The European lender with the most ambitious plans to create a U.S.-style full-service global investment bank these days is France’s BNP Paribas . Fourth-quarter results Tuesday showed what a challenge that can be.
Continental Europe’s largest bank by market value reported decent overall numbers, flattered by lower loan losses. Revenue and profit grew last quarter, creating a comfortable capital buffer of 12.9% and delivering a return on tangible equity of 10%. But BNP’s global-markets division trailed the performance of U.S. rivals on both the top and bottom lines because of normalizing markets.
