PARIS, May 11 (Reuters) - BNP Paribas, France's biggest listed bank, unveiled a well-flagged handover to new Chief Executive Jean-Laurent Bonnafe at its annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, a move that promises a smooth transition.
Bonnafe, a trusted insider and long seen as the natural heir to current CEO Baudouin Prot, will take the reins on Dec. 1. Prot will take the chairmanship from 69-year-old Michel Pebereau, whose retirement had been widely expected.
"Our new management will be able to offer BNP ... all the development plans it deserves," Bonnafe told shareholders.
The bespectacled, rugby-loving Bonnafe will inherit a bank that has emerged a winner from the crisis but which is overwhelmingly exposed to mature Western markets and which faces tougher rules that will make banking a less profitable business.
There is little to suggest he will rock the boat and some analysts warn growth will be more challenging in future.
"Looking past 2011, we see very limited levers to grow earnings per share and wonder how BNP will deliver," RBS analyst Jorge Mayo said.
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