BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas (French pronunciation: ​[be ɛn pe paʁibɑ]) is a French multinational bank and financial services company with global headquarters in Paris. BNP Paribas is one of the largest banks in the world. Based on 2012 information, BNP Paribas was ranked as the third-largest bank in the world, as measured by total assets, by Bloomberg and Forbes. In 2010, It was the world's 18th largest corporation, according to the Fortune Global 500 list, the rankings are based on revenues, accounted for as the sum of gross interest income and gross non. It was formed through the merger of Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) and Paribas (see below for name origin) in 2000. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.

The firm is a universal bank split into two strategic business units: Retail Banking & Services (which includes Asset Management, custodial banking, and real estate services), and Corporate and Institutional Banking. BNP Paribas's four domestic markets are France, Italy, Belgium, and Luxembourg. It also has significant retail operations in the United States, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine, and North Africa, as well as large-scale investment banking operations in New York, London, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Crédit Agricole

Crédit Agricole, sometimes called the “Green Bank” because of its historical ties to farming, is a French network of cooperative and mutual banks comprising the 39 Crédit Agricole Regional Banks. In 1990, it became an international full-service banking group. It is listed through its holding company, Crédit Agricole S.A., on Euronext Paris’ first market and is part of the CAC 40 stock market index. In 2013, the Crédit Agricole Group reported revenues of €26.4 billion.

It was the title sponsor of the Crédit Agricole professional road cycling team from 1998 to 2008.

History

Source for most of the "History" section.

In the second half of the 19th Century, French farmers struggled to obtain long-term, flexible, reasonably-priced credit. There were several attempts to set up farming banks, including Crédit Foncier de France in 1861, but none was successful.

Birth of Crédit Agricole and creation of the local and regional banks 1894 - 1900

Crédit Agricole can trace its history back to the end of the 19th Century, and specifically to the Act of 1884 establishing the freedom of professional association, which authorised, among other things, the creation of farm unions and the foundation of local mutual banks.Société de Crédit Agricole was created on 23 February 1885 at Salins-les-Bains in the district of Poligny in the Jura region. It was the first of its kind in France.

Société Générale

Société Générale S.A. is a French multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Paris. The company is a universal bank and has divisions supporting French Networks, Global Transaction Banking, International Retail Banking, Financial services, Corporate and Investment Banking, Private Banking, Asset Management and Securities Services.

Société Générale is France's third largest bank by total assets, seventh largest in Europe or seventeenth by market capitalization.

Société Générale is one of the oldest banks in France. Founded in 1864 its original name was Société Générale pour favoriser le développement du commerce et de l'industrie en France (English: General Company to Support the Development of Commerce and Industry in France). The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.

History

1864–1893

The bank was founded by a group of industrialists and financiers during the second empire, on May 4, 1864, to support the development of commerce and industry in France. The bank's first chairman was the prominent industrialist Eugène Schneider (1805–1875) followed by Edward Blount, a Scotsman.