BNP Paribas to Boost Capital Ratio Through U.S. Asset Cuts
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BNP Paribas SA, France’s largest bank, aims to boost its common equity tier 1 capital ratio to 9 percent by the start of 2013 as it scales back U.S. dollar corporate- and investment-banking business.
BNP Paribas is taking steps to cut risk-weighted assets by about 70 billion euros ($96 billion) to increase the capital ratio by 1 percentage point under Basel III rules, the Paris-based company said in a presentation on its website today. That will free up about 6 billion euros of capital according to Bloomberg calculations and confirmed by the bank. As part of the effort, the lender is is cutting its corporate- and investment-banking balance sheet by $82 billion.