Sources familiar with the development were quoted by the Financial Times as saying that the merger of both units will enable the bank to boost capital and funding efficiency in the country.
The US Federal Reserve bank regulation governor Daniel Tarullo was quoted by the news agency as saying that the overseas banks should form an intermediary holding company to deal with their US business risks.
The French lender’s management expects that merger of both operations would be better for the business on the contrary.
Due to a cap on interbank lending, the retail banking operation would be a more practical source of funding for the corporate and investment operation, under a consolidation plan.
BNP chief executive Jean-Laurent Bonnafé had underlined that the bank will expand its US corporate and investment banking operations, as part of its global expansion plan.
BancWest registered 4% increase in deposits to $57.8bn, while lending touched $54.1bn, up by 4%, during the first quarter of 2013.
