BNP Paribas' UK traders say bank is 'holding gun to our heads' over new British contracts Another said BNP's decision was the equivalent of putting "a gun to his head." The bank claims that it wants to bring the 150 traders in line with 400 similar expats who work in London and are already on British contracts. "This is not to people's disadvantage, this is what our competitors are doing," the source added. The bank denied there was a lack of jobs in France, and said it is "not targeting redundancies." BNP, the third largest bank in the world, has had a presence in London for nearly 150 years and employs 8,000 people across the UK. Last month the company said it expects a "significant" drop in staffing levels in France as the economy weakens. The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies has confirmed that the country is recession after a 0.2pc fall in GDP in the first quarter of 2013 followed a similar drop in the previous three months. BNP is also in the early stages of a plan to cut €2bn (£1.7bn) in annual costs over the next three years. However, it managed to emerge from the credit crisis relatively unscathed, reporting net profits of €3bn and €5.8bn in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Last year net profits rose 8.3pc to €6.5bn, beating all the world's largest lenders except JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.