One of France's biggest banks, BNP Paribas, actually got its name from the phrase "Paris et Pays-Bas", meaning Paris and The Netherlands. The bank traces its roots to the Banque de Paris et Pays-Bas, which was founded in 1872. BNP Paribas was founded via a series of mergers beginning in 1966, when Comptoir National d'Escompte de Paris (CNEP) and Banque Nationale pour le Commerce et l'Industrie (BNCI) joined to form Banque National de Paris (BNP). The Paribas Group formed in May 1998 following a long stretch of French banking nationalisation and reorganisation. The group included the Banque Paribas, Compagnie Financiaire de Paribas and Compagnie Bancaire. In 1999, with the approval of the French financial markets authorities, BNP took control of the Paribas Group. The final product was one of the largest financial institutions in Europe.

As of 2008, BNP Paribas is the largest European bank by total assets, the second-largest by market capitalisation and the 16th-largest company in the world. With a foothold in 88 countries, the bank has a strong global reach. In its home market, BNP Paribas has 2,200 branches and manages 54 billion euros of the estimated total 500 billion euros of assets in the French market.

In 2007, according to the Thomson Reuters Financial League Tables for global M&A, BNP Paribas ranked 12th worldwide, with 384.6 billion dollars worth of announced deals. As for European rankings, BNP came tenth, with 376.44 billion dollars worth of announced deals. The French banking giant's business is divided into three sectors: corporate and investment banking, asset management and services and retail banking.

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