Banque Nationale de Paris

Banque nationale de Paris was a major French bank. It was formed in 1966 through the merger of Comptoir National d'Escompte de Paris (CNEP, est. 1848) and Banque Nationale pour le Commerce et l'Industrie (BNCI, est. 1932). In 1999, BNP initiated a merged with Paribas to form BNP Paribas, completed in 2000.

Overview

In 1966, the French government decided to merge the CNEP and BNCI to create BNP,[2] as part of a broader plan of financial sector reform led by finance minister Michel Debré. Among other initiatives, the Debré plan also entailed banking sector liberalization (known as the réforme Debré-Haberer) and the creation of an independent securities commission, the Commission des Opérations de Bourse.[3]

In 1973, BNP employees were allowed to become shareholders, but that opening was reversed in 1982 as the bank was fully renationalized. In 1989, BNP entered a bancassurance partnership with state-owned insurer Union des assurances de Paris (UAP), which later became part of Axa.[4] During the 1980s, the bank's prudent management by longtime CNEP employee René Thomas protected it from the excessive and politicized credit expansion that affected its competitor the Crédit Lyonnais.[5]

The bank was re-privatised in 1993 under the leadership of Michel Pébereau as part of a second Chirac government's privatization policy.[6][7]

Partnership with Dresdner Bank

Starting in 1988, BNP President René Thomas started exploring a strategic partnership with its German counterpart Dresdner Bank.[8] This materialized in the 1990s with the creation of several 50-50 joint ventures in the central and eastern European countries undergoing post-Communist transition: first in Hungary (1990), then in Czechoslovakia and Russia (1991), Poland (1994),[9] Bulgaria (1995), Croatia (1997),[10] and Romania (1998). The Russian joint venture supported a Dresdner Bank branch in Saint Petersburg and had Matthias Warnig, a former East German Stasi officer and associate of Vladimir Putin, as its chairman.[11][12]

Leadership

• Henry Bizot, Président 1966-1971; previously Président of CNEP 1964-1966
• Pierre Ledoux, Directeur Général 1966-1971, then Président 1971-1979; previously Directeur Général of BNCI 1963-1966
• Jacques Calvet, Directeur Général 1976 -1979, then Président 1979-1982
• Gerard Llewellyn, Directeur Général 1979-1982
• René Thomas, Président 1982-1993
• Jacques Masson, Directeur Général 1982-1987[28]
• Jacques Wahl (French civil servant), Directeur Général 1982-1993
• Daniel Lebègue, Directeur Général 1987-1996
• Michel Pébereau, Président-Directeur Général (PDG) 1993-2000; later PDG of BNP Paribas

See also

• Banque Internationale pour le Commerce et l'Industrie, the network of BNP affiliates in Africa
• Banque Marocaine pour le Commerce et l'Industrie, subsidiary in Morocco
• Union Bancaire pour le Commerce et l'Industrie, subsidiary in Tunisia
• List of banks in France