BNP Paribas has appointed its next CEO for Australia and New Zealand, while its previous chief for the region takes up a new position.
Nicolas Parrot has commenced as the CEO for BNP Paribas Australia and New Zealand, with immediate effect.
Having served at the financial services firm for nearly 28 years, he was previously the CEO for BNP Paribas Indonesia and has worked throughout the APAC region, such as in structured finance and investment banking in Singapore and Tokyo.
Parrot takes over from Karine Delvallée, who previously held the Australia and New Zealand CEO position from late 2019 until early this year. She has since commenced as CEO for Singapore and South-East Asia at BNP Paribas.
In his new position, Parrot will lead BNP Paribas’ delivery of global markets, global banking, securities services solutions, and asset management offerings to its corporate, institutional, and multinational clients in both Australian and New Zealand markets. He will report to Delvallée, the firm said.
“BNP Paribas has a longstanding presence and rich history in Australia and New Zealand,” Delvallée said.
“With his proven track record and capabilities, Nicolas is well placed to leverage the bank’s leading position in the region and deliver for our clients and I look forward to working with him.”
BNP Paribas has over 600 employees across Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Auckland, and Wellington. Globally, it has nearly 178,000 employees and operates throughout 64 countries.
Last December, BNP Paribas Securities Services business, which has US$15 trillion in assets under custody, was appointed by Insignia Financial to provide custody and administration services.
BNP Paribas Group also confirmed it was in exclusive talks to acquire 100 per cent of AXA’s €850 billion ($1.5 trillion) investment management arm AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) in August 2024.
BNP Paribas said the agreed price for the acquisition and the setup of the partnership was €5.1 billion ($8.45 billion) at closing, with completion expected for mid-2025 once regulatory approvals had been obtained.
Several months later, AXA and BNP Paribas Cardif announced the signing of the share purchase agreement for AXA IM.
“This signing marks an important step in the acquisition process of AXA IM and our long-term partnership with AXA. In anticipation of the closing process, all teams are now working to welcome AXA IM’s employees and customers into the BNP Paribas Cardif Group,” said Renaud Dumora, chairman of BNP Paribas Cardif and deputy COO of BNP Paribas in December.
