The story
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 (BNL), 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 and 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 (65.96%) of BGL (formerly Fortis Bank Luxembourg), 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 ("IFR"), 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 November 2023, HSBC agreed to sell its hedge fund administration business in several markets, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Ireland, and Luxembourg to BNP Paribas’ Securities Services.
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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.
In June 2025, BNP Paribas agreed to acquire the custody and depositary bank business of HSBC Germany. In July 2025, HSBC has announced the sales of its fund administration business in Germany, i.e. Internationale Kapitalanlagegesellschaft (INKA), to a fund managed by BlackFin Capital Partners.
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.
Gilles Zeitoun succeeded Charlotte Dennery as Director and chief executive officer of BNP Paribas Personal Finance on 1 January 2026. Dennery became chair of the board of directors and Senior Advisor for the Commercial, Personal Banking & Services division.
From Wikipedia’s article on BNP Paribas, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7