Very few banks can claim a record as good as BNP Paribas’ over the past year.
The group’s corporate and investment banking unit stands out in particular for being one of the few anywhere to remain profitable throughout every quarter since the crisis began and is even in expansion mode. This June the French bank sealed a deal to acquire Bank of America’s equity prime brokerage business that will significantly boost its status in both the prime brokerage and US equity markets.
By neatly dodging some of the nasty bullets that have hit its domestic and global competitors and thanks to its complement of diversified and stable businesses, BNP Paribas is sitting pretty as a model of prudence, wearing its AA+ rating with pride.
BNP Paribas owes its strength to its stable base of retail banking revenues, which account for more than 60% of income, and to its calculated and restrained approach to risk.