BNP Paribas said last quarter European clients moved off the sidelines and
traded more actively, helping corporate and investment banking revenue surge and
underpin a better-than-expected quarterly result reported Wednesday. Equity
trading revenue jumped about 50%, and the bank said ongoing investment in those
businesses is paying off. BNP Paribas has also benefited from a strong
prime-brokerage franchise after taking on many hedge-fund clients from Deutsche
Bank and Credit Suisse in prior years, and robust advisory activity (including
in Europe) helped global banking revenue rise 8.4%. The bank’s COO and head of
corporate & institutional banking said recent work to deepen and improve the
client base has increased diversification across clients, services and
geographies, supporting performance across market conditions.
