Etienne Barel is an ENA (Ecole Nationale d’Administration) alumnus who began his career as Finance Inspector with the French Ministries for the Economy from 1994 to 1998. He joined BNP Paribas in 1998 as Deputy Head of Strategy and Development.

Etienne Barel joined the French Banking Federation (FBF) on 1 September 2020, as Deputy Chief Executive Officer heading the Banking and Accounting Supervision, Tax, Institutional Relations (Europe and International), Investing Banking and Markets, and Climate departments.