BNP Paribas plans to spend €1 billion over three years to reorganise and simplify its businesses, according to a union source informed of the plan.

France’s top bank is widely expected to lay out its new strategy in the coming months after a rocky 2012 spent selling assets and cutting jobs to bolster investor confidence and meet tougher bank capital rules under Basel III.

BNP’s management outlined the 2015 plan to staff representatives last week – promising to cut layers of management and simplify decision-making – but stopped short of any details on jobs, a source from the SNB union told Reuters.

“The plan, called Simple and Efficient, will run through 2015,” the source said. “Over €1 billion will be spent on planned changes that will potentially affect all of BNP’s business lines.”

Shares of BNP were up 1.5 per cent, to €46.33, the fifth-best performer on the STOXX Europe 600 banks index.

A BNP spokesman declined to comment. The news was earlier reported by investment newsletter Agefi, which said BNP might outline the plan at its next earnings announcement on February 14.

Banks across Europe are slashing costs and selling assets to boost their defences against a weakening economy and comply with tougher capital and liquidity rules.

BNP chief executive Jean-Laurent Bonnafe said in November that the lender was looking to cut costs in its branch network.

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