French bank BNP Paribas opens subsidiary in Romania

BNP Paribas, the biggest bank in France with over EUR 2 trillion in assets, registered a subsidiary in Romania in December last year and could start to grant loans and draw deposits from clients at the end of this month, according to Romania’s National Bank (BNR), local Ziarul Financiar reported. The local subsidiary is called BNP Paribas Personal Finance, being part of BNP Paribas’ retail division with the same name, which operates in 30 countries in Europe, America, Africa, and Asia. Internationally, BNP Paribas Personal Finance had a loan portfolio of EUR 76.5 billion and a net profit of EUR 1.4 billion in 2017. The French group has been operating in Romania since 2005, through Cetelem, a non-banking financial institution specialized in consumer loans. The new subsidiary may take over Cetelem’s activity. Bruno Leroux, Cetelem Romania’s general manager, was named general manager of BNP Paribas Personal Finance Romania at the end of November 2017. editor@romania-insider.com