BNP Paribas has shaken up the senior ranks of its UK dealmaking team as it looks to gain share from rivals in Europe’s biggest investment banking fee pool.
John Bigham has been named head of UK coverage, according to a memo seen by Financial News, taking the reins from Simon Gates, who has moved to the US to lead the French bank’s corporate banking business in the region.
Kieran Fahy will also shift from his role as country head of South Africa to lead BNP Paribas’ UK corporate coverage and transaction banking business.
Meanwhile, Andrew McNaught, the former co-head of M&A in Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Nomura who joined BNP Paribas in 2018 to spearhead a fresh UK dealmaking push, has been named chair of UK advisory.
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In the new role, McNaught will be “focused on driving forward the strategic advisory dialogue with our key clients”, the memo added.
McNaught’s move means that Kirshlen Moodley, JPMorgan’s former head of activism defence in Emea who joined BNP Paribas last year, takes over as head of UK advisory. Moodley spent over nine years at JPMorgan on both activist defence and UK M&A.
BNP Paribas has been pushing to move up the rankings in Europe and globally as it looks to increase its share of both the equity capital markets and M&A wallet. The French bank has traditionally been more reliant on revenue from loans and debt capital markets work. It ranks seventh in the Emea fee league tables for 2022 with $710m, according to data provider Dealogic, but is first for DCM fees in the region.
Separately, the French bank named Emmanuelle Bury-Lucas, former compliance chief for the Americas, as its new UK country head. She will take over from Anne Marie Verstraeten, who has led BNP Paribas’s UK office for the past six years, and will become vice chair of BNP Paribas UK.
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To contact the author of this story with feedback or news, email Paul Clarke
