The group - part of France's BNP Paribas - said its AuM at the private banking arm rose in 2020 from a year earlier.

BancWest, the US business of France-based BNP Paribas, which provides wealth management among its services, logged gross operating income of €737 million ($882.7 million) for 2020, rising by 13.5 per cent from a year ago.

At $16.8 billion dollars as at December 31, 2020, private banking assets under management rose by 7.0 per cent compared with the end of 2019, showing a strong increase in responsible savings (assets under management have doubled since December 31, 2019). 

The number of active digital clients increased by 7 per cent compared with December 31, 2019.

Revenues, at €2.460 billion, rose by 5.2 per cent compared with 2019, due to increased volumes and a positive non-recurring item in the second half of 2020, which was partly offset by the effect of the low-interest-rate environment and lower fees due to the health crisis.

Across the whole of BNP Paribas, the bank took a hit to its net income, falling by 13.5 per cent in 2020 to €7.067 billion. The cost of risk, at €5.72 billion, rose by €2.514 billion from a year ago. Banks have had to increase provisioning for bad loans in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As at December 31, 2020, the common equity Tier 1 ratio - a global measure of a bank’s capital strength - stood at 12.8 per cent, up by 70 basis points compared with a year before.