BNP Paribas’ Nandita Bakhshi and Florence Pourchet Named to American Banker’s Most Powerful Women Lists for 2022

Nandita Bakhshi Continues as a Mainstay within the Top Five ‘Most Powerful Women in Banking’ List

Florence Pourchet Debuts at the Top of the ‘Most Powerful Women to Watch’ List

BNP Paribas, Europe’s premier global bank, is pleased to announce Nandita Bakhshi, Co-CEO of BNP Paribas USA and President and Chief Executive Officer at Bank of the West, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, has been named one of the ‘Most Powerful Women in Banking’ by American Banker and Florence Pourchet, Head of CIB Latin America and CSR Americas, has been named one of the ‘Most Powerful Women to Watch’.

Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, The Most Powerful Women in Banking^TM program recognizes individuals and teams for demonstrating exceptional leadership skills, strong performance and a commitment to driving real outcomes for diversity, equity and inclusion in financial services.

Nandita is one of the most accomplished corporate executives at the intersection of finance and sustainability, and has a proven record of innovative thought leadership on Environmental, Social and Governance issues. While overseeing a team of nearly 10,000 employees, she has sharpened the bank’s focus on the customer experience, built a diverse and inclusive corporate culture and transformed the company into one of the leading sustainable banks in the U.S. In addition to her role as CEO, Nandita serves on the Board of Directors of Bank of the West and BNP Paribas USA, and is a member of Bank of the West’s and BNP Paribas’ Executive Management Committees. In 2021, she was appointed to represent the 12^th District on the Federal Reserve Council, and currently serves on several boards, including Grameen America, a leading provider of microfinance to women entrepreneurs, and the U.S. India Strategic Partnership Forum, which offers microloans, training and support to transform communities and fight poverty. Prior to joining Bank of the West, Nandita worked at TD Bank, where she held several leadership positions including Executive Vice President and Head of North American Direct Channels. Nandita grew up in India, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Calcutta, a Master of Arts degree from Jadavpur University, and currently lives with her husband in San Francisco.

As Head of CIB Latin America and CSR Americas for BNP Paribas, Florence Pourchet is BNP Paribas’ most senior woman business leader in the Americas. With a unique role that represents the converging priorities of business and ESG, Florence is tasked with locally steering the organization’s commitments to be the “bank for a changing world.” Honored as a “Standout” in ESG in last year’s The Most Powerful Women in Banking^TM program, Florence is the regional head of the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility efforts. Florence has held the position since its inception in 2011, marking over a decade as a pioneer in the growth of sustainable finance and the evolution of ESG as a business imperative. Her mandate starts with ensuring that an ESG framework and culture are embedded throughout the organization, from governance to training and engagement for all Americas employees. She also leads the effort to align the bank’s local client portfolio with BNP Paribas’ commitments to fight climate change as a member of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance. Under Florence’s guidance, BNP Paribas has been a leader in supporting Americas clients with innovative sustainable finance solutions. The bank’s clients range from companies with products and services that are a part of everyday life to national efforts to drive social and economic inclusion in Latin America. Florence is responsible for driving the unified Latin America business strategy while providing oversight and support to each country where the bank has a presence. A member of the CIB Americas Executive Committee, Florence holds the credit delegation for the Americas. Florence has held numerous senior leadership roles at BNP Paribas since joining the bank in 1990. Prior to joining BNP Paribas, Florence worked at Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank. She is a graduate of EM Lyon and holds an MBA from the University of Texas, Austin. Florence is married with three children.

“BNP Paribas and Bank of the West have been well represented on the American Banker lists for the past few years,” said Jean-Yves Fillion, CEO of BNP Paribas USA. “We congratulate Nandita and Florence on this well-earned recognition and thank them for being role models for the bank and our industry.”

“I am honored to be named on this year’s list with some of the most powerful and inspiring women in the financial industry,” said Bakhshi. “While it is extremely important to deliver results and focus on the bottom line, as women, we have a unique opportunity to bring the human element to how we lead. Today, leadership also requires active listening, transparent decision making, and taking a stand on social issues. This is what will help create a more sustainable and equitable future for us all.”

“It is an honor to be recognized as a standard-bearer for how a bank leader should commit to corporate citizenship programs that benefit local communities like veterans and women though microfinance, volunteerism and philanthropy,” said Florence Pourchet, Head of CIB Latin America and CSR Americas at BNP Paribas. “This is also a critical moment as the climate crisis exacerbates economic inequality, energy, and food security. This recognition will hopefully inspire our industry to watch how leadership in sustainable finance can build a better future, especially in important regions like Latin America.”

“The 20th anniversary of The Most Powerful Women in Banking represents an impressive milestone and gives us an opportunity to reflect on the past while looking toward the future,” says Gemma Postlethwaite, CEO of Arizent, publisher of American Banker. “When I think about what this year’s honorees have accomplished as business leaders, as mentors to women in their organizations, as inspiration to the next generation of bankers — I am confident we have the right leaders forging ahead and shaping the industry for the next 20 years and for future generations.”

American Banker recognizes leaders in financial services: The Most Powerful Women in Banking, The Most Powerful Women to Watch, The Most Powerful Women in Finance and Top Teams. The complete rankings, including profiles of all the honorees for 2022, can be found on American Banker’s website, as well as in the October issue of American Banker Magazine.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary, American Banker will host three events in New York City. On October 26, 2022, for the first time ever The Most Powerful Women in Banking conference will be an in-person event aboard the historic USS Intrepid aircraft carrier with inspiring discussions, executive networking and insightful panels on a range of leadership topics. Registration is open to the entire financial services community.

For more information, and to register for the conference, visit: conference.americanbanker.com/the-most-powerful-women-in-banking

About American Banker

American Banker empowers banking professionals with unique analysis and insight into the ideas transforming their business and industry. Across its journalism, events, research and benchmarking, it helps drive the way forward through the complexity of business innovation, retail and commercial disruption, technology, regulation and reform. With a banking community 850M strong, American Banker’s content connects leaders online, in person and in print every day.

About Bank of the West

At Bank of the West, we know money deposited in a bank has the power to finance positive change. So we are taking action to ensure our activities help protect the planet, improve people’s lives, and strengthen communities. We are redefining banking for a better future by focusing on areas where we believe we can have a real impact: supporting energy transition, helping enable women entrepreneurs, and financing innovative start-ups. As the bank for a changing world, Bank of the West is committed to sustainable finance along with our parent company BNP Paribas. Through Digital Channels and offices across the U.S., Bank of the West provides financial tools and resources to more than 2 million individuals, families and businesses.

Deposit and loan products offered by Bank of the West, Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender. © 2022 Bank of the West. Doing business in South Dakota as Bank of the West California.

About BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas is the European Union’s leading bank and key player in international banking. It operates in 65 countries and has more than 190,000 employees, including nearly 145,000 in Europe. The Group has key positions in its three main fields of activity: Retail Banking for the Group’s retail-banking networks and several specialized businesses including BNP Paribas Personal Finance and Arval; Investment & Protection Services for savings, investment and protection solutions; and Corporate & Institutional Banking, focused on corporate and institutional clients. Based on its strong diversified and integrated model, the Group helps all its clients (individuals, community associations, entrepreneurs, SMEs, corporates and institutional clients) to realize their projects through solutions spanning financing, investment, savings and protection insurance.

In Europe, BNP Paribas has four domestic markets: Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg. The Group is rolling out its integrated retail-banking model across several Mediterranean countries, Turkey, Eastern Europe as well as via a large network in the western part of the United States. As a key player in international banking, the Group has leading platforms and business lines in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas as well as a solid and fast-growing business in Asia-Pacific.

BNP Paribas has implemented a Corporate Social Responsibility approach in all its activities, enabling it to contribute to the construction of a sustainable future, while ensuring the Group's performance and stability.

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