BNP Paribas, earlier Fortis, and merged with the Generale, earlier ASLK …

BNP Paribas S.A. is a French international banking group. The bank is number 1 in Europe and number 7 worldwide for its total assets. In 2000 ‘Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP)’ and ‘Paribas’ merged but the company dates back to its foundation as a French national bank in 1848.

Activities of BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas has offices in nearly 75 countries and has 184,000 employees. The vast majority of these reside in Europe. It has held its first place in Europe in terms of assets under management since the acquisition of the Belgian Fortis in 2009. Since 2010, BNP Paribas has been the largest bank in the world measured by balance sheet total.

BNP Paribas is part of the Euro Banking Association EBA. The EBA is a partnership of European Banks that should enable payment transactions within the Euro area.

Subsidiaries of BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas has, among others, the following subsidiaries:

BNP PARIBAS ATMs – European Commissions, Etterbeek, Brussels BE

Acquisition of Fortis

The Belgian part ‘Fortis Bank’ and also the former Turkish ‘Dışbank’ would be 75% owned by BNP Paribas and 25% by the Belgian state. Shareholders of Fortis rejected this. But at the shareholders’ meeting on April 28 and 29, 2009, the deal was yes accepted. For example, 75% was owned by BNP Paribas and 25% by the Belgian government. BNP Paribas also received 25% of ‘Fortis Insurance’. The remaining 3/4 are still in the hands of Ageas. In November 2013, the Belgian federal government sold its 25% equity stake in BNP Paribas Fortis to BNP Paribas for EUR 3.25 billion. This means that the former Fortis is completely in French hands.

The asset management division ‘Fortis Investments’ has also been acquired by BNP Paribas. In April 2008, Fortis’ asset manager incorporated the activities of ‘ABN AMRO Asset Management’. At the time of the acquisition by BNP Paribas, ‘Fortis Investments’ had 200 investment funds worldwide, which were managed by 40 teams in fourteen countries. At the time, ‘Fortis Investment’ in the Netherlands had around €40 billion under management.

Tough times for BNP Paribas

problems in In Europe

In 2009, the bank BNP Paribas was fined EUR 120,000 by the Financial Markets Authority for failing to disclose BNP Paribas Cardif‘s interest in Volta Finance Limited .  Volta Finance Limited is an investment institution listed on Euronext.

Problems in the United States

The French bank expected to pay a $10 billion settlement in June 2014 over banned trade with Sudan and Iran that would negatively affect its mandatory bank buffers.

An agreement with the US authorities was reached on a settlement for an amount of $8.9 billion (about €6.5 billion) was announced on June 26, 2014. The large fine was partly determined because the bank continued its illegal activities despite warnings. . And she also refused to cooperate with the US investigation. Because BNP realized a net profit of 4.8 billion euros in 2013, the fine did not endanger its creditworthiness. BNP’s equity remained above the international standard at 10%.

Ethical screening of BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas scored very poorly on both the Belgian and French Bank Guide in terms of ethical policy. BNP Paribas closely followed guidelines in the areas of human rights, investments in the arms industry, reduction of greenhouse gases, nature conservation and transparency. Dirty Profits V showed that the bank was investing in mostly controversial companies.

BNP Paribas is a major investor in the arms industry. According to a 2016 publication, the bank was found to be present in the “Hall of Shame” of the “Do Not Bank on the Bomb” report. The bank does not exclude companies that manufacture, design or sell weapons. Only companies that produce controversial weapons such as cluster munitions, chemical and biological weapons and anti-personnel mines are excluded. For example, producers of nuclear weapons can receive financing if they are located in countries that possess nuclear weapons.

According to the document “Fossil-free banks in the fight against the carbon bubble” (October 2016), the bank invests almost 30 billion in environmentally polluting energy sources such as gas, oil and coal. These energy sources are responsible for a significant part of CO2 emissions and global warming. In addition, the bank was found to be investing more than €100 million in environmentally polluting companies such as Norilsk Nickel and Mylan, which discharge a lot of waste that is harmful to public health).

BNP Paribas was an official sponsor of the Paris climate conference in 2015. However, external non-profit organizations spoke of greenwashing because the bank itself invested billions of euros in the fossil fuel industry. The bank continues to invest in companies that mine or produce coal, oil and gas and has no plans to stop those investments.

In 2016, BNP Paribas had 172 subsidiaries in tax havens.

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