The CEO of BNP Paribas' investment bank in the US is stepping back and one of the firm's top London bankers is replacing him

• Bob Hawley, head of BNP Paribas' investment banking operations in the US, is stepping back and taking on a vice chairman role with the firm.
• Hawley, who also ran global markets in the Americas, had been with the firm since 1997 and was promoted to CEO of Corporate and Institutional Banking in the Americas in mid-2018, amid an organizational shakeup.
• Jose Placido, the global head of financial institution coverage based in London, has been tapped to replace him.
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The head of BNP Paribas' investment banking operations in the US is stepping down, just a year and a half after taking the role amid an organizational shakeup, according to people familiar with the matter.

Bob Hawley, a long-time fixed-income markets exec and CEO of Corporate and Institutional Banking in the Americas since mid-2018, will remain with the firm but is stepping back into a vice chairman role with the investment bank, the people said. Jose Placido, the global head of financial institution coverage based in London, has been tapped to replace him.

A BNP spokesman declined to comment.

Hawley joined BNP in 1997 from Credit Suisse First Boston, holding several regional fixed-income executive roles in the early 2000s before earning a promotion in 2014 to head of global markets and deputy head of CIB in the Americas, according to a company bio.

He moved up from deputy CEO to the top job in the firm's US investment banking operation four years later amid a broader shakeup, in which Jean-Yves Fillion vacated the bank's top regional investment-banking job but stayed on as chairman as well as CEO of BNP Paribas USA.

Placido, who joined the firm in 2014 from RBC, is set to inherit the job from Hawley, the people said. His shoes will be filled by Sandrine Ferdane, CEO of the firm's operation in Brazil, sources said.

The power transition is expected to happen over the course of the first six months of the year.

The French investment bank's US business is primarily focused on global markets, providing sales and trading and securities services to clients, though it has also had ambitions to grow its investment-banking advisory business in the region.

The firm has struggled to gain a competitive foothold in the US market, ranking 12th in investment banking revenues in the Americas region in 2018 among the top global firms, according to league tables from industry data and consulting firm Coalition.

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