Founded in 1848, BNP Paribas has grown into a leading bank in the Eurozone and a prominent international banking institution earning over €43bn in annual revenues. Georges Dirani is BNP Paribas’ current group general counsel, having originally joined the company at the beginning of his professional career in 1987. After noteworthy spells as director of legal affairs at Deutsche Bank in Paris, a partner at Linklaters and then a decade of service to Herbert Smith Freehills as managing partner,

Dirani returned to BNP Paribas in October 2010. In his role, he is credited for seamlessly overseeing the legal operations of a truly global bank, supporting BNP Paribas’ most critical projects including the launch of Hello Bank! in 2013. He is also credited for enhancing the Group’s compliance procedures and policies in the aftermath of a major settlement in 2015. More recent examples of projects he has overseen include reaching agreements for the acquisitions of Compte-Nickel, the core banking operations of Raiffeisen Bank Polska, Opel and Vauxhall financial operations and the remaining shares in ABN AMRO Bank (Luxembourg). He is also credited for conducting and leading on the review of BNP Paribas’ global panel of legal advisers. Thriving in the prominent position he occupies, Dirani is widely regarded as one France’s finest in-house legal talents and has a track record to prove.