BNP Paribas names new executives

BNP Paribas chief executive Jean-Laurent Bonnafe named three insiders, including finance chief Philippe Bordenave, as co-chief operating officers today, a day after taking control of France's biggest bank.

Mr Bordenave, who remains responsible for finance, will be flanked by deputy CEO Georges Chodron de Courcel and Francois Villeroy de Galhau, who rose through BNP's French retail business after heading its Cetelem consumer finance division.

The new team will have to juggle asset sales, job cuts and a race to build loss-absorbing capital as banks navigate a euro zone sovereign debt crisis that has hit funding markets and claimed Franco-Belgian bank Dexia as its most prominent victim.

BNP veteran Bonnafe (50) was handed the reins yesterday in a well-flagged handover engineered by outgoing chairman Michel Pebereau and former CEO Baudouin Prot, who will become chairman.

"Overall there are not any big changes. It is the same team," Natixis analyst Alex Koagne said. "That is their strong point," he said.

BNP would not comment on whether it might eventually name a new chief financial officer. "Philippe Bordenave remains, for now, CFO of the group while becoming COO for group finance, strategic advisory, development, ALM Treasury, information technology and processes," a spokeswoman said.

BNP, often cited as the most robust French bank, had seen its share price fall 39 per cent this year, compared with a 34 per cent lower bank index.

The bank is overwhelmingly exposed to the euro zone's increasingly fragile-looking core and has announced sweeping asset sales and job cuts to strengthen its balance sheet and build up loss-absorbing capital.

Reuters