, sound, and innovative financial solutions to individuals, professional clients, corporates, and institutional investors while striving to address the fundamental challenges of today with regard to the environment, local development, and social inclusion.

For several years BNP Paribas has paid particular attention to ensuring that its activity has a positive impact on the world around it, both in terms of the Group’s own functioning and the products and solutions offered to clients by all business lines.”

According to the website:

"At BNP Paribas, we want to be a long-term partner for our clients. We want to support their projects, manage their investments and savings, and through insurance protect people, their goods, and their property.

Our employees aim to deliver services that have purpose and relevance for clients and the world around them. They do this most clearly through their daily mission in the company but also through corporate volunteering.

We are working with stakeholders and have adopted social and environmental goals aligned with global standards such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and those of the financial community such as the Principles for Responsible Banking and the Principles for Responsible Investment.

We ensure that ethics and our commitment to economic, social, civic, and environmental responsibility are integrated into our business operations. This commitment is reflected in our organisation and the procedures and policies governing our activities."

The product strategy and mix in BNP Paribas marketing strategy can be explained as follows:

BNP Paribas has product offerings in the financial sector. That includes asset management, corporate banking, investment banking, private banking, consumer banking, credit cards, mortgage loans and wealth management. BNP Paribas has separate units which are employed dealing with specialized financial products such as custodial banking, online brokerage, insurance, real estate etc. It also offers services in Fleet Management which includes accident and tyre management, fleet funding, relief vehicle, sales and lease back, road side assistance etc. This gives an overview of the product strategy in the marketing mix of BNP Paribas.