Even before rumours emerged this year that HSBC was selling its German private-banking business, the country was a strategic priority for Vincent Lecomte, chief executive of BNP Paribas Wealth Management. During the past 15 years, mostly under Lecomte, BNPP has steadily grown into a mid-tier player in German wealth, from the ground up.
Now, the agreement to buy HSBC’s German private-banking activities signals a much clearer top-tier ambition. The acquisition will bring BNPP’s assets under management in German wealth to €40 billion: more than double its position today, according to research from Citi.
In wealth management, BNP Paribas is already one of the European Union’s biggest firms. It was named Western Europe’s best regional private bank in Euromoney’s 2024 Private Banking awards. Up to now, Germany has been a small part of BNPP’s wealth business, partly reflecting its lack of traditional retail-banking activities there, in contrast to its position in Italy, for example.
But BNPP has lately been investing more in its German coverage of entrepreneur and family clients: those with more than €25 million in investable assets, which is precisely the area in which HSBC’s wealth business has been strongest in Germany.
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