BNP Paribas heavily exposed to Greek loans

BNP Paribas today admitted it has a 5 billion (£4.24 billion) exposure to Greek sovereign debt, making it the most exposed of all the banks in France, the country which has lent most to the stricken nation.

The bank's chief executive Baudouin Prot said it also had 3 billion of loans outstanding to businesses in Greece, although he pointed out these were mainly with multinational companies with risks that had "minimal correlation" to the wider Greek economy.

Société Générale yesterday put its sovereign Greek debt exposure at 3 billion while Crédit Agricole's stands at 850 million.

BNP also today reported first-quarter net profit of 2.3 billion — a 47% rise on the weak profits made in the same quarter last year.