Fixed Income Debt Capital Markets chez BNP Paribas

Fixed Income Debt Capital Markets at BNP Paribas

My name is Katie Wilson and I joined BNP Paribas 9 months ago so that would be in September 2009. I studied Spanish history and literature at Bristol University for four years and in my penultimate summer I did an internship here so that was summer 2008.

Debt Capital Markets is client coverage in the primary sector, so you are monitoring the markets and advising clients when and how to issue bonds and then executing those transactions. Within Debt Capital Markets, there are two areas and you either cover corporates or financials. I personally cover financials which means banks or insurance companies. I’m Nordics and UK, which means Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland and also UK and Ireland. Client entertainment is a very important part of our business. I’ve been to Copenhagen twice. In Copenhagen we’ve got a few very important clients and often we travel just to catch up.

“ - This is my desk and I have two screens. A lot of people have two, some have three, traders have eight. It’s a pretty interesting environment to work in. It’s never quiet, it’s always interesting, there’s always people shouting and getting over-excited about trades and things, so it’s buzzing, it’s an interesting place to be. An office which lacks atmosphere would bore me.”

As a graduate at BNP Paribas my contact with our client base is excellent and I feel I’m much more exposed to clients in general. I’ve been to meetings, I’ve been travelling to meet clients abroad and considering I’ve only been here for nine months I think that’s very good. The culture here is hardworking, yet you’re treated like a person instead of a number. And you’re exposed very early on to managers, to clients if that’s relevant to your business area and people are very willing to help and to hear you and to answer questions. And I think BNP Paribas is not a typical bank in that sense and you shouldn’t be afraid of working here and I would be afraid of working at some of our competitors.

When I walk in, in the morning, I feel excited and proud to be a part of such a growing and exciting global business. And I think that’s really important, you need to feel a drive and that’s a huge drive that gets one up in the morning.