With a global brand value estimated at $16 billion (EUR12.2bn), BNP Paribas was also ranked the 8th bank brand by value worldwide, up from 12th place in 2011, and the 5th brand worldwide by value in retail banking.

The annual ranking of bank brands published in The Banker is conducted by independent brand valuation and marketing metrics consultancy “Brand Finance”.

The “Brand Finance” table is the result of analysis of the health of the world’s most powerful banking brands. At unstable and challenging times for the global financial industry, it provides a perspective on which banks are developing the strong brands that they will need to maintain and expand their businesses.

“Ace Manager4 – The Passing Shot” is an international online banking game designed in collaboration with BNP Paribas bankers and university professors; it is part of BNP Paribas’ employer branding strategy and is aimed at improving the Group’s brand awareness among young people and at making it one of the most attractive workplaces for students all over the world.
Starting today and until March 20th 2012, each team made up of 3 students will be able to take part in a contest in the virtual world of Universe-City by logging on to: www.acemanager.bnpparibas.com.

The students will play the role of bankers and advise clients to help them achieve their goals.
To fulfil these tasks, the contestants will have to solve 14 financial case studies linked to BNP Paribas’ three core business areas – retail banking, investment solutions, and corporate and investment banking – and Group functions such as human resources, corporate philanthropy, marketing and communication.

“Ace Manager4 – The Passing Shot” will end in a Grand Final, where the top 5 teams of the online phase will compete to win the prizes. The Final will be held in Paris on April 18th, where the students will solve a last case study and present their creative solutions in front of a jury of experts made up of university professors and members of BNP Paribas’ top management.

The finalist teams will win the following prizes:
- Winning team: EUR 9,000
- Runner-up team: EUR 3,000
- Third-placed team: EUR 1,500
- All finalists will also receive tickets to a tennis event.

BNP Paribas will also offer to each finalist several internships opportunities within the Group’s three core business areas.

Out of the 145 countries taking part, the most represented are: India (2812 participants), Italy (2112 participants), France (799 participants), Turkey (694 participants), UK (685 participants), Singapore (523 participants), Indonesia (513 participants), Ukraine (495 participants), Russia (484 participants) and Poland (469 participants).
Notably, the Facebook page “BNP Paribas Ace Manager” has seen a four fold increase of its fans since the previous edition, reaching 20,227.
In its drive to enhance its brand awareness and appeal among students from the best universities and schools across the world, BNP Paribas is capitalising on its close links with the world of tennis after 38 years of global sponsoring, coupled with its strong capacity to offer interesting career prospects to new talent. Today, 68% of BNP Paribas staff and clients are located outside France. The Group recruits varied profiles from across the globe and provides jobs in more than 300 different professions.

BNP Paribas is working in close partnership with TBWACorporate on this worldwide project.

BNP Paribas and employment
BNP Paribas has an active recruitment programme for experienced professionals and recent graduates. In 2012, BNP Paribas plans to recruit around 13,000 people worldwide, including approximately 2000 people in France.
As part of its pre-recruitment process, BNP Paribas also offers hundreds of VIE (volunteer jobs abroad) contracts and more than 1,100 internships per year in France to students approaching the end of their course. Furthermore, the Group takes a large number of students on sandwich courses. This year it will integrate more than 1,450 new sandwich students.
BNP Paribas focuses on long term career development of its staff with dedicated training programmes and the ability to offer career mobility across its diverse business lines and in the different countries in which it operates.
http://www.recrutement.bnpparibas.com/
http://careers.bnpparibas.com/
http://backstage.bnpparibas.com/

BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) has a presence in 80 countries with nearly 200,000 employees, including more than 150,000 in Europe. It ranks highly in its three core activities: Retail Banking, Investment Solutions and Corporate & Investment Banking. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the leader in consumer lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail banking model across Mediterranean basin countries, in Turkey, in Eastern Europe and a large network in the western part of the United States. In its Corporate & Investment Banking and Investment Solutions activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas and solid and fast-growing businesses in Asia.
Rated AA- by Standard & Poor’s, BNP Paribas is one of the best rated banks in the world.
Press Contact
BNP Paribas Loubna Sebti -loubna.sebti@bnpparibas.com – 01 40 14 66 28

BNP Paribas Investment Partners was the only asset manager to pick up several awards:

Best US equity Fund over 1 year
Best sector fund over 1 year
Best equity fund over 3 years

These awards, which are very prestigious in Belgium, reflect the expertise of Investment Partners in asset management and strengthen its position as a provider of investment funds to BNP Paribas Fortis.

(1) Subject to shareholder approval, shares will go ex-dividend on 30 May 2012 and the dividend will be paid in cash or in shares
on 26 June 2012.
(2) Source: Thomson Reuters.
(3) Source: Dealogic.

6 BILLION EUROS IN NET INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO EQUITY HOLDERS, DESPITE THE GREEK SOVEREIGN DEBT IMPAIRMENT INCREASING THE PROVISION TO 75% OF THE TOTAL GREEK DEBT EXPOSURE, CONFIRMING THE ROBUSTNESS OF BNP PARIBAS’ BUSINESS MODEL

The second half of 2011 was marked by the European authorities’ decision not to cover the full amount of the Greek sovereign debt, the sovereign debt crisis of certain eurozone countries, plummeting equity markets, liquidity and refinancing tensions as well as the more stringent solvency requirements of the European Banking Authority (EBA). In the circumstance, the Group increased the provision covering its Greek sovereign debt to 75% and substantially reduced its sovereign debt outstandings (-29%), taking a 872 million euro loss. It also contracted its mediumand long-term funding needs in dollars (-53 billion dollars) and grew its medium- and long-term debt issues (43 billion euros as compared to 35 billion planned). Lastly, the Group has introduced a plan to deleverage its balance sheet and downsize its business operations in order to generate a further +100bp in common equity Tier 1 ratio by the end of 2012. One-third has already been completed.

In this exceptional environment, the Group generated 42,384 million euros in revenues1, down 3.4% compared to 2010. Operating expenses came to 26,116 million euros (-1.5%)2 and gross operating income was down 6.3% to 16,268 million euros. Due to the Greek sovereign debt provision (-3,241 million euros), the cost of risk is up 41.5% to 6,797 million euros. Excluding this effect, it was down 25.9% to 3,556 million euros. After the impact of Greek sovereign debt impairment in the insurance partnerships (-213 million euros), the pre-tax income was down 25.9% to 9,651 million euros. After the corporate tax charge (-2,757 million euros) and minority interests (-844 million euros), net income attributable to equity holders came to 6,050 million euros, down 22.9% compared to 2010.

Despite this exceptionally challenging environment, the Group has confirmed its expertise in corporate integration. The successful integration of BNP Paribas Fortis and BGL BNP Paribas with the Group thanks to the dedication of the teams in all of the territories and business units produced 1,127 million euros in synergies already in 2011, an amount close to the 1,200 million euro target set for 2012. An additional 300 million euros per year starting in 2012 will bring the total amount of synergies to 1,500 million euros compared to 900 million initially planned. The corresponding residual restructuring costs will total 300 million euros in 2012.

Return on equity was 8.8% compared to 12.3% in 2010.

Net earnings per share were 4.82 euros compared to 6.33 euros in 2010. The net book value per share, which totalled 58.2 euros, was up 5.0% compared to 2010. It has increased 35.7% since 2006, the last year before the crisis began. So, BNP Paribas’ business model generates robust growth in net book value per share throughout the cycle.

The Board of Directors will propose to shareholders to pay a dividend of 1.20 euro per share, which equates to a 25.1% pay-out ratio, payable in cash or shares3. This allocation of earnings will enable the Group to reinvest at least three-quarters of profits back into the company to reinforce the shareholders’ equity and protect the Group’s ability to finance its customers. In the fourth quarter 2011, in a context marked by additional Greek sovereign debt impairment, increasing the provision to 75%, very challenging market conditions and sovereign bond sales, the Group’s revenues totalled 9,686 million euros, down 6.1% compared to the fourth quarter 2010 and operating expenses were 6,678 million euros, down 3.0%. These trends incorporate nonrecurring items in CIB and the “Corporate Centre” (see below), the net effect of which was -120 million euros in revenues and -28 million euros in operating expenses. Excluding the Greek sovereign debt impairment (-567 million euros), the cost of risk was down 18.2% (+30.6% including this effect). Thus, the Group’s net income attributable to equity holders was 765 million euros, down 50.6% compared to the same period a year earlier.

1) Exceptional revenue items offset one another, save for 35 million euros: losses from sovereign bond sales
(-872 million euros), losses from loan sales (-152 million euros), the impairment of the equity investment in
AXA (-299 million euros), own debt revaluation (+1,190 million euros) and a one-off amortisation of Fortis
PPA (+168 million euros).

2) Exceptional operating expense items offset each other, save for 14 million euros: cost of the adaptation
plan (-239 million euros), reversal of provision due to the favourable outcome of litigation (+253 million
euros).

Read the Press Release “BNP Paribas Group: Results as at 31 December 2011″

View the slides of the presentation

View the consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)

View the slides of Financial Stability Board

View the Pilar 3

View the Quarterly Series

Press Contacts:

Antoine Sire
Tel: + 33 1 40 14 21 06
antoine.sire@bnpparibas.com

Carine Lauru
Tel: + 33 1 42 98 13 36
carine.lauru@bnpparibas.com

Isabelle Wolff
Tel : +33(0)1 57 43 89 26
isabelle.wolff@bnpparibas.com

The portfolio consists of one asset under construction, “Mazeray” and two assets already in operation: “Coudrays” and “Bois Ballay”. All three assets were developed by a leading wind turbine manufacturer, Nordex. Nordex also provides turbines to many markets globally, including Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Scandinavia, China and the US.

Joost Bergsma, CEO of the fund said: “This acquisition complements our previous wind farm acquisitions in Ireland, the UK and France, and maintains our momentum towards establishing a significant presence in the French wind energy sector.”

The transaction was the first of its kind between BNP Paribas Clean Energy Partners and Nordex. Nordex will maintain an operational management role, ensuring the portfolio’s ongoing success.

The portfolio acquisition was project financed with support from HSH Nordbank.

To date, the Fund has completed 10 acquisitions across wind power, solar photovoltaics and biomass, with assets in Italy, France, the UK and Ireland.

Oosterhout, February 9th, 2012 – Today Cardif, subsidiary of BNP Paribas and insurance arm of the Group, changes its name to BNP Paribas Cardif in the Netherlands. The name change marks a new phase in the existence of the insurance company, offering products that protect people against the financial risks around income and life.

BNP Paribas Cardif started on the Dutch market 16 years ago. In a relatively short time, the company managed to give ‘payment protection’ as a category of insurance products, an established position in the industry. Today, the insurance activity of BNP Paribas holds a strong position in the Netherlands, with large markets shares in mortgage protection and term life insurance. BNP Paribas Cardif has the ambition to achieve a substantial growth in the next years, with an evolving product offer.

As an insurance company in a segment that has known difficult times already for multiple years, BNP Paribas Cardif has adopted a proactive innovation strategy. Examples can be found in the totally different way products are being developed and in the transition that the organization went through in the fields of customer contact, systems and communication. This enabled the insurer to acquire a frontrunner position in the much needed reform of the insurance industry.

“We’ve always believed in positive change”, says Cees de Jong, managing director of BNP Paribas Cardif. “Thanks to our proactive approach we’ve made a lot of progress on our way to, for example, the era of the provision ban. We have the explicit ambition to grow further, together with our partners, in the years to come. The new brand name, that clearly represents the power of our mother organization, underlines that ambition.”

The name change is effective as of today and represents the start of further development at the insurance company. In the course of 2012 BNP Paribas Cardif expects to launch multiple new product-market combination that won’t be limited to payment protection.
BNP Paribas Cardif
Marieke van Zuien
Directeur Corporate Communication & CSR
Tel.: 0162 486 053

This book reflects BNP Paribas Investment Partners’ commitment to Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR):

“We hope this project, with Jean-Michel André’s vision and with the writings of Erik Orsenna, will create either an interest in or an attraction to the subject and will perhaps increase awareness that sustainable development is now more than just an ideal – it has become a necessity”, expressed Philippe Marchessaux, CEO of BNP Paribas Investment Partners.

Skim through the book online

Private support of cultural initiatives is indispensable. BNP Paribas has a rich history of sponsoring cultural initiatives that introduce a large audience to various cultural aspects. The long-term sponsorship of the North Sea Jazz Festival builds on a successful partnership which commenced in 2011, when the bank began to sponsor the festival. By means of the partnership with the North Sea Jazz Festival, BNP Paribas wants to support a music genre that has a major influence on the modern (popular) culture in the Netherlands.

André Boulanger, CEO of BNP Paribas The Netherlands: “BNP Paribas has always supported cultural initiatives. We are very pleased and proud of the fact that we are able to support jazz music and musicians to the fullest extent.”
As part of the sponsorship of the North Sea Jazz Festival, BNP Paribas offers 15 music downloads for free to the purchasers of Early Bird 3-day tickets. These tickets are available from January 28th via www.northseajazz.com and give the buyers the opportunity to download music of the North Sea Jazz musicians in the special North Sea Jazz download shop in March.

Jan Willem Luyken, North Sea Jazz festival director: “I can look back on an excellent cooperation last year. In my opinion, BNP Paribas and North Sea Jazz are a perfect match. I am very glad that we will continue our partnership the coming years and that we are able to further develop our relationship. We will reinforce and support each other as regards content as well as professionally. We can feel secure as to our future.”

About BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is one of the best rated banks in the world*. The Group has a presence in more than 80 countries and more than 200,000 employees, including more than 160,000 in Europe. It ranks highly in its three core activities: Retail Banking, Investment Solutions and Corporate & Investment Banking. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the leader in consumer lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail banking model across the Europe-Mediterranean zone and boasts a large network in the western part of the United States. In its Corporate & Investment Banking and Investment Solutions activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas and solid and fast-growing businesses in Asia.

In The Netherlands BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.nl) is one of the largest and leading non-Dutch banks. Thanks to its worldwide network and strong presence in various financial markets, BNP Paribas can offer the Dutch market (corporates, financial institutions, the public sector and retail clients) extensive expertise.

The Dutch head office offers the Dutch market a comprehensive range of financial products and services (Corporate & Investment Banking, Investment Solutions, Securities Services and trust activities). The BNP Paribas Group in The Netherlands consists of the bank and several subsidiaries, which offer a large variety of financial products and services. The subsidiaries active on the Dutch market are: Arval (car leasing), BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions (operational and financial leasing), BNP Paribas Personal Finance (mortgages), Cardif (insurance), BNP Paribas Investment Partners (asset management), LaSer Nederland (marketing services and (co-branded) Visa Cards), Insinger de Beaufort (Wealth Management) and The Economy Bank NV (specialized banking).

*Rated AA- by Standard & Poor’s.

About BNP Paribas Corporate Philanthropy
The corporate philanthropy policy of the BNP Paribas Group is managed by the BNP Paribas Foundation, the corner stone of the Group’s philanthropy initiatives for the past 25 years. It is centered on 5 areas of activity: culture, social inclusion, education, health and the environment.

Today, BNP Paribas Corporate Philanthropy is getting concrete through more than 500 programs all around the world, managed via a network of 10 foundations or initiated directly by countries and businesses.

www.corporate-philanthropy.bnpparibas.com

For further information, please contact:

Annette Reijersen van Buuren, Head of Group Communications BNP Paribas The Netherlands
Tel: 06.53.77.29.72

Mirjam de Vos, Head of Communications BNP Paribas The Netherlands
Tel: 06.29.60.27.65
E: mirjam.devos@bnpparibas.com

The survey of European insurance companies measured firms’ progress towards delivery of the Solvency II directive’s requirements, while identifying particularly challenging areas that threatened compliance.

The study revealed that although insurers are advanced in terms of preparing the directive’s quantitative requirements (Pillar I), and have started addressing risk governance (Pillar II), significant work remains to implement and embed those requirements into their businesses.

57% of respondents reported a significant dependence on third-parties for risk modelling and other critical data requirements, while challenges in sourcing data of sufficient granularity for certain funds and products were also reported.

In addition, 60% of insurers were yet to address the directive’s disclosure requirements around public and regulatory reporting (Pillar III), anticipating that these will continue to develop. While most perceived Pillar III’s requirements to be straightforward, many acknowledged that the scale of input – drawing heavily on data and analysis from Pillars I and II – presented a significant challenge within the deadline.

Key challenges identified in the survey include:

- Risk governance must be extended to include data and analytics provided by third parties
. 57% of respondents reported high or medium exposure to third-party data providers
. Adopting dedicated data work streams within their overall Solvency II programmes will build a clear view of critical external dependencies for data sourcing and risk reporting

- Fund managers play a key role in terms of data provision
. 80% identified affiliated and third-party fund managers as key data dependencies
. Challenge in securing sufficiently granular data for complex products and fund of funds
. Increasing requirements for risk modelling and securities services providers

- The need to establish a fully-functioning risk team
. Ensures risk management is embedded at all levels and day-to-day processes
. Perceived by respondents as major cultural change but better business management

Commenting on the research, Maxime Gibault, head of insurance companies at BNP Paribas Securities Services said: “While insurers have made a lot of progress towards gathering the quantitative requirements for Solvency II, the industry must now urgently address the directive’s risk management and reporting requirements.

“New data traceability processes, additional data governance and new criteria for mandate reporting were all identified as being of critical importance to insurers. Yet, each of these appears challenging for some insurers that hold assets with third party managers, or those that hold externally-pooled funds requiring look-through reporting.

“What is clear is that insurers must re-engage with their asset managers over Solvency II in order to be compliant by 1 January 2014.”

About BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is one of the best rated banks in the world*. The Group has a presence in more than 80 countries and more than 200,000 employees, including more than 160,000 in Europe. It ranks highly in its three core activities: Retail Banking, Investment Solutions and Corporate & Investment Banking. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the leader in consumer lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail banking model across the Europe-Mediterranean zone and boasts a large network in the western part of the United States. In its Corporate & Investment Banking and Investment Solutions activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas and solid and fast-growing businesses in Asia.

*Rated AA- by Standard & Poor’s.

About BNP Paribas Securities Services

BNP Paribas Securities Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BNP Paribas Group, is a leading global custodian and securities services provider backed by a strong universal bank (rated AA- by Standard and Poor’s). It provides integrated solutions to all participants in the investment cycle including the buy-side, sell-side, corporates and issuers.

The bank has a local presence in 32 countries across five continents, effecting global coverage of more than 100 markets. It partners with clients to help overcome complexity, while offering a one-stop shop for all asset classes, both onshore and offshore, around the world.

Key figures as at 30 September 2011: USD 6,362 billion of assets under custody, USD 1,128 billion of assets under administration, more than 6,500 administered funds and 7200 employees.
Press Contacts

Andrew Achimu, Corporate Communications, Securities Services +44 (0) 207 410 2717
Andrew.achimu@uk.bnpparibas.com
Celeste Brown, UK Media Relations +44 (0) 207 595 4653
Celeste.brown@uk.bnpparibas.com
Julia Boyce, Group Press Office +33 (0) 1 43 16 82 04
julia.boyce@bnpparibas.com

Those 16 million Internet users who every year visit the bnpparibas.com site or one of our corporate country websites have since December enjoyed a totally re-worked online experience. In a fast-changing Internet environment, these sites, which both project the BNP Paribas brand image and serve to unite all those belonging to the Group worldwide, now respond much better to the digital media usage and needs of all our online visitors.

The BNP Paribas Group online presence is now enhanced through smooth interactions between the bnpparibas.com site with social networks such as YouTube and Twitter, where the Bank has a high profile, and also with mobile applications. This online space also provides an entry point to chat and ideas-exchange environments such as the backstage.bnpparibas.com platform and the blog on goodwill actions, forachangingworld.com.

In addition, the new country-specific sites have also undergone a revamp, and are now entirely focused on the needs of local people, with content placing the emphasis on local issues, the culture, and web usages.

Louis Treussard, Head of E-Communication at the BNP Paribas Group, commented: “What we set out to do was to really harness the latest ways of using digital media in the way the Bank interacts with its staff and customers: interactivity, immediacy, dialogue, learning – in short, everything that the day-to-day life of the BNP Paribas Group is all about.”

Visit bnpparibas.com and the three pilot country websites: Germany – bnpparibas.de, The Netherlands – bnpparibas.nl, and Italy – bnpparibas.it.

About BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is one of the best rated banks in the world*. The Group has a presence in more than 80 countries and more than 200,000 employees, including more than 160,000 in Europe. It ranks highly in its three core activities: Retail Banking, Investment Solutions and Corporate & Investment Banking. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the leader in consumer lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail banking model across the Europe-Mediterranean zone and boasts a large network in the western part of the United States. In its Corporate & Investment Banking and Investment Solutions activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas and solid and fast-growing businesses in Asia.
*Rated AA- by Standard & Poor’s.
Press Contact:
Anne-Laure Charron – +33 1 42 98 36 90 – anne-laure.charron@bnpparibas.com