BNP Paribas is pushing to grow its dealmaking business in the US, part of a broader plan by the French lender to become a bigger player in investment banking as some of its European rivals have struggled.
The French bank is building a team of equity capital markets bankers in New York, as well as looking to expand its sector coverage, investment grade finance, syndicated loans and securitised products in the US, according to Renaud-Franck Falce, global head of capital markets at BNP Paribas.
“We will continue to develop further our franchise in the US, which is already actively in progress. We are pleased with market share gains in all areas including investment grade bonds and leveraged finance,” he told Financial News. “But we can do more and that’s our ambition, not just to support US clients, but also to help our European and Asian clients access the largest funding markets as relevant for bigger deals.”
BNP Paribas hired Evan Riley from UBS in May to kick off its US ECM unit and the bank is currently hiring for a team that will eventually number 10 bankers. The French lender has about 200 staff in the US within its capital markets unit, compared with 700 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It has around 3,500 employees in the US.
“We are staffing up some of our teams in the US and developing in areas where we were less meaningfully present including ECM,” he said. “While there are fewer IPOs these days than we would wish and some might question whether this is the right time, I would argue that it is a more relevant timeframe than 2021, when most players were busy with IPO execution and that now is indeed the right time to attract talent ready to contribute to our development.”
Falce was promoted to global head of capital markets in February as part of a broader shake-up at the top of its investment bank which saw Yannick Jung promoted to head of global banking and George Holst bumped up to head a new division called sectors and advisory.
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For the past five years, BNP Paribas has been pushing to gain market share in investment banking by expanding beyond its traditional strength in debt markets into ECM and M&A. But the effort has largely been focused on its key European market, where it currently ranks fourth by revenue, according to data provider Dealogic, having finished eighth last year and sixth in 2021.
It currently ranks 20th by investment banking revenue in the Americas.
The latest moves are part of an effort to expand beyond its home markets, with the US a key focus. Erin Brown is also relocating from London to New York to head up its leveraged finance business, while BNP Paribas hired Vanessa Dager from Wells Fargo to lead its US advisory unit.
BNP Paribas is one of a handful of European firms increasing its ambitions for its investment banking business at a time when some rivals have pulled back. Credit Suisse’s acquisition by cross-town rival UBS presents an opportunity for many players to gain market share, particularly in the US where the Swiss bank was among the most dominant European dealmakers.
Deutsche Bank has bolstered its dealmaking team by 50 senior bankers, largely in M&A, and has shelled out £410m on City broker Numis to increase its UK presence. Santander is hiring up to 150 bankers in the UK and US as part of its investment banking expansion. Both tapped senior dealmakers from Credit Suisse after its shotgun wedding to UBS.
BNP has been hiring but has not been as aggressive as some European rivals, with Falce saying “dozens” of bankers have come on board since 2021.
Falce said that BNP Paribas is primarily looking to do more business with Emea and Asia headquartered clients, which might transact in the US, rather than aiming to wrestle domestic clients from dominant Wall Street banks.
This can mean financing needs, more strategic equity deals or advisory work, he said. As well as ECM, DCM and securitised products, the bank could add to its US sector teams and build out its unit focused on energy transition deals.
“The goal is not to unseat domestic US players in their home market,” said Falce. “We want to be a meaningful player, supporting domestic and multinational US clients in their strategic moves as well as our European and Asian clients accessing the US markets.”
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