Our diversified and integrated model is based on our three operating divisions. Their leading positions, combined with the fact that they complement each other so well, provide a comprehensive and coordinated response to our clients’ needs and fuel our commercial performance. The Corporate & Institutional Banking division brings together corporate clients with financing needs and institutional clients looking for investment opportunities. The Commercial, Personal Banking & Services division encompasses all our commercial & personal banking entities and a number of specialised businesses. The Investment & Protection Services division houses our protection, savings, investment and real estate services.
By combining our global footprint with their local presence, our three divisions provide a wide range of products and solutions across all our regions. The synergies between all our business lines and our ability to respond in a coordinated way to the changing needs and habits of our clients give our business model its distinctive, high-performance character. This resilient model, which draws its power of execution from the close integration of all our areas of expertise, gives us a tangible competitive advantage and ensures that our clients receive long-term support at every stage of their development. BNP Paribas also stands out for its financial strength, as illustrated by the scale of its balance sheet, its so-called “hard” equity (Common Equity Tier 1), its revenues and its net income.
In a changing and challenging environment, we remain vigilant in managing all the risks to which BNP Paribas is exposed.
By anchoring this risk management culture in our practices, we preserve and strengthen the Group’s resilience over time. We continuously optimise our internal control system in order to identify the main risks we are exposed to, while anticipating emerging ones.
This rigorous control, which operates at all levels, is based on three lines of defence. The first is carried out by the operational entities, business lines and functions. The second is the permanent control managed by the Compliance, Legal, Risk, Finance & Strategy functions. The third, under the responsibility of the “Inspection Générale” function, supplements their actions with periodic controls. This control system is reinforced by a strong compliance culture that is widely shared throughout the Group.
The quality of our risk management, which is simultaneously prudent, proactive and forward-looking, is reflected in a low cost of risk of 33 basis points in 2024, and a cost of risk to gross operating income ratio that is one of the lowest among European banks.
As long-term partners of our clients, we listen to their needs to deliver innovative solutions, while ensuring a high level of security for their data and transactions. In this respect, we place technology at the heart of our goals, so that it helps to improve both the client and employee experiences, while optimising our operational performance. And because we are convinced that useful innovation comes from fruitful collaboration between a multitude of players, year after year we develop an ecosystem that brings together companies, institutions, start-ups, networks and associations.
For many years now, we have been investing in future technologies linked to new applications, notably artificial intelligence, which we are working to integrate into our solutions, processes and tools. Rational data management is also a key issue and is one of the main areas of the Technology pillar of our strategic plan. Lastly, we are supporting the ongoing development of our teams’ skills in these areas to help them manage these changes.
