Europe has many assets to leverage
"The world continued to be put to the test in 2025. Conflicts that arise or persist serve, first and foremost, as a stark reminder of their human cost, and we must hope they will be resolved swiftly and in the long term. On top of these conflicts, growing geopolitical tensions are fuelling uncertainty and undermining the stability of the global economy, in turn leading to an increasingly unstable and challenging environment for all players.
In this context, the European economy has nevertheless shown remarkable resilience, buoyed by the strength and adaptability of its economic fabric. However, this resilience cannot conceal the scale of the transformations taking place: the realignment of global power dynamics, shifts in international trade, the energy and climate emergency, the need for increased investment in defence and technological breakthroughs. These are all signals that necessitate a collective awakening: Europe can no longer move forward playing to yesterday’s rules while facing today’s challenges.
The convergence of these challenges can and must therefore pave the way for a stronger Europe, one that upholds its values and harnesses the full potential of its researchers, entrepreneurs and talents. Because Europe has considerable assets, of which it has yet to fully take advantage. These include abundant savings, which could be channelled into the European economy. The Savings and Investments Union, which has been under discussion for quite some time now, would allow us to mobilise these savings towards financing European companies, and in turn foster innovation, spur economic development and, ultimately, boost employment. It is up to us to put it into action.
With this in mind, strong European banks are essential to meeting these challenges. For our part, we continue to leverage our local presence, the power of our platforms, the diversity of our expertise and the strength of our model to support our clients through all phases of the economic cycle.
Excellent operating performance for our Group
In 2025, BNP Paribas entered a new phase of development. Our three operating divisions delivered excellent results, contributing to the Group’s growth momentum and to the achievement of our objectives.
The Corporate & Institutional Banking (CIB) industry platform, which we have positioned as one of Europe’s top three players over the past ten years, continues to gain market share among corporate and institutional clients while rigorously managing its risks and resources. It is a powerful asset for our clients and for Europe as a whole in an economy that is set to increasingly rely on market financing.
The fourth quarter was pivotal for our Commercial, Personal Banking & Services (CPBS) division. Its various business lines benefitted from strong commercial momentum, strategic plans already in motion, and favourable tailwinds, such as a supportive interest rate environment for our commercial and personal banking entities in the eurozone and BNP Paribas Personal Finance.
The Investment & Protection Services (IPS) division, meanwhile, delivered impressive results, driven by organic growth across its business lines and the acquisition of AXA Investment Managers. This acquisition adds a new dimension to our asset management activities, creating strong momentum at the heart of IPS, which will benefit the Group as a whole.
We are entering a new phase of development, with growth drivers already in place and favourable long-term tailwinds, which will allow us to continue creating value for all our stakeholders.
Drivers in place for our future growth
The acquisition of AXA Investment Managers, completed at the end of 2025, enabled us to bring together the Group’s asset management activities within a unified structure, BNP Paribas Asset Management. Operating on a large scale, it now provides a wide range of investment products and solutions covering all asset classes, client segments and regions. This new platform, which ranks among the top three asset managers in Europe, addresses a key challenge for the continent: harnessing long-term savings – which are particularly abundant in Europe – to help tackle the challenges of the ecological transition, technological innovation and defence, and in turn contribute to Europe’s sovereignty.
In 2025, we carried out other structuring initiatives that lay the foundations for our future development. Several strategic acquisitions further strengthened our portfolio, in high-value-added business lines such as private banking, with HSBC’s activities in Germany, and leasing, with the recent proposed acquisition of Athlon.
Moreover, most of our business lines have either rolled out their strategic plans or are in the process of doing so, with a view to continue adapting their models to our clients’ evolving needs, whilst anticipating new trends in banking. These plans are designed to consolidate our leading positions, notably as a corporate and private bank.
We have also adapted our governance to reinforce our integrated model and cross-functional collaboration among our business lines. This is reflected in the creation of a unit bringing together our commercial and personal banking entities in the eurozone to promote the pooling of investments and technological assets, while developing cross-selling opportunities with our CIB and IPS divisions. For its part, our CIB division has adapted its organisation to accelerate the deployment of the “Originate & Distribute” approach, which connects investment opportunities for institutional investors with the financing needs of corporate clients. The new platform, BNP Paribas Asset Management, will also fully participate in this undertaking.
Technological innovation at the heart of our value creation
We continued to invest in technology with a view to developing new services and improving the quality of our processes, while remaining true to our core values of investing steadily and methodically. The deployment of artificial intelligence is gathering pace at all levels of the Group and yielding tangible results: for example, halving the time required to process mortgage applications at Commercial & Personal Banking in France, or analysing over 150,000 transactions per year as part of CIB’s financial security systems.
We are also involved in several consortia dedicated to the development of stablecoins. We are notably participating in two initiatives: one that is international, focusing on major currencies, including the US dollar; and the other, led by European banks, involving the launch of a euro-backed stablecoin, thereby contributing to Europe’s strategic autonomy in the field of payments. This is a goal to which we also contribute by actively backing the Wero project, as we have done since its creation. These research and development efforts are essential in a fast-changing payments landscape, enabling us to keep pace with the evolving uses and needs of our clients.
Turning to the transition, we have stayed on course and are continuing to implement our roadmap by supporting our clients as they transform. We have largely exceeded our targets by mobilising over €250 billion since 2022 for our clients’ low-carbon transition, and have strengthened our position as a leader in sustainable finance, with US$69 billion in sustainable bonds and loans in 2025, ranking the Group as the world leader for the third consecutive year. These financings help bring concrete projects to fruition, whether they involve developing new nuclear or renewable energy capacities, integrating renewable energy into the power grid, or producing the minerals essential to the transition. They also support the growth of more sustainable mobility and promote energy-efficient home renovations among our clients.
All of these initiatives, whether carried out within the business lines or across the Group, have enabled us to set ambitious performance and return targets, shaping our growth trajectory through to 2028. We are entering a new phase of development, with growth drivers already in place and favourable long-term tailwinds, which will allow us to continue creating value for all our stakeholders.
BNP Paribas boasts all the necessary expertise, as well as leading industrial and technological platforms, to provide long-term support for the European economy. At a time when Europe needs to make full use of its assets – talents, companies, capacity for innovation, the depth of its single market and abundant savings – we intend to play an active role in this collective undertaking."
Written on 7 April 2026.
Our 2028 trajectory in 4 figures
ROTE* through to 2028
Cost/income ratio through to 2028
Net income Group share’s compounded annual growth rate for the 2025-2028 period
Post FRTB** CET1 ratio*** in 2027 and 2028
* Return On Tangible Equity.
** The Fundamental Review of the Trading Book is a set of proposed banking regulations drawn up by the Basel Committee.
*** Common Equity Tier One (CET1), fully loaded Basel 3. Solvency ratio.