BNP Paribas plans to double its staff in China's mainland by 2010 after its local incorporation, senior bankers said yesterday in Shanghai.

The French bank plans to have 650 staff in two years as business increases, Francois Cristofari, chief executive officer of BNP Paribas (China) Ltd, said yesterday in Shanghai.

The biggest bank in France will focus on corporate and investment banking and asset-management services, including private banking, said Mignonne Cheng, head of North Asia and chief executive of BNP Paribas Hong Kong.

Cheng is responsible for the bank's operation on the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. She is also chairman and the legal representative of BNP Paribas (China).

BNP Paribas was given approval by the China Banking Regulatory Commission in April to convert its existing branches in Beijing, Tianjin and Guangzhou into branches under BNP Paribas (China), which is now a locally incorporated entity headquartered in Shanghai.

The registered capital of the local incorporation sits at 4 billion yuan (US$582.68 million), far above the regulatory minimum requirement of 1 billion yuan.

BNP Paribas is poised to expand into more cities for its private banking business after the local incorporation, which enables it to offer yuan-based services, said Cheng. The bank has a Shanghai office for private banking.

Cristofari expects the bank's revenue on the mainland to triple between 2006 and 2010, and said the bank is "ahead of schedule" to achieve that aim.

The bank has a license to provide yuan-based services for its Shanghai and Beijing branch and is awaiting a license for the Tianjin and Guangzhou branches.

BNP Paribas is also seeking opportunities in China's insurance market.

The bank has signed a memorandum of understanding with Shanghai Pudong Development Bank about possibly setting up a joint-venture insurer.

The bank is also seeking to partner with a local securities house, Cheng said, declining to give more details.

(Shanghai Daily June 27, 2008)