BNP Paribas Bank. The French bank BNP Paribas Singapore is one of a number of foreign banks licenced in Singapore as a Qualifying Full Bank, a status it acquired in October 1999 following the liberalization of the local banking sector. The banking group’s presence in Singapore began in 1968 when BNP (Banque Nationale de Paris) established a representative bank. BNP acquired Paribas in 1999 and the merged group has since become the biggest bank in the Eurozone by market capitalization, employing some 140,000 people in over 85 countries as of 2006. The BNP Paribas operation in Singapore is its regional hub for corporate, investment and private banking, and oversees a team of more than 1,100 professionals in the region. It is located at Collyer Quay.