BNP Paribas announced on Tuesday that it incurred a €190 million charge stemming from a fraud case involving an unidentified client, which weighed on its third-quarter performance. France’s largest bank said total loan-loss provisions rose 24 percent year-on-year to €905 million, largely due to the incident tied to the financing of receivables.
Chief Financial Officer Lars Machenil confirmed that the loss was linked to the group’s global markets division and its receivable-financing activities. Chief Executive Jean-Laurent Bonnafé emphasized that the case was unrelated to recent corporate collapses in the United States, such as First Brands Group or subprime lender Tricolor Holdings. “It happens unfortunately from time to time,” he told analysts, noting that such issues tend to arise every few years within the bank’s global markets operations.
BNP Paribas shares fell 3.5 percent on Tuesday following the results. The group posted a net income of €3 billion for the quarter ending September 30, a 6.1 percent increase from a year earlier but slightly below analysts’ forecasts of €3.1 billion.
The lender also recorded restructuring costs tied to its €5.1 billion acquisition of Axa Investment Managers from insurer AXA, completed last year. BNP expects the integration to generate €550 million in annual cost savings and pre-tax revenue synergies by 2029, strengthening its position as Europe’s third-largest asset manager by assets under management.
Revenue at the corporate and investment banking arm rose 4.5 percent to €4.5 billion, supported by strong equities and debt-trading results. However, deal-advisory revenue declined 2.6 percent as European clients remained cautious amid global uncertainty and new tariff measures.
Meanwhile, revenue at BNP’s commercial and personal banking division grew 3 percent, helped by a healthier outlook for its French mortgage portfolio, with borrowers locking in higher fixed-rate loans than in previous years.
The bank’s core capital ratio stood unchanged at 12.5 percent, indicating steady balance-sheet strength.
BNP Paribas’s third-quarter report comes during a challenging time for French lenders, facing political turbulence at home and international legal pressures. The bank’s shares have also recently been hit by a New York court ruling that found it liable for damages to three Sudanese refugees over past banking services provided to individuals and entities linked to Sudan’s former regime under Omar al-Bashir. BNP denies wrongdoing and intends to appeal the decision.
