BNP Paribas, France’s biggest bank, said on Thursday there were too many European banks for the region to compete with rivals in the US and Asia, calling for the creation of more cross-border banking giants.
Speaking to CNBC at the conference Bank of America Finance At the CEO conference, BNP Paribas CFO Lars Machenil expressed his support for further integration in the European banking sector.
His comments come as Italy’s UniCredit steps up its apparent bid to take over Germany Commerzbankwhile Spain’s BBVA continues to “closely monitor” its domestic rival, Banco Sabadell.
“If I asked you how many banks there are in Europe, your correct answer would be many,” Machenil said.
“If we’re fragmented like that, it’s not going to be the same competition that you’re going to see in other areas. So… you should basically go ahead and get that integration going,” he added.
BNP Paribas’ Machenil said that while domestic consolidation would help stabilise uncertainty in the European banking environment, cross-border consolidation was “still a bit further away”, citing different systems and services.
Asked whether this meant he thought cross-border bank mergers in Europe seemed an illusory reality, Machenil replied: “They are two different things.”
With information from CNBC