Best bank
BNP Paribas
Best debt house
BNP Paribas
Best equity house
Société Générale
Best M&A house
Lazard Frères&Cie
BNP Paribas continues to press ahead with making a success of the merger that came about in extraordinary circumstances in 1999, after the three-way battle with Société Générale. The combination of the larger, but slower, wholesale bank, BNP, and the smaller more international investment bank, Paribas, has created the leading corporate bank in France. This comes with some strong specialist franchises, such as Cetelem, the consumer finance business and a retail business in France that commands high volumes.
| Michel Pébereau | ||||||
BNP Paribas's investment banking division is stronger in the debt markets than in equities or mergers and acquisitions, and for the moment, while activity tails off in equity and M&A, it is making itself very useful to French corporates.