5232019 Universal registration document and annual financial report - BNP PARIBAS
7 a Committed Bank: information ConCerninG the eConomiC,
soCial, CiviC and environmental resPonsiBility of BnP PariBas
7
Our economic responsibility: financing the economy in an ethical manner
Support for social enterprises is also evolving in North Africa. In Tunisia, the UBCI and Lab Ess (a major Tunisian social enterprise incubator) joined forces to hand out the social entrepreneur of the year Award (entrepreneur.e social.e de l'année) for the second year running. In Morocco, BMCI entered into a financing agreement with the Moroccan Entrepreneur Network (Réseau Entreprendre Maroc) to make MAD 1 million available to fund women entrepreneurs and social entreprises in Morocco.
Development of Social Impact Bonds, and the creation of BNP Paribas European Social Impact Bonds fund with the European Investment Fund
BNP Paribas continued to develop Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) as a structurer and investor. The Group co-structured three new SIBs launched in France in 2019 for a total of EUR 4.3 million, in which BNP Paribas invested EUR 1 million:
■ The SIB launched with Article 1 (co-structured with Citizen Capital) aims at reducing drop-out in a number of agricultural highschools and universities in Hauts-de-France and Occitanie and to improve the ambition of 1,130 scholarship students in technical education ;
■ The Family Relay project with Fondation Apprentis d Auteuil in Gironde (co-structured with Kois) aims to avoid placing 68 children in foster care, by offering housing and parental support to families in distressed situations. This EUR 2.8 million SIB mirrors the first Fondation d Auteuil SIB rolled out in Loire Atlantique in 2018;
■ The purpose of the Solidarités Nouvelles face au Chômage (SNC) (new solidarity against unemployment) SIB is to help the long-term unemployed people to reintegrate the workforce, based on an original two-step approach. Firstly, promoting and supporting the Accreditation of Prior Learning of durably unemployed people, with its partner VAE les 2 Rives, and secondly, providing dedicated support during the first few months of a professional reintegration to increase the chances of job retention.
These new projects bring to 9 the total number of SIBs launched between 2016 and 2019, structured by BNP Paribas in France and the United States, addressing a variety of social issues such as child protection, integration into the workplace and equal opportunities in education.
If these nine SIBs achieve their social impact then:
■ more than 1,000 vulnerable people will have access to a stable occupation;
■ more than 1,000 students will develop their ambition to continue their studies;
■ more than 600 children will have avoided foster care.
Note that the Wimoov SIB, launched at the beginning of 2018, on inclusive and sustainable mobility as a key success prerequisite for job reintegration was successfully finalized in 2019, and exceeded its social performance objectives.
In order to accelerate the development of the European SIB market, BNP Paribas and the European Investment Fund (EIF) launched a EUR 10 million BNP Paribas European Social Impact Bonds Fund to co-invest in Social Impact Bonds ( SIB ) in the European Union. To create and manage this innovative and unique mechanism, BNP Paribas has relied on its subsidiary BNP Paribas Asset Management. Wishing to build upon BNP Paribas' expertise in structuring SIBs, EIF has approached the Bank to set up this co-investment agreement. It enables both organizations to invest, together and for equal commitments, in SIBs structured by BNP Paribas within the European Union. Three SIB investments have already been funded through this new Fund, while several others are under study or structuring in France, Belgium and Italy.
BNP Paribas signs a five-year agreement with Grameen Creative Lab (founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Mr Yunus)
BNP Paribas joined forces with the Grameen Creative Lab ( GCL ), a company founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, to promote social businesses (based on the definition put forward by Professor Yunus) and products which have a positive impact within the Bank. The objectives of this five-year agreement include the creation of new social businesses within the Bank itself, and creating a profound awareness of the employees so that positive impact will be embedded at the heart of their métiers. After supporting the first social business launched by the Bank in 2018 (ClimateSeed), in 2019 thanks to the Agreement signed, GCL accompanied 2 new intrapreneurial projects called Tilia(1) and Tangata(2 ).
DESIGNING AND PROMOTING SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT FUNDS (SRI) As part of its Global Sustainability Strategy, BNP Paribas Asset Management continued to develop its range of responsible products and services for both individual customers and institutional investors. It uses its expertise to invest in sectors and companies which contribute to a sustainable economy, by investing in the energy transition, environmental compliance, equality and inclusive growth (see Integrating ESG criteria into rigorous management of ESG risks, Commitment 3). In 2019, major steps were taken to promote the quality of its SRI range (by topic and best-in-class labels).
(1) Tilia: https://info.tilia-aidants.fr/.
(2) Tangata: https://tangata.net/.
