RIYADH, 23 October 2005 — The Paris-based BNP Paribas Group will become the first European bank to operate as a fully owned foreign bank, with its branch office set to open in the capital today.
BNP will offer its services in its three core businesses — corporate and investment banking, asset management and services and retail banking, a spokesman of the bank announced at a function here.
BNP will be the third foreign bank after the Gulf International Bank and the Emirates Bank to be licensed by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. BNP is to be officially inaugurated today under the patronage of Hamad Al-Sayari, the governor of SAMA.
BNP Paripas Group is one of the European leaders in financial services with a significant and growing presence in the United States and a strong showing in Asia. Also, it is one of the largest international banking networks with a presence in more than 85 countries and close to 100,000 employees as well. “It is the sixth most respected banking institution in the world,” according to Fortune magazine.
The report issued by the group stresses that the net banking income reached 18.823 billion euros in 2004; the EBITDA exceeded 7.231 billion euros in the same year as well. Its net income (group share) stood at over 4.668 billion euros during the same period.
The report also indicated that BNP Paribas is a large European group working in the field of financial services in America, Europe and Asia. The group operates through its 2200 branches in more than 85 countries all over the world. It provides its services to over six million customers and 60,000 companies.
