BNP Paribas said in a March 19 media statement that it had ceased to consider a potential tie up with Société Générale.

“The conditions, which would have allowed it (BNP Paribas) to realise a shareholder value creating merger, are not met,” the statement, a copy of which was released through BNP Paribas’s Bulgaria office, said.

The bank said that in the current environment, BNP Paribas' priority was to recognise and play to its strengths: stringent risk management, solid financial structure, commercial efficiency, diversification of revenue sources.

BNP Paribas said that it was well positioned to continue its development by combining its expertise in retail banking, which made up more than 50 per cent of the group's revenues, corporate and investment banking (28 per cent) and asset management and services (18 per cent).

“In the current market conditions with many banks' activity constrained, BNP Paribas with its strong capital position is well placed to continue to support its customers and economic development,” the statement said.

The BBC reported that there had been prolonged speculation that BNP Paribas would bid for Société Générale after it suffered significant losses, blamed on a former futures trader, Jerome Kerviel.

Kerviel, who was alleged to have lost his employer five billion euro, was released from custody on March 18.

Wire agency Bloomberg said that had a merger gone ahead, it would have created Europe’s second-largest bank by market value.

BNP Paribas is the largest bank in the eurozone by total assets and second largest by market capitalisation, according to The Banker magazine. It was created in May 2000 by the merger of Banque Nationale de Paris and Paribas. In Bulgaria, BNP Paribas S.A. - Sofia Branch is a leading commercial and investment bank, serving large and medium-sized corporate clients, public and financial institutions, spanning the major sectors of the economy.

Société Générale is the third largest corporate and investment bank in the eurozone by net banking income.

BNP Paribas Bulgarian unit assets at end-December reached 550 million leva, ranking 18th in the country. Société Générale subsidiary Expresbank ranked ninth, with assets of 1.79 billion leva.