Baudoin Prot

From 2003 to 2014, Baudouin Prot was CEO and chairman of BNP Paribas. During his tenure, he profoundly transformed the historically French-centric bank into a European bank ranked among the world's top 500. This was achieved mainly through two transformational acquisitions: BNL in Italy and Fortis in Belgium and Luxembourg, and by steering Parisbank through the financial crisis. He also has extensive experience in crisis management. Mr Prot steered the bank through all the key episodes of the financial crisis. Prot has a wealth of experience and track record in strategic development and transformational acquisitions. When BNP Paribas, a French bank, ran into the financial crisis in 2007, its exposure to the subprime mortgage market in the United States was unaffected, suggesting a strong risk culture. He must manage relationships and communications with the bank's different stakeholders: customers, employees, investors, and regulators around the world. He was the only bank chief executive in Europe to launch a major acquisition during the financial crisis. At BNP Paribas, Prot has been very active in promoting state-of-the-art technology. From 1997 to 2000, they were the first banks in Europe to invest heavily in technology, call centres, training and deployment to create a fully real-time, interconnected multi-channel platform to serve their clients. To this day, BNP Paribas is still regarded as an industry reference in Europe and beyond. Named the Best European Banking CEO by Institutional Investor Magazine in 2010, Mr. Prot also sits on the boards of the Institute of International Finance in Washington, the International Business Leaders Advisory Council in Shanghai and the Financial Services Authority of Singapore. His other awards include Financier of the Year in 2006 after the successful integration of BNL, and Financier of the Year in 2009 for successfully steering BNP Paribas through the financial crisis.