MANAMA: BNP Paribas, the Euro Zone’s largest banking group and the 5th largest in the world, is keen to further consolidate its position across the region by using its Gulf Cooperation Council headquarters in Bahrain. The bank has a strong line-up of products and services for both Islamic and conventional banking clients, a top official based in Manama at the bank’s regional headquarters said.
Jean-Christophe Durand, regional director of BNP Paribas-GCC, said Bahrain’s sound banking system, investment friendly environment and emergence as a center of excellence for innovative products and services, both in Islamic and conventional banking, made the French banking major BNP Paribas chose Manama as its regional headquarters.
“Bahrain’s unparalleled position as a regional banking center and BNP Paribas expertise are two most important complementing factors which will continue to serve as a corner stone for the bank’s Middle East expansion strategy. For example, we are bringing experts from Europe to foster the bank’s various business arms, which in return also offer huge opportunity for Bahrainis to learn from that experience.
At present we have 450 staff at the BNP Paribas Middle East headquarters in Bahrain. We are here to stay and create different business synergies as part of medium to long-term strategy of the bank. Our expertise and on ground presence is our strength in the Gulf region and the bank will see more business in the years to come.”
Jean-Christophe, on the sidelines of annual get-together of the bank, in an interview said bank’s strong line-up of conventional banking products and services helped the bank to extend operations to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar.
“The Islamic division of French bank BNP Paribas is eyeing Middle East Southeast Asia and French. The bank had started its Islamic arm in 2003 in Bahrain as a global hub for its Islamic finance operations, which it hopes to expand into Malaysia and Brunei.