BNP Paribas has priced the first property derivatives trade based on a basket of indices. To date, property derivative trades have been based on single indices but the Paribas trade signals a new direction for the market, and more basket trades are expected to appear.

BNP Paribas has shown strength in meeting client needs by innovating across a wide range of asset classes.

The good times might be back in Asia’s markets for foreign investment banks. Alas, though, the feel-good factor does not appear to have reached French bank BNP Paribas.

Recent visitors to BNP Paribas’ London headquarters have been greeted by placards in the entrance hall that urge staff to "Be smart".

At Euromoney’s Paris Forum held at the end of 2006, the chief executive of BNP Paribas, Baudouin Prot, outlined some of the challenges facing major financial institutions. Principal among these is the growth and globalization of the banking industry. The interview was conducted by Chris Garnett, Euromoney’s director of conferences. Read or listen to it here.

Summary table of top banks, with quick links to more related content on euromoney.com

In the latest example of the growing focus on infrastructure opportunities in the ABS market, BNP Paribas has formed a specialized product group in its fixed income securitization business.

But will others also shun the obligations foncières structure?

French bank BNP Paribas is being sued in the US federal courts by a hedge fund over the financing of contracts for oil from Congo-Brazzaville. Rather than settling out of court, BNP says it will fight the lawsuit all the way. Felix Salmon reports on a grey area of black gold.

The French bank has taken the lead in developing structured notes and innovating in products linked to inflation, FX rates and equity.

BNP Paribas has topped the investment grade section of the Euromoney credit research poll for the past three years but this success has not stood in the way of a shift to a new research model.

French bank increases staffing and product offering.

BNP Paribas offered a new, institutionally-targeted twist on credit CPPI products.

Innovation and wider investor participation continue apace.

BNP Paribas has filled its global head of securitization post. Former Morgan Stanley securitization syndicate and trading head Tim Drayson joined last month. Drayson left Stanley after 10 years in March and joins at a time when BNPP has advertised its intention to grow its securitization business.

BNP Paribas seen as probable buyer

Awards for Excellence 2005

BNP and SG say they are taking a calculated risk, but can the investment pay off?

BNP Paribas has appointed Patrick Calinski to its corporate debt capital markets (DCM) team in Paris. Calinski started at the beginning of April reporting to Jérôme Clément-Cottuz, head of DCM for Belgium, France and Luxembourg. He joins from Natexis Banques Populaires where he has worked for 12 years.

Return to UBS tops private banking poll

Pension funds welcome a new bond indexed to life expectancy which should cut the cost of matching a growing risk.

BNP Paribas has long been a staunch supporter of tennis and is firmly connected with the French Open championships at Roland Garros in Paris. But the surprising success of Tim Henman this year will surely have raised Gallic eyebrows.

A ground-breaking collateralized debt obligation offering a fixed level of recoveries targets investors who want a simpler structure.

Key French brokerages are remodelling their equities divisions in an effort to build a pan-European business. And the solution that BNP Paribas has found is the most radical. But rivals say its new joint venture is an admission of failure. Peter Koh reports.

Baudoin Prot, the CEO of BNP Paribas, used a results announcement last month to deny some of the merger rumours involving his firm and to sketch out plans for using the bank's excess capital. As he outlined the bank's 2003 results, which included an impressive 13.1% increase in net income from the corporate and investment banking division, he declined to reveal what BNP Paribas would do if a large US firm bought one of its European rivals. He described such hypothetical strategic plans as "science fiction".

Runner-up: UBS Warburg

Awards for Excellence 2002

The battles rage for Telecom Italia, Société Générale and Gucci. Europeans have learnt aggressive US-style tactics. Optimists think corporate Europe has woken up after trailing the US for years. But these mega deals are driven by clan rivalry and gigantism, rather than efficiency.

French banking has arrived at a turning point. In the past the government would have stepped in to resolve the takeover battle between Société Générale, Paribas and Banque Nationale de Paris. But this time it looks likely that shareholders will determine who triumphs. Rebecca Bream reports.

In the eurozone big is beautiful. The potential three-way merger of Banque Nationale de Paris, Société Générale and Paribas is just the latest example of the consolidation that will transform Europe's fragmented and largely unsophisticated banking industry. National borders and regulations have become irrelevant more quickly than anyone had predicted, leaving the way open for huge intra-market and cross-border tie-ups. But as banking goes the way of auto manufacturing and pharmaceuticals, what role is left for the smaller institutions - the regional specialists and the boutiques?