BNP Paribas vs Morgan Stanley: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley side by side

1. 1848BNP Paribas

   Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris founded

   Created by decree in March 1848 to restart commercial credit after the February Revolution, with capital from private subscribers, the City of Paris and the State. It is the oldest root of the BNP side of the group.

2. 1860BNP Paribas

   First overseas branches in Shanghai and Calcutta

   The Comptoir opened branches in Shanghai and Calcutta, becoming the first French bank to build a branch network abroad from scratch, later adding Hong Kong, London, San Francisco and Sydney.

3. 1872BNP Paribas

   Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas formed

   The Banque de Paris, founded in 1869, merged on 27 January 1872 with Louis-Raphaël Bischoffsheim's Amsterdam-based Nederlandsche Credit- en Deposito Bank to create the investment bank later known as Paribas.

4. 1889BNP Paribas

   Comptoir rescued after the copper crash

   Losses on industrialist Eugène Secrétan's attempt to corner the copper market forced the Comptoir d'escompte de Paris into liquidation, backed by a 100-million-franc Banque de France advance. It was refounded in June 1889 as a deposit bank.

5. 1935Morgan Stanley

   Morgan Stanley Founded

   Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley officially launch the top investment bank following the historic Glass-Steagall split.

6. 1966BNP Paribas

   Banque Nationale de Paris created

   Finance minister Michel Debré merged the state-owned CNEP and Banque nationale pour le commerce et l'industrie (BNCI) to form Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP).

7. 1982BNP Paribas

   Paribas nationalised

   The Mauroy government nationalised Paribas, which adopted its telegraph address, Paribas, as its brand that year.

8. 1987BNP Paribas

   Paribas privatised

   The Chirac government returned Paribas to private ownership in January 1987.

9. 1993BNP Paribas

   BNP privatised

   BNP was privatised in October 1993 under chairman Michel Pébereau.

10. 1996Morgan Stanley

    Acquired Van Kampen American Capital

    Morgan Stanley acquired Van Kampen American Capital in 1996.

11. 1997Morgan Stanley

    Merged with Dean Witter Discover & Co

    Morgan Stanley merged with Dean Witter Discover & Co in February 1997.

12. 1999BNP Paribas

    Three-way takeover battle

    Société Générale bid for Paribas, and BNP answered with offers for both banks. BNP won control of Paribas but failed to take Société Générale.

13. 2000BNP Paribas

    BNP Paribas created

    The merger of BNP and Paribas was completed in May 2000, combining BNP's retail network with Paribas's investment banking.

14. 2001BNP Paribas

    Full ownership of BancWest

    BNP Paribas agreed to buy the 55% of BancWest, parent of Bank of the West and First Hawaiian Bank, that it did not already own for about $2.45 billion. The Federal Reserve approved the deal on 4 December 2001.

15. 2006BNP Paribas

    BNL acquired in Italy

    BNP Paribas bought Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, making Italy its second domestic retail market.

16. 2008Morgan Stanley

    Bank Holding Company Conversion

    Facing total catastrophic collapse, the firm converts into a traditional bank holding company to survive the global financial crisis.

17. 2009BNP Paribas

    Fortis Bank acquired in Belgium

    In May 2009 BNP Paribas took control of Fortis Bank, now BNP Paribas Fortis, paying with new shares issued to the Belgian state and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It also bought 25% of AG Insurance for ~$1.55 billion (€1.375 billion).

18. 2009Morgan Stanley

    The Smith Barney Acquisition

    then-CEO James Gorman masterminds the acquisition of Smith Barney, instantly creating a dominant retail wealth management leader.

19. 2014BNP Paribas

    US sanctions guilty plea

    BNP Paribas pleaded guilty in New York and agreed to pay about $8.9 billion for processing dollar transactions for Sudan, Iran and Cuba in breach of US sanctions.

20. 2018Morgan Stanley

    Acquired Mesa West

    Morgan Stanley acquired Mesa West in March 2018.

21. 2020Morgan Stanley

    E*TRADE Acquisition

    Morgan Stanley dominates the self-directed brokerage market by acquiring E*TRADE for $13 billion.

22. 2021Morgan Stanley

    Acquired Eaton Vance

    Morgan Stanley acquired Eaton Vance for $7 billion. Morgan Stanley acquired Eaton Vance for about $7B, completed in March 2021, adding Parametric, Calvert, and Atlanta Capital.

23. 2023BNP Paribas

    Bank of the West sold to BMO

    BNP Paribas completed the $16.3 billion cash sale of Bank of the West to BMO Financial Group on 1 February 2023, leaving US retail banking.

24. 2024Morgan Stanley

    Ted Pick Appointed CEO

    Following a competitive internal succession, Ted Pick takes the helm to heavily drive the integration strategy.

25. 2025BNP Paribas

    AXA Investment Managers acquired

    BNP Paribas Cardif completed the ~$5.76 billion (€5.1 billion) purchase of AXA IM on 1 July 2025 and signed a long-term partnership to manage a large part of AXA's assets.

26. 2025BNP Paribas

    Sudan jury verdict

    A Manhattan federal jury found BNP Paribas liable to three Sudanese refugees in October 2025 and awarded $20.75 million. The bank is appealing.

27. 2026BNP Paribas

    Ageas partnership reset

    On 28 April 2026 BNP Paribas Fortis sold its 25% of AG Insurance to Ageas for ~$2.15 billion (€1.9 billion) and renewed their Belgian bancassurance partnership, while Cardif raised its Ageas stake to 22.5%.

28. 2026BNP Paribas

    Arval completes Athlon purchase

    Arval completed its purchase of Athlon from Mercedes-Benz Group on 31 July 2026, reaching a combined fleet of 2.3 million vehicles.

Acquisitions

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