2020 Universal registration document and annual financial report - BNP PARIBAS 29

1Presentation of the BnP PariBas GrouP

1

BNP Paribas and its shareholders

NOTICES OF MEETING BNP Paribas will hold its next Combined General Meeting on 18 May 2021(1).

The meeting notices and invitations are available on the invest. bnpparibas.com website in French and English from the time of their publication in the French Bulletin of Compulsory Legal Announcements (BALO). Staffs at all BNP Paribas branches are specifically trained to provide the necessary assistance and carry out the required formalities.

Holders of registered shares are automatically notified, regardless of the number of shares held, with a complete notice of meeting containing in particular the agenda, the draft resolutions and a voting form. A significant and fast-growing proportion (23.2%, compared with 14.9% a year earlier) of notices of meeting to registered shareholders were sent via the internet after the shareholders concerned had given their prior agreement to this information procedure.

BNP Paribas informs holders of bearer shares via the internet regardless of the number of shares held, subject to their custodians being part of the market system known as Votaccess. Shareholders notified of the Annual General Meeting may take part quickly and easily. The Bank also provides custodians with notices of meetings and printed postal voting forms, which can then be sent to those shareholders who request them.

ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS Holders of shares may gain admittance to a General Meeting(1) provided these shares have been recorded in their accounts for at least two trading days. Holders of bearer shares must also present an entry card or certificate proving their ownership of the shares.

VOTING Using the internet voting platform gives shareholders access to the notice of the Annual General Meeting. They can then either vote or appoint a proxy, or print their admission card if they wish to attend the Annual General Meeting in person(2).

More than 88% of the shareholders who took part in the vote in 2020 used the platform, a proportion that has risen sharply compared with the nearly 74% recorded in 2019. This significant increase is the result of information that, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, had been given to shareholders in March 2020 to encourage them to use the internet and vote remotely.

Shareholders not using the online platform returned the printed form enclosed with the notice of meeting to BNP Paribas. Before the Annual General Meeting, this document may be used to:

■ request an admission card(1); or

■ vote by post; or

■ give proxy to another individual or legal entity; or

■ give proxy to the Chairman of the Meeting.

(1) Subject to change at a later date.

(2) Except in the case of specific government measures.

DISCLOSURE THRESHOLDS

In addition to the legal thresholds, and in accordance with article 5 of the Articles of association, any shareholder, whether acting alone or in concert, who owns or may hold directly or indirectly at least 0.5% of the capital or voting rights of BNP Paribas, or any multiple of that percentage up to 5%, is required to notify BNP Paribas by registered letter with return receipt.

Once the 5% threshold is reached, shareholders are required to disclose any increase in their interest representing a multiple of 1% of the share capital or voting rights of BNP Paribas.

The disclosures described in the previous two paragraphs shall also apply when the shareholding falls below the above-mentioned thresholds.

In the case of failure to comply with these disclosure requirements, either legal or statutory, the undisclosed shares will be stripped of voting rights at the request of one or more shareholders who hold a combined interest of at least 2% of the share capital or voting rights of BNP Paribas.