2002-2007 - BNP PARIBAS

In 2001, with renewed vitality and strength from the BNP and Paribas bank pair-up , the group initiated an external growth strategy that turned BNP Paribas into the leading bank in the Euro zone by 2002.

By acquiring all the equity of Banc West Corporation at the end of 2001, BNP Paribas paved the way to becoming the fourth leading generalist bank in California, following the acquisition of United California Bank.

The bank continued this international strategy throughout 2002 by reinforcing its presence in Maghreb through opening the BNP Paribas El Djazair subsidiary in Algeria, and through the acquisition in Morocco of the ABN Anro Bank network, which merged with BMCI, the Moroccan Bank for Commerce and Industry. At the same time, BNP Paribas reinforced its position in Russia by opening a subsidiary in Moscow.
The year 2002 also saw two major strategic operations take place in the area of specialized financial services with the acquisition of the French company Facet, specialist in consumer credit, which joined Cetelem, and the creation of the Cortal Consors group, the online savings management company in Germany.
Internally, the bank was developing a multiple channel approach and set up its credit derivatives market.

In 2003, a new era of management began at BNP Paribas with the division of the presidential and chief executive officer functions between Michel Pebereau and Baudouin Prot. As CEO, the latter was called upon to direct the group and was vested with the most extensive powers, while Michel Pebereau presides over the Board of Trustees, which determines the orientations of BNP Paribas business, and monitors its implementation. The Financial Services Pole and SFDI, the International Retail Bank were created in 2003. Business centers were created within the retail bank pole in France for the corporate clientele.

At the beginning of 2004, BNP Paribas paired up Atis Real International and BNP Paribas Immobilier and created a major player in the corporate real estate business in Europe. Within the context of developing its retail banking strategy in the USA, BNP Paribas concluded an agreement that led to the acquisition of Community First Bankshares, which reinforced its Banc West subsidiary, enabling it to rank seventh in the western United States, i.e. in a group of 18 states whose growth perspectives are amongst the most promising in the country. BancWest now ranks among the 25 largest American financial organizations. According to CEO Baudouin Prot, “this operation falls within [the] strategy of proactively seeking disciplined actions, that is those that create value, are reasonably sized and priced and enable BNP Paribas to accelerate its development in trades and regions of the world where a strong growth potential exists.”
The group is also pursuing its internal growth, with twenty-five new bank branches in Maghreb. The group established a Compliance Code, which unites the company's deontology, ethics, regulatory compliance, and constant follow-up monitoring.
Ranked leading bank in the Euro zone due to the extent of its financial results, BNP Paribas is constantly transforming itself and gaining strength. It also earned the sixth ranking on the “World's Most Admired Companies” list, set up by Fortune magazine. As a means of optimizing its brand portfolio, the bank has defined a common visual identity and has chosen the “taking flight” logo for the majority of its subsidiaries, even if some brands, which have earned a certain notoriety on their market, keep their own visual identity while concurrently displaying the “taking flight” logo to show they also belong to the group.

While pursuing an external growth strategy, BNP Paribas also continues to reinforce its various poles of activity. Thus, the Retail Bank in France maintained its aggressive policy to win over new private clients and improve its market share, taking on the rank of leading French bank as of 2005.
This same year marked a major step in BNP Paribas globalization, with fifteen external growth operations, including the acquisition of 50% of TEB from the Turkish group Colakoglu, the holding company that controls Turk Ekonomi Bankasi, the tenth private Turkish bank. Continuing its foray into Eastern Europe, BNP Paribas acquired early in 2006 a majority share of UkrSibbank, the third largest bank in the Ukraine in terms of assets. Cetelem has witnessed remarkable development.
But it was with the acquisition of the Italian bank BNL, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, in July 2006, that the group took on a leading European dimension. Founded in 1913 and sixth bank in Italy, BNL offers BNP its second largest domestic market in Europe. The group intends to become leader in the area of investment banking in Italy and is developing its market shares in the areas of asset management and specialized financial services.

BNP Paribas confirmed its world dimension in 2006 with remarkable development. With a presence on five continents, in over 85 countries, the group now employs over 160,000 people, 60% of whom work outside of France. In one year alone, the group increased its size by 25% As of 2005 the bank has opened new activities in 53 countries, including the Mediterranean Basin, definitely a significant example since the bank went from having 500 branch banks to having 1,700 at the end of 2006.

In 2006, BNP Paribas was deemed leading bank in the Euro Zone (according to Forbes), third leading French brand worldwide, and tenth bank in the world when taking into account all business lines.

In July 2007, Standard & Poor’s raises BNP Paribas credit rating to AA+, ranking the group among the 4 most solid banks in the world. In October 2007, Cetelem and UCB paired up their activities to create BNP Paribas Personal Finance, the European number one and world leader for specialty credit. In the retail banking sector, BNP Paribas tallies 17 million private customers and 5,600 branch offices throughout the world.