Lewis Burnett Joins BNP Paribas as Co-Head of Corporate Broking, Alongside Andrew Forrester
London, UK – 5 December 2018 – BNP Paribas announced that Lewis Burnett joined the bank today as co-head of Corporate Broking, based in London. Lewis reports to Andreas Bernstorff, EMEA head of Equity Capital Markets, and will be overseen by Matthew Ponsonby, UK head of Global Banking.
The move reunites Lewis with Andrew Forrester, who joined the bank as co-head of Corporate Broking in August. As they build out the Corporate Broking team, Lewis and Andrew will position BNP Paribas as a trusted adviser to the senior management teams of UK FTSE 100 and 250 companies, and increase BNP Paribas’ market share in UK equity-related transactions. Corporate Broking will form a central pillar in BNP Paribas’ UK growth plan, drawing on the research and distribution strength of Exane BNP Paribas, the balance sheet strength of one of Europe’s leading banks, and its market-leading product set.
Lewis was latterly head of UK Advisory and Corporate Broking at Credit Suisse where he worked since 2005, advising on numerous high profile capital raisings and M&A transactions. Prior to that, Lewis was a City lawyer. Andrew was latterly a managing director in Credit Suisse’s UK Advisory and Corporate Broking department. Previously, he was head of UK ECM and Corporate Broking at Nomura, and held senior Corporate Broking positions at Citigroup for more than a decade.
Andreas Bernstorff, EMEA head of Equity Capital Markets, BNP Paribas, said: “We are pleased to now have both Lewis and Andrew on-board. They bring outstanding knowledge of ‘UK PLC’ and almost 40 years’ collective experience in providing strategic equity advice to UK firms. They will play a key part in increasing the impact BNP Paribas makes in UK equity primary markets, that is commensurate with the leading business we have built in equity research and distribution.”
Exane BNP Paribas, which is responsible for research and distribution within BNP Paribas’ ECM business, operates one of the largest distribution platforms dedicated to European equities worldwide. It was ranked #1 pan-European equities house by the Extel Survey of investors in 2018 and 2017, with 17 top rated analysts in the 30 equity sectors. On the debt side, BNP Paribas was #1 in Euro-denominated DCM and a top three bookrunner in both high-yield and leveraged loans in Europe, in the first nine months of 2018 according to Dealogic.
Matthew Ponsonby, UK head of Global Banking, BNP Paribas, said: “Based on our traditional strengths in financing and a uniquely diversified range of services in the UK, we are already a core relationship bank to many FTSE 100 companies. Together with our UK Client Coverage, Financial Sponsors and Financial Institutions Coverage teams, Corporate Broking builds on these areas of strength and is therefore a logical extension of the dialogue we are already having with clients.”
As part of its 2020 group business development plan, BNP Paribas is looking to grow its business in the UK and other selected European countries, with the aim of becoming the bank of reference for corporates in Europe. Corporate Broking is a central part of that strategy and caps a compelling proposition based on its diversified UK banking platform, leading debt financing capabilities and the #1 ranked equities distribution and research platform in Europe.
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About BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas (http://www.bnpparibas.com/) is a leading bank in Europe with an international reach. It has a presence in 73 countries, with more than 196,000 employees, including around 149,000 in Europe. The Group has key positions in its three main activities: Domestic Markets, International Financial Services (whose retail-banking networks and financial services are covered by Retail Banking & Services) and Corporate & Institutional Banking, which serves two client franchises: corporate clients and institutional investors.
BNP Paribas employs more than 9,000 people across 10 business lines in the UK. These are Corporate & Institutional Banking, Exane BNP Paribas, Leasing Solutions, Arval, Real Estate (including Strutt & Parker acquired in September 2017), Asset Management, Cardif Pinnacle, Commercial Finance, Personal Finance and Vauxhall Finance. Around half of these employees are in Corporate & Institutional Banking based in London, while the others are based in various offices across the country, including Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester.