NEW YORK (TheStreet) — BNP Paribas (BNP) may be forced to sell Bank of the West, California’s fifth largest bank, as the European debt crisis continues to create problems for the French banking giant.
Moody’s Investors Service put BNP, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale on review for downgrade this week citing their large exposure to Greek debt as the country struggles to avoid defaulting on its debt.
Greek woes has worsened this week as Standard & Poor’s cut the country’s debt rating to triple-C–its worst rating for any country in the world.
BNP spokeswoman Isabelle Wolff wrote via email that the bank has no comment regarding Bank of the West, though she argues the bank’s exposure to Greece is “negligible,” at EUR5 billion in government bonds and exposure to Greek banks is also “negligible.” In all, exposure to the country represents just 0.6% of BNP Paribas’ total commitments, according to Wolff.’
One former investment banker who spent some 20 years advising on U.S. bank M&A argues U.S. Bancorp(USB_) would be a logical buyer for Bank of the West, which has some $58 billion in assets . A U.S. Bancorp spokesman declined to comment.
via Greek Crisis May Put California Bank in Play – TheStreet.
