The EU’s leading bank, BNP Paribas, is celebrating 50 years in Ireland. Having undergone a remarkable transformation during that time, its ambition shows no sign of abating as it continues to grow apace.
Its origins in Ireland date back to 1973, when a banking subsidiary of Banque National de Paris opened in Dublin just after Ireland joined the EEC. From just one staff member working from a bedroom in Dublin’s Burlington hotel, BNP Paribas Ireland today employs more than 550 people between its new state-of-the-art offices in Sandyford, Dublin and its regional office in Galway.
Its new Dublin headquarters, which has gold standard Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, has significantly reduced its carbon footprint. It has also facilitated a new hybrid working model, which has been embraced by both BNP Paribas Ireland and its teams.
Through its integrated bank model, the team in Ireland offers a full suite of corporate and institutional banking products from origination, deal execution and risk management through to custody, asset servicing and fund administration. The group, in Ireland, is also active in general insurance, reinsurance and commercial real estate advisory.
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Expansion over 50 years
Operating in more than 60 countries with almost 185,000 employees, BNP Paribas is a leader in international financial services.
Globally, BNP Paribas is involved in multiple fields of activity including commercial, personal banking, corporate financial services and securities services. The group also encompasses specialised businesses across insurance, fleet management and real estate advisory.
Over its 50 years in Ireland, the bank has grown and expanded its expertise, which now spans a wide range of corporate and commercial strands. This diversified yet integrated model has been central to the bank’s success both globally and in Ireland, where it takes a client-centric approach that combines the strength of an international presence with local know-how.
Benefits of transformation
Derek Kehoe is CEO and country head, BNP Paribas, Ireland. This summer he celebrates 21 years with the banking group.
“In 1999 BNP and Paribas merged and suddenly there was this banking giant with a large commercial banking presence in Dublin,” he says. “I joined the enlarged group in 2002 to develop our institutional fixed-income franchise, leveraging off the strength of the BNP Paribas brand globally alongside its significant local presence.”
In 2015 he was appointed CEO and country head, becoming the first Irish person to hold the position. And now, with BNP Paribas marking 50 years in Ireland, he reflects on the remarkable transformation of the banking and wider financial services sector in Ireland during that period.
“Ireland has gone from being perceived as an inward-looking island on the edge of Europe to a leading financial services hub, and a multicultural, outward-looking country,” he says.
“Ireland is a committed and fully integrated member of the euro zone, with a young, mobile and highly educated workforce, so this has been an overdue and welcome shift in perception given the expertise so evident in our sector here.”
Kehoe explains how BNP Paribas Ireland has benefited from this transformation. “From one employee and a single line of business, today we have revenues in excess of €300 million across more than 20 legal entities.”
The developing levels of diversity and acceptance in Ireland over the past 50 years have been staggering and this is reflected in BNP Paribas also. “We value agility and openness, all of which reflect the Ireland of today’s values and strengths,” says Kehoe.
“With more than 35 nationalities employed here, we are driven by the talent and skills that people of so many cultures bring to our organisation. We want everyone to bring their true self to work and know that they will be happy here as we nurture and support their career development.”
Range of activities offers wide scope for success
The breadth of the bank’s activities, and its geographic reach, is a huge part of the appeal it holds for those looking for a career in international financial services. “We are continually recruiting for ambitious people to join the BNP Paribas team in Ireland and the opportunities are extensive,” he says.
“We operate globally as an integrated bank and have a full-service branch, from offering simple electronic corporate banking right up to corporate mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital markets.”
Greenval, a general insurance company providing motor insurance to European countries on behalf of Arval, is the group’s fleet management company.
As well as its reinsurance companies Darnell and Vartry, its activities in Ireland include BNP Paribas Real Estate, one of Ireland’s most successful commercial real estate consultancies.
“With so many wide-ranging but integrated divisions, we can offer employees plenty of variety as well as opportunities to move between our different entities and different offices around the world,” says Kehoe.
“If you join the Dublin office and, after a few years, decide you want to travel, we have a presence in more than 60 countries. We support internal mobility locally and globally. For many people that’s an attractive proposition and one of the reasons they join us. And, while we are a European powerhouse, we also have a huge presence in the Americas, Middle East and Asia Pacific. That presents a lot of opportunities as well as stability and consistency.”
BNP Paribas places a strong emphasis on staff development. “We strive to find the right role for people and invest significantly in training and development to support them,” says Kehoe. “We know it’s critical to keep the skills of our people up to date as the world transforms faster than ever before.
“We are constantly evolving, embracing innovation and digitisation, and are incredibly proud of the way in which our people, and our operations, have responded to change. We have undergone our own transformation, particularly in the past five years, which has allowed us to remain leaders in our field.”
Future growth
The decision to bring its Dublin-based CIB teams together in one location in Sandyford further supports its integrated banking model and is a platform for growth, explains Kehoe. “It’s a significant investment but moving to a premises that is newer, more collaborative in nature and better suited to new ways of working, while simultaneously reducing our carbon footprint, is a statement of our intent, our ambition, and our future plans for sustainable and sustained growth in Ireland. The capacity is there and it’s a really exciting time for BNP Paribas right now as we plan our further expansion in Ireland,” he says.
Ireland is, after all, a huge destination for inward investment, and Brexit will continue to offer opportunities for financial services here. “We will continue to benefit from that and continue to offer corporate and institutional clients the investment banking services they require,” says Kehoe.
“Our mission is to serve the needs of all our stakeholders, our colleagues and our community. We’ve been doing that successfully for the past 50 years and plan to do so for the next 50, and beyond.”
Mary Buckley, executive director of IDA Ireland congratulated Derek and his team on their milestone anniversary, saying: “BNP Paribas has been an important part of the financial services ecosystem in Ireland and has played a central role in the company’s international growth. I would like to congratulate BNP Paribas on 50 years of great success in Ireland and look forward to many more years of continued growth.”
Digital:
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Print:
To learn more about BNP Paribas Ireland’s transformation, check out bnpparibas.ie/en/