2020 Universal registration document and annual financial report - BNP PARIBAS8

1 Presentation of the BnP PariBas GrouP

1

Presentation of operating divisions and business lines

■ rapid implementation of state-guaranteed loans (more than 69,000 loans for nearly EUR 17.9 billion euros as of 31 December 2020) and adapted solutions to respond individually to each situation (corporates, professionals, individuals, students);

■ increased solidarity with a support plan: a donation of EUR 1 million to the Institut Pasteur, 20,000 Samu Social lunch vouchers, donations of computers and masks;

■ doubling of equity investments in France by the BNP Paribas Group in medium and intermediate-sized companies (EUR 4 billion by 2024) to support their long-term strategy (international development, digital transformation and energy transition).

BNL BANCA COMMERCIALE BNL bc is Italy s 6th-largest commercial bank in terms of its balance sheet and customer loans(1). It provides a comprehensive range of banking, financial and insurance products and services for diversified customer base:

■ roughly 2.7 million individual customers;

■ 53,000 Private Banking clients;

■ 135,000 small businesses;

■ 11,000 medium and large corporates;

■ 3,600 local authorities and non-profit organisations.

Its range of products and services draw on the Group s extensive expertise and its integrated model by developing business line cooperation.

BNL bc has a significant position in lending to households, especially residential mortgages (market share of 6.7%(2)) and has a deposit base (3.6%(2) of household current accounts) above the market penetration rate (3.1%(3) in terms of number of branches).

BNL bc is well established in the corporate markets (4.7%(2) of loans market share) and local authority, with recognised expertise in cash management, cross-border payments, project finance, structured finance and factoring, via its subsidiary Ifitalia (ranked 3rd in Italy(4)).

BNL bc has innovative and client-tailored offer models, leveraging on a multi-channel distribution network, organised by regions (direzioni regionali) and separate departments for Retail Banking (including a network of more than 520 financial advisors), Private Banking and Corporate Banking. The distribution network includes:

■ 705 branches, with Open BNL multi-channel branches (77) serving customers 24/7;

■ 34 Private Banking centres;

■ 45 small business centres;

■ 43 centres for SMEs, large corporates, local authorities and public sector organisations;

■ 1 trade centre for clients cross-border activities;

■ 2 Italian desks to assist Italian companies abroad and multinational companies with direct investments in Italy.

In addition, there are 1,700 ATMs, about 93,000 devices (POS) for card payments, and a growing range of digital, on-line and mobile banking solutions.

During the health crisis of 2020, BNL mobilised its resources and demonstrated a strong commitment to customer needs, using all the tools provided by digitisation, in order to avoid business difficulties or interruption, and implemented a tailored system to preserve its employees health.

The initiatives involved the Bank both at internal and external level:

■ Branches activities have been re-organized in terms of time and procedures (cash activities limited in the morning, other activities scheduled with appointment, etc.);

■ The communication initiatives have been spread across all our internal communication channels and external channels for customers and the entire community;

■ BNL and all the companies of BNP Paribas in Italy, together with the BNL Foundation, joined to support the Italian Red Cross;

■ BNL granted loans guaranteed by the Italian State and SACE(5) to more than 26,000 companies for EUR 4.1 billion and suspended collection of mortgages payments for 18 months in accordance with Italian law.

BELGIAN RETAIL BANKING (BRB) BNP Paribas Fortis is the No. 1 bank for retail customers(6) in Belgium and has a strong position in the corporate and small business sector, with 3.4 million customers. BNP Paribas Fortis is also the leading Private Bank in Belgium.

BNP Paribas Fortis is furthermore No. 1 in Belgium for Corporate Banking(7), and offers a full range of financial services to corporates, public sector entities and local authorities.

Retail & Private Banking (RPB) serves individual customers, entrepreneurs, and small and medium enterprises through its different integrated networks, thus fitting into a hybrid banking strategy where the customer chooses between the branch network and digital channels:

■ the commercial network comprises 463 branches (of which 217 are independent) and 18 centres of a new dedicated structure, Banque des Entrepreneurs (the bank for small businesses). This set-up

(1) Source: annual and periodic reports of BNL and its competitors.

(2) Source: Bank of Italy, 3rd quarter 2020.

(3) Source: Bank of Italy, data as of 31 December 2020.

(4) Source: Assifact, ranking by turnover.

(5) SACE: Servizi Assicurativi del Commercio Estero, the Italian export credit agency.

(6) Source: Financial Market Data Monitor 2019. 2020 (Market survey on a representative sample of 2,000 households in December 2020).

(7) Source: Greenwich 2019, in terms of market penetration.

(8) In December 2020, Fintro had 249 branches, 1,011 employees and EUR 12.47 billion in assets under management (excluding insurance business) for 332,553 active clients.