BNP Paribas went from strength to strength in 2020 by upping the pace of its digitalisation and expanding its client base.
The bank has combined its historical strength in derivatives with a board level commitment to become Europe’s leading investment bank to take its offering to a new level. “In order to be a top five global rates house, we have to be top three across every product and country in Europe,” said Joe Squires, co-head of G10 rates, EMEA and global head of G10 rates sales at the French bank.
For BNP Paribas, being top five puts it head-to-head with its US rivals and over the past 12 months the bank has made big strides towards achieving that goal during a period when European rivals have retrenched.
In interest rates derivatives, the bank has strong capabilities in global currencies, giving it a competitive advantage over the rest of the pack. “In Apac, we are top dealers in yen and Australian dollar interest rate derivatives, cemented by our status as top European non-domestic bank in Japan for flow rates,” says Squires.
It has also expanded its offering in North America, helping it to become GlobalCapital’s Americas Interest Rate Derivatives House of the Year in July, while its UK push began to bear fruit in 2019, with its rates business more than doubling market share to more than 5%.
The bank has also upped its game in the digitalisation of its offering. That began with primary dealerships and European government bond e-trading technology, implemented throughout 2019, which has now been applied to the swaps market, where competitive technology is essential.
The digitalisation push has helped drive the bank into the top three in electronic risk pricing. “Because of that, we have created a virtuous circle where clients have been confident in our pricing and so we have attracted more business,” says Squires.
Its ambition to be top in Europe comes with a commitment to support clients through benchmark rate transition away from Libor and trading in a post-Brexit world.
Moreover, BNP Paribas entered a strategic agreement in 2019 to migrate technology, staff and clients from Deutsche Bank’s global prime finance and electronic equities businesses, leading to an expansion of its client base. “That enabled us to land on the radars of clients we hadn’t before and further underlines our growth agenda,” says Squires.
