Banque Nationale de Paris

The Banque Nationale de Paris is a worldwide bank with headquarters in Paris, France. It was formed in 1966 by the Government of France, but is now a private bank.

Banque Nationale de Paris S.A.

Company logo
Company type	S.A.
Traded as	Euronext: BNP, OTCQX:BNPQY
Industry	Financial services
Founded	1848 (1848)
Headquarters	Boulevard des Italiens, Paris, France
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Michel Pebereau (CEO)
Products	Asset management, consumer banking, corporate banking, credit cards, investment banking, mortgage loans, private banking, wealth management
Operating income	€1.144
Net income	€7.366
Total assets	€324.800
Number of employees	34,000
Website	www.bnpparibas.com

History

In 1966, the French government combined two of four state-owned banks, Comptoir National d'Escompte de Paris (CNEP) and the Banque Nationale pour le Commerce et l'Industrie (BNCI), into the new Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP).

Though BNP was originally state-owned, the French government privatized the bank in 1993.

In early 1999, BNP Paribas agreed to a 15-billion (USD $17 billion) buyout offer from Société Générale. Not wanting to be left behind, however, rival Banque Nationale de Paris made a hostile USD $21-billion counter-offer for Paribas, and an unimaginable, separate USD 19.6-billion offer for Societe Generale (SocGen). BNP’s three-way merger proposal would have created the world's largest bank.

Share stock

Uncertainties surrounding BNP’s merger ambitions resulted in a drop of its share price, reducing the combined value of the offers for Paribas and SocGen to USD $38 billion. For months, all three banks engaged in a public relations battle in an attempt to win support from the public, shareholders, and the French banking regulator.

In the end, BNP succeeded in breaking SocGen and Paribas' merger plan, and acquired Paribas to form BNP Paribas. However, it could only secure 31.5% of SocGen's shares. The French banking regulator eventually vetoed BNP's plan to acquire Societe Generale.