Ετικέτα: BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas: Marc Camus is appointed Group Chief Information Officer

Marc Camus, previously CIO of BNP Paribas Fortis, will succeed Bernard Gavgani as Chief Information Officer of BNP Paribas from 1 April 2025. He will join the BNP Paribas Executive Committee and report to Philippe Maillard, Chief Operating Officer of BNP Paribas.
As the CIO of BNP Paribas, Marc Camus will continue to deploy and strengthen BNP Paribas’ IT strategy for the benefit of the Bank’s clients and all the Group’s entities.
In close collaboration with BNP Paribas’ businesses and functions, and working alongside all IT teams, he will oversee IT System security, drive operational efficiency improvements across the Group, and further enhance the customer experience through the deployment of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
Bernard Gavgani will continue to contribute to the Group in the role of Senior Advisor to the Group’s General Management. He will report to Yann Gérardin, Chief Operating Officer of BNP Paribas, Corporate & Institutional Banking. In this role, he will primarily support certain major clients and suppliers in the technology sector.

« I am pleased to welcome Marc Camus to our Executive Committee and wish him every success in his new role. Under the leadership of Bernard Gavgani, and driven by the tireless efforts of our IT teams, the Group’s information systems have significantly evolved,. This transformation has enabled a strengthened integration, the adoption and deployment of new technologies, and the highest standards of efficiency and security for both the Bank and its clients. I have every confidence in Marc Camus’s ability to continue  to build on this progress and support the Group in navigating the challenges and opportunities of the future », said Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, Director and Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas

« I am delighted to announce the appointment of Marc Camus as the head of our IT department. His recognized expertise and extensive experience in technology and innovation will help drive our digital strategy and meet the needs of our clients. I wish him all the best in his new role. » said Philippe Maillard, Chief Operating Officer of BNP Paribas
Biographies

Marc Camus, 59 years old, is Group Chief Information Officer at BNP Paribas. Prior to this position, Marc had been Chief Information Officer (CIO) of BNP Paribas Fortis in Belgium since January 2019. From 2014 to 2018, Marc was Head of CIB Payments and Cash Management IT & Operations (CIB ITO). From 2012 to 2014, he was Chief Operating Officer CIB IT & Operations Europe. Prior to this, Marc Camus held various positions in operations and project management at Fortis Bank in Brussels during the integration of Fortis Bank into the BNP Paribas Group.
He joined the Group in July 1996 after starting his career at Banque Indosuez Belgique and is a graduate of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) in Liège.

Bernard Gavgani, 65 years old, is Senior Advisor to BNP Paribas’ Group’s General Management. Bernard began his career in 1982, successively designing and managing IT projects at several companies. He joined the Group in 1995, taking a role in CIB’s IT department before moving over to Inspection Générale in 1999. In 2000, Bernard became General Secretary of BNP Paribas Arbitrage, then Chief Operating Officer of the Equity Derivatives business in 2003 and subsequently Global Head of IT & Operations of CIB in 2009. Since 2018, he has been Group Chief Information Officer of BNP Paribas.
Bernard Gavgani is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Sloan School of Management and holds an Executive MBA from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) in Paris

BNP Paribas announces the implementation of a semi-annual interim dividend payment starting in 2025

On 3 February 2025, BNP Paribas’ Board of Directors, chaired by Jean Lemierre, approved the principle of a semi-annual interim dividend starting in the 2025 financial year, which would be paid out in late September.
Each  interim  dividend  will  amount  to  50%  of  the  net  earnings  per  share  of  the  first  half-year, in accordance with BNP Paribas’ cash payout distribution policy.
The first interim dividend related to the 2025 financial statements would be paid on 30 September 2025 and calculated on the basis of 50% of the net earnings per share of the first half of 2025.
As  a  result  of  the  introduction  of  a  semi-annual  interim  dividend  payment,  the  return  to  the shareholder in 2025 will comprise:
(i) the  full  dividend  paid  out  in  cash  on  2024  earnings,  subject to  approval  by  the General Meeting of shareholders planned on 13 May 2025;
(ii) the share buyback programme set out in the Group distribution policy for the 2024 financial year subject to the usual conditions, including European Central Bank authorisation; and
(iii)  the interim dividend on 2025 financial year, which would be decided by the Board of Directors in an amount calculated and paid based on the aforementioned description.

BNP Paribas signs an agreement with HSBC for the acquisition of their Private Banking activities in Germany

BNP Paribas announced yesterday that it has signed an agreement with HSBC for the acquisition of their Private Banking activities in Germany, with the ambition to position BNP Paribas Wealth Management among the top leading players in Germany and bringing its AuM1 to more than €40bn.
A key geography for BNP Paribas, Germany offers strong growth potential for wealth management activities, most notably within the Mittelstand (German SMEs) and with the German Entrepreneurs and Families client segment. Leveraging on BNP Paribas’ diversified and integrated business model, BNP Paribas Wealth Management aims to provide these entrepreneurial clients with a comprehensive service offering, ranging from investment and corporate banking to asset management, all pooled from BNP Paribas’ well-established different franchises.
With a strong focus on HNW and UHNW² individuals and a complementary regional coverage, most notably in North Rhine-Westphalia, HSBC’s Private Banking activities perfectly fit within BNP Paribas Wealth Management’s model and will enable BNP Paribas to rank among the leading wealth management players in the country. Part of the Investment and Protection Services division, BNP Paribas Wealth Management ranks as the first Private Bank in the eurozone with global AuM standing at €446bn at the end of June 2024.

“This acquisition is a new crucial step in positioning BNP Paribas Wealth Management among the leading players in Germany, where we believe our model is best suited to serve the long-term needs of entrepreneurial clients, leveraging on the strong franchises of the Group to both address their personal and corporate needs. It will therefore contribute to consolidate our position as the first Wealth Management player in the Eurozone,” comments Vincent Lecomte, CEO of BNP Paribas Wealth Management.

“Germany is a key strategic market for BNP Paribas with a local presence of more than 75 years. Our twelve business lines make our business model one of the most diversified and resilient ones in the German banking sector. The further development of our Wealth Management franchise is an integral part of our growth plan within the German economy. Wealth Management in Germany serves as an entry portal for our clients into the entire portfolio of services of the BNP Paribas Group, in particular in Corporate & Institutional Banking, Real Estate, Asset Management and Securities Services,” adds Lutz Diederichs, CEO of BNP Paribas Germany.

The closing of this transaction is expected during the second semester of 2025, once regulatory approvals have been obtained.
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1: Assets under Management²: High-net-worth and Ultra-high-net-worth individuals

BNP Paribas appoints Isabelle Mateos y Lago as Chief Economist

Isabelle Mateos y Lago is appointed BNP Paribas Chief Economist from 3 September 2024, replacing William de Vijlder, current BNP Paribas Chief Economist since 2014, who will be retiring in a few months’ time.
Isabelle, previously Chief Markets Strategist at BlackRock, reports to Lars Machenil, the Group’s Chief Financial Officer. William will take on the role of Economic Adviser to the Group’s General Management, reporting to Lars Machenil.
Isabelle Mateos y Lago brings a wealth of experience in economics, finance and geopolitics gained throughout her international career at leading financial institutions in France, the United States and the United Kingdom. Isabelle will continue to reinforce the Economic Research Unit’s crucial role supporting the Group’s business lines and its clients, and develop new initiatives to ensure that BNP Paribas continues to benefit from cutting-edge economic research.
Throughout his career, William de Vijlder has provided the Group with in-depth economic analysis, helping to guide our strategic decisions and enabling us to better understand and anticipate global economic cycles. Under his leadership, BNP Paribas’ Economic Research department has developed considerably, consolidating its essential advisory role for the Group and its ability to offer solutions that meet the needs of our business lines and our clients in terms of economic research.

“I would like to express my deep gratitude to William for his many years of service to BNP Paribas. His commitment to high-quality economic analysis and his ability to analyse global trends have been invaluable assets for the Bank. Through his many publications and public speeches, William has offered enlightened perspectives to our clients and partners, while helping to raise the international profile of Economic Studies, making it an important asset in the service of our reputation. I am delighted that Isabelle is joining the BNP Paribas project and I wish her every success in her new role ” said Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas.

“I am delighted to welcome Isabelle to BNP Paribas and look forward to working with her in the future. Her in-depth and wide-ranging economic expertise, as well as her first-rate international experience, will be invaluable assets in nurturing our relationships with our clients and partners around the world and continuing to support the Group’s ability to navigate in an often complex and constantly changing environment” said Lars Machenil, Group Chief Financial Officer.

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Isabelle Mateos y Lago has over 25 years’ experience in international economics, finance and public policy. She began her career in France at the Inspection Générale des Finances before joining the IMF, where she held key positions in the Asia, Europe and Strategy departments, before serving as advisor to the Executive Board under Christine Lagarde until 2014. She joined BlackRock in 2015 and was Chief Macro Investment Strategist at the BlackRock Investment Institute and then Chief Markets Strategist in the Financial and Strategic Investors Group until 2024.
Isabelle Mateos y Lago earned degrees from Sciences Po Paris (Institut d’études politiques de Paris) and Cambridge University (Economics) and is an alumna of the ENA (Ecole Nationale d’Administration).

William de Vijlder has been Chief Economist of BNP Paribas Group since 2014. He previously held the position of Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at Fortis Investments, before joining BNP Paribas Investment Partners in 2010 as CIO Strategy and Partners and member of the Executive Committee. William began his career in 1987 in the Economic Research Department of Générale de Banque, before joining the Asset Management Department in 1989 as head of investment strategy.
William de Vijlder holds a PhD in Economics from Ghent University (Belgium), where he has taught since 1991 as a lecturer and then professor.

BNP Paribas and Mistral AI sign a partnership agreement covering all Mistral AI models

The agreement is a multi-year partnership to provide access to current and future Mistral AI commercial models across all the bank’s business lines. It follows a relationship dating back to September 2023 when the Global Markets division of BNP Paribas began experimenting with Mistral AI’s models. This first engagement produced strong results and, as a consequence, BNP Paribas extended the collaboration to the wider Group starting February 2024. Since that time, BNP Paribas has been extensively piloting Mistral AI commercial models across several of the bank’s divisions.
By using Mistral AI Large Language Models, BNP Paribas is developing a number of use cases in its businesses across customer support, sales, IT and other areas. Mistral AI’s offering and strategy is complementary to highly regulated institutions, facilitating  controlled deployment of cutting-edge models on premises. A further advantage of working with Mistral AI is scalability, as they strive to deliver energy-efficient models.

“Our collaboration with BNP Paribas signifies a strong leap towards achieving Mistral AI’s mission of making AI accessible for all. We are pleased to be working so closely with their team, integrating our cutting-edge generative AI models into the banking ecosystem and so many of their business lines. I eagerly anticipate the expansion of our partnership, as we continue to develop innovative use cases that will redefine the future of financial services.” Arthur Mensch, CEO, Mistral AI

“Our agreement with Mistral AI marks a major milestone in our digital strategy, and our ambition to be the number one European markets house. Generative AI has significant potential to enhance our client offering across sales, trading, research and more, and I am excited to continue our work with Mistral AI towards that goal.” Olivier Osty, Head of BNP Paribas Global Markets

“This partnership with Mistral AI marks a further step in developing hyper-personalised digital services for our customers. As an example, Gen AI will allow us to launch high quality virtual assistants to answer clients’ questions 24/7 and to simplify end-to-end processes, enhancing the way our teams support clients. Deploying Gen AI models within our infrastructure will ally the latest technology with our strong commitment for security.” Sophie Heller, Chief Operating Officer at BNP Paribas Commercial, Personal Banking & Services 

BNP Paribas and BPCE announce their plans to create a strategic partnership in the field of payments

With this strategic partnership project, BNP Paribas and BPCE wish to take a major new step in the payments field by jointly acquiring the best technology for processing payments for card holders and merchants.This processor would handle all card payments from BNP Paribas and Groupe BPCE in Europe, accounting for 17 billion transactions, and could also be opened to other banks. It would thus be the Number 1 processor in France, both Groups share the ambition to make it one of the Top 3 processors in Europe.
Given the unprecedented development of payment infrastructures and its future prospects, it is essential to invest in a way that is commensurate with the challenges. The partnership project announced today between BNP Paribas and BPCE will respond to ongoing market developments, in particular those relating to the digitalisation of payment systems, the virtualisation of debit cards and promotion of instantaneous transactions. It strengthens the partnership which already links the two banks within Partecis for the development of payment processing software, which they intend to expand and consolidate into a reference payment processor on the market, on an international level.The partnership would result in the creation of a common processor with a technological platform (operations, back-office activities and development), capable of integrating the best technological standards for payments, the growing usage of digitalisation (acceleration of mobile payments, expansion of e-commerce, demand for immediacy) and the innovations brought about by domestic and international schemes (Carte Bancaire, Visa, Mastercard, EPI/Wero.).With 17 billion transactions from BNP Paribas and BPCE processed, this processor would be the leader in France and will rank among the Top 3 in Europe. It could also be opened to handle transactions from other banking institutions.The partnership is accompanied by an exclusive agreement between BNP Paribas and BPCE to create a target business model in the form of a joint venture.

The first generation of our collaboration in payments with BNP Paribas was a great success. With this new industrial partnership project, in line with our next strategic plan, we are taking an important step towards accelerating innovation in payments in the coming years. In this way, we will offer the best quality of service to our customers, in particular the networks Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne.
Nicolas Namias, CEO of BPCE

Payment systems are an essential component of the bank’s relationship with its customers, and we must ensure they adhere to the highest possible standards. Given that the increase in card transactions is exponential, our ambition for this processor, is to create a device that is efficient and scalable across all our European locations. It is this context that demonstrates how important this joint European platform project with Groupe BPCE is, as it aims to support the acceleration of our development in payment systems.
Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, Director and CEO of BNP Paribas

Στην BNP Paribas το 9% της ασφαλιστικής ageas έναντι 730 εκατ. ευρώ

Η BNP Paribas υπέγραψε συμφωνία με τον κινεζικό όμιλο Fosun για την εξαγορά του περίπου 9% του μεριδίου της στη βελγική ασφαλιστική ageas έναντι 730 εκατ. ευρώ (777 εκατ. δολάρια).
Πρόκειται για δύο μακροχρόνιους συνεργάτες μέσω κοινής συμμετοχής στην AG Insurance, την κορυφαία ασφαλιστική του Βελγίου. Η ageas κατέχει το 75% και η BNP το υπόλοιπο 25%.
«Η ageas βλέπει με ικανοποίηση ότι η BNP Paribas αναγνωρίζει, μέσω αυτής της επένδυσης, την αξία της συνεργασίας της μακροπρόθεσμα και τις δυνατότητες της εταιρείας για το μέλλον», ανέφερε η βελγική ασφαλιστική.
Τον περασμένο μήνα, η ageas εγκατέλειψε τα σχέδιά της για την εξαγορά της Direct Line αφού η βρετανική ασφαλιστική εταιρεία κατοικιών και αυτοκινήτων απέρριψε μια αναθεωρημένη προσφορά εξαγοράς ύψους 3,17 δισεκατομμυρίων λιρών (3,95 δισεκατομμυρίων δολαρίων) από τη βελγική ασφαλιστική εταιρεία.
Η δήλωση της BNP σχετικά με το μέγεθος της συμμετοχής και την αξία της συμφωνίας διέφερε ελαφρώς από μια ξεχωριστή δήλωση της Fosun.
Η Fosun International δήλωσε στο Χρηματιστήριο του Χονγκ Κονγκ ότι συμφώνησε στις 12 Απριλίου να πωλήσει έως και 15.401.253 μετοχές της ageas, που αντιπροσωπεύουν ποσοστό 8,19% του βελγικού ασφαλιστή, στην BNP Paribas Cardif, θυγατρική της γαλλικής τράπεζας, έναντι ποσού έως 670 εκατ. ευρώ.

BNP Paribas has signed an agreement with Fosun Group to acquire its stake in ageas

BNP Paribas Group announces the signature, through its insurance subsidiary BNP Paribas Cardif, of an agreement to acquire Fosun Group’s stake of approximately 9% in ageas.
The acquisition will be performed in two tranches:

4.8% of the issued shares in the coming days
The balance following the receipt of mandatory regulatory approvals.

The total consideration is estimated to approximately 730 million euros, corresponding to a marginal impact on BNP Paribas Group’s Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of approximately 2 basis points.
BNP Paribas Group, through BNP Paribas Fortis, benefits from a partnership with ageas, through AG Insurance (AGI), the leading insurer in Belgium. This partnership is materialized by an exclusive distribution agreement for Life and Non-Life insurance between AGI and BNP Paribas Fortis and by a stake of 25% (plus one share) held by the latter in AGI. BNP Paribas Group acquisition of a minority stake in ageas does not modify any term of this historic and strategic partnership.

BNP Paribas receives approvals and completes the acquisition of Kantox

BNP Paribas received all regulatory approvals for the completion of the acquisition of Kantox, a leading fintech for the automation of currency risk management.
The acquisition of Kantox illustrates BNP Paribas’ Growth Technology Sustainability 2025 plan, that sets out to accelerate the development of technological innovations, to enhance customer experience, from SME and Mid-Cap clients to large corporates. It is supported by the Global Markets business of BNP Paribas’ CIB division and the business centres of the Commercial, Personal and Banking Services (CPBS) division.