BNP Paribas has restructured the governance of its Corporate and Institutional Banking division by creating two clearly defined senior leadership roles, effective 7 July 2025. Yann Gérardin has been appointed CIB Executive Chairman, while Olivier Osty has taken on the position of CEO of Corporate and Institutional Banking. The change formally separates strategic oversight from day-to-day operational management at the very top of the French bank's largest and most consequential revenue-generating division.
BNP Paribas said the governance change forms part of the group's preparation for its next strategic plan. By designing a dual-leadership structure for CIB, the bank is building an architecture intended to support both the long-term direction of the wholesale franchise and the execution demands of running a globally competitive institutional bank. The decision reflects the weight that CIB carries within the broader BNP Paribas group and the importance the board attaches to getting the leadership configuration right as the bank looks ahead to its next planning horizon.
GÉRARDIN MOVES INTO THE CHAIRMAN SEAT
Yann Gérardin brings extensive experience within BNP Paribas to the newly defined Executive Chairman role. As CIB Executive Chairman, he will be expected to provide strategic stewardship, represent the division at the highest levels of client and regulatory engagement, and contribute to the group's planning process as BNP Paribas prepares its next multi-year strategy. The chairmanship sits above the operational responsibilities now carried by Osty, creating a formal division of accountability within the division's leadership.
The governance model that Gérardin's appointment reflects is well established in European corporate practice, where separating the supervisory and executive functions at senior levels is seen as a mechanism for stronger accountability and clearer decision-making. For BNP Paribas, applying this model to CIB is consistent with the group's approach to governance across its major business lines and signals an intention to apply the same rigour to the wholesale bank that the broader group employs in its overall corporate structure.
Gérardin's transition to the chairmanship also creates space for a clearly defined executive leadership line under Osty, eliminating any ambiguity about who carries operational accountability for the division's day-to-day performance and allowing the CEO role to function with unambiguous authority over business management.
OSTY LEADS GLOBAL CIB OPERATIONS
Olivier Osty, as CEO of Corporate and Institutional Banking, assumes responsibility for the global day-to-day operations of a division that spans Global Markets, Securities Services, and Corporate Banking. CIB is BNP Paribas's most significant contributor to group revenues and competes directly with the leading American and European investment banks across Europe, the Americas, and Asia Pacific for advisory mandates, financing business, and institutional client relationships of all kinds.
The announcement was published on the BNP Paribas group website, which framed the governance change explicitly as forward-looking preparation for the next strategic plan. Investors and clients will be watching closely to understand how the Gérardin-Osty partnership develops in practice and what strategic priorities emerge as the bank moves through its planning process. The structural clarity brought by the new governance model is intended to position CIB for the next phase of competition in the global wholesale banking market.