BNP Paribas threw down a challenge to the European banking industry on Tuesday as it sought to escape the yoke of state support through a €4.3bn ($6.3bn) rights issue.

Baudouin Prot, chief executive of Europe’s second-biggest bank by market value, said the rebound in the stock market presented an “opportunity” to repay “as soon as possible” the €5.1bn of non-voting preference shares issued to the French government in March.