BNP Paribas is a French international banking group, founded in 2000 from the merger between Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP, "National Bank of Paris") and Paribas, formerly known as the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas. The full name of the group's parent entity is BNP Paribas S.A.

With 190,000 employees as of February 2021, the bank is organized into three major business areas: Commercial, Personal Banking & Services (CPBS), Investment & Protection Services (IPS) and Corporate & Institutional Banking (CIB).

The group is listed on the first market of Euronext Paris and a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index,[3] while it also included in the French CAC 40 index.

BNP Paribas is the largest banking group in Europe, after HSBC, and ninth largest banking group in the world, essentially a bulge bracket. It became one of the five largest banks in the world following the 2008 financial crisis.[4] Despite some legal difficulties in 2014, including being fined the largest ever sum as reparation for violating U.S. sanctions,[5] it remains one of the ten largest banks worldwide.[6] It is considered a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board.