IFR recognises 200 years of BNP Paribas’ banking expertise

BNP Paribas has been awarded Bank of the Year and Bank for Sustainability, alongside several other accolades in IFRs 2022 awards.

This year’s IFR awards saw BNP Paribas collect the prestigious recognitions of ‘Bank of the Year’ and ‘Bank for Sustainability’. The awards demonstrate BNP Paribas’ long-standing expertise building on almost 200 years of banking history across the Group. The IFR editors focused on the bank’s commitment to clients particularly throughout the pandemic and recent geopolitical events, as well as on the strength of its integrated business model, consistent approach to sustainability and cross-team collaboration on ESG innovations.

In reference to the unrelenting focus of BNP Paribas to deliver on its strategy, IFR editors noted, “It was built on years of hard work and good judgement”. In reflecting on the bank’s expertise and heritage, IFR commented, “2022 was the 200th anniversary of the oldest of the institutions that came to make up BNP Paribas. In those two centuries the bank has lived through innumerable crises and turned them into opportunities”.

The award Bank for Sustainability is testament to BNP Paribas’ decade long commitment to ESG finance and sustainable banking. Today BNP Paribas’ outstanding loans for low-carbon energy production are close to 20% higher than those for fossil fuel production. IFR explained “for a coherent and consistent top-down approach to ESG that has taken a decade to refine, setting targets that exceed industry standards and a pioneering approach to biodiversity and social issues, BNP Paribas is IFR’s Bank for Sustainability.”