Area of work
Project Finance, Structured Finance
Studied
Finance, Strategy, HEC Paris
African Politics, La Sorbonne
Macro Economics, La Sorbonne
Joined
2005
Working in
Paris
I knew that I wanted to work in Finance but wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do, so during my time at university I started investigating my options. I didn't want to be 1 of 1,000 graduates, but I did want big deals to work on and international exposure. I talked to a lot of people in the industry and spoke to alumni from HEC Paris, one of whom worked in Project Finance at BNP Paribas. The more I read about a career in Project Finance the more I liked it, so I went for a couple of interviews with BNP Paribas and then accepted a job offer.
When I started I definitely wasn't disappointed, my new colleagues were friendly and always available to explain things but also extremely professional and knowledgeable in what they do. BNP Paribas has a great reputation as an international player, and from a Project Finance perspective I like the fact that there's hardly a major or significant deal in the EMEA region that we're not involved in.
One of the things I really wanted in my job was an international perspective - in the four years I've been here I've been exposed to many large international deals, like the Marafiq US$3bn power and water project in Saudi Arabia, where we acted as structuring bank and mandated lead arranger. Working on this transaction you had a unique opportunity to be dealing with so many people from different countries - I remember one meeting we had in London, in the lawyers' offices, where out of the 25 people in the room there were people from more than 10 different nationalities, Saudi, Belgian, Polish, Indian, Lebanese, Brazilian, Russian, French, Moroccan, British, Australian...
Another thing I love in Project Finance is that you're involved from the very start of the deal; you get a blank sheet of paper and have the opportunity to structure the transaction from scratch and see things all the way through. I have been involved in all stages of a US$10bn petrochemical transaction, from early advisory to establishing a funding plan, approaching the bank market, negotiating finance documentation with the lenders and closing the deal with a 40-banks large lending group. The deal succesfully closed in May 2008 and it has been very satisfying to see the end result of something I've worked on for almost 2 years.
One of the benefits of being hired straight into a role is that you get involved with real work almost straight away. Three to six months after you start you're going to be meeting clients, taking a lead role on specific parts of a job and having to manage and deliver on the expectations of your supervisor and your clients. I have done internships and worked at other banks and in my opinion you are offered responsibilities and a level of international exposure here that you don't get anywhere else, you're really given a chance to out-perform. At BNP Paribas I have the chance to work for one of the world's leading banks in Project Finance, to be exposed to great clients, huge international deals and to work on projects that really count. I like the people I work with and they like me. So why would I move?
