After almost two decades’ experience in a pure advisory bank, Sophie Javary is now looking to strengthen the corporate finance business of BNP Paribas, one of Europe’s largest lenders.

The corporate and investment banking arm of France’s Crédit Agricole has been through several rounds of strategic repositioning and its chief executive says its final shape is now in sight.

France's Société Générale has responded to the long-awaited finalisation of European capital regulations with a new contingent convertible structure that could set a marker for the market.

European securities will soon be settled on a central IT platform – Target2 Securities (T2S) – as part of the European Central Bank's initiative to harmonise post-trade standards. With the first wave of implementation scheduled for 2015, Duygu Tavan investigates how the T2S project is progressing and its consequences for the securities industry.

BNP Paribas CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé tells The Banker why the bank's diversification strategy – along product lines, sectors and geography – is at the heart of its downturn-defying performance of recent years.

Acting quickly was vital for Deutsche Bank to enable its private equity client to lower its holdings in a leading electrical supplier without unleashing sustained pressure on the share price.

The eurozone is now on the mend, according to BNP Paribas’ Frederic Janbon, but the new regulatory landscape will continue to change the debt business, bringing opportunities as well as challenges.

When Natixis sought to unwind its exposure to structured credit correlation and counterparty risks, it needed an independent adviser that could combine complex valuation skills with a merger and acquisition process. Moelis fitted the bill.

Christophe Mianné, the new deputy of Société Générale’s corporate and investment banking operation, is targeting a change in mindset as much as a change in structure.