The Mitterrand years: nationalization and privatization

On February 13, 1982, France passed a legislation that called for the nationalization of five large industrial companies, thirty-nine registered banks, and two financial companies: Suez and Paribas. At the same time the bank adopted the new name of Compagnie Financière de Paribas, Banque Paribas. ("Paribas" had been its well known telegraph address since the beginning of the century). Pierre Moussa stepped down as Chairman. The bank was owned by the state during the four years that followed. Paribas continued to develop under Chairman Jean-Yves Haberer. Also under his direction, the Compagnie Bancaire continued to operate independently.

In 1987, Michel François-Poncet, named Chairman and Chief Executive in 1986, was successful in achieving the privatization of the bank through a legislation passed on July 2, 1986. Paribas then welcomed 3.8 million individual shareholders.

Following the arrival of André Lévy-Lang as Executive Chairman in 1990 a new organization was put into place, this time designed to play to such global business areas as corporate banking, capital markets activities, institutional and private asset management, and advisory services. Paribas Affaires Industrielles managed equity interests in industrial and commercial companies. The company adopted a two-tiered management structure in 1991 with a Supervisory Board and a Board of Management, chaired respectively by Michel François-Poncet and André Lévy-Lang. In 1993 the bank faced a major crisis in the French real estate market.

In 1996 Banque Paribas began an active policy of acquisitions and disposals. After selling Banque Ottomane to the Turkish group Dogus, it took over Cetelem (in which it had been the main shareholder since 1969), and Compagnie Bancaire, in 1997.

At the same time, it sold Credit du Nord to Société Générale and divested its retail banking subsidiaries in Belgium and the Netherlands to Belgium's Bacob-Arco Group.

A new group, with the shortened name of Paribas, was formally created on May 12, 1998 when the Annual Shareholders' Meeting approved the merger of Compagnie Financière de Paribas with Banque Paribas and Compagnie Bancaire, as well as with Compagnie de Navigation Mixte. The merger brought about the bank's reorganization into three core businesses: corporate and investment banking, asset management, saving and specialized financial services.

A planned merger with Société Générale did not come to fruition in late 1998 due to a takeover bid which the BNP launched for Paribas in early 1999. The bid was successful and the two establishments merged on May 23, 2000, creating BNP Paribas.