552 2019 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 civic responsibility: being a positive agent for change

7.4 Our civic responsibility: being a positive agent for change

A committed participant in society, BNP Paribas instigates and takes part in numerous initiatives to combat social exclusion and promote education and the arts. In the context of its civic responsibility, the Group uses all the available tools, as a banker, employer and philanthropist, to foster a sustainable and harmonious development of society. These actions are in line with its three commitments:

■ Commitment 7: Products and services that are widely accessible;

■ Commitment 8: Combat social exclusion and encourage respect for human rights;

■ Commitment 9: Corporate philanthropy policy focused on the arts, solidarity and the environment.

The highlights of 2019 include:

■ in the area of financial inclusion:

■ BNP Paribas celebrated 30 years of working in the microfinance sector: more than 2 million people without access to banking services, indirectly financed by BNP Paribas via 84 Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), have thus been able to launch or grow their business. Since 81% of beneficiaries are women, the Group has created a digital exhibition, Little Big Movement(1), featuring around 50 women micro-entrepreneurs,

■ BNP Paribas has signed a partnership agreement with UN Environment as part of the Microfinance for Ecosystem-based Adaptation (MEbA) project. As a result, smallholder farmers in Senegal and Colombia have access to innovative financing solutions to help them adapt to climate change.

■ in addition, to encourage social inclusion in France:

■ BNP Paribas helped to launch L Ascenseur ( the Elevator ), the only place in Europe that promotes access to education, employment, sport and the arts for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds,

■ reaffirming its 20-year commitment to Seine-Saint-Denis French department, BNP Paribas has signed the SSD Égalité charter, which furthers its efforts to boost the economic and social development of the region.

■ Lastly, in terms of generosity:

■ once again, the Rescue & Recover Fund enabled teams to react swiftly and effectively to humanitarian disasters thanks to donations from BNP Paribas staff, retired employees and customers in France, which were then matched by the Bank. Actions included the emergency response in Mozambique in the wake of Cyclone Idai. A development campaign was also launched to facilitate access to healthcare for women living in extreme poverty. In total, more than EUR 400,000 was raised for partner non-governmental organisations (NGOs),

■ the BNP Paribas Foundation donated EUR 20 million to help restore Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris following the fire that affected this Unesco World Heritage Site.

(1) https://group.bnpparibas/en/microfinance30years.

COMMITMENT 7: PRODUCTS AND SERVICES THAT ARE WIDELY ACCESSIBLE

The Group strives to improve financial products accessibility around the world, since financial inclusion of populations is a key accelerator of economic development and satisfies the 1st, 8th and 10th Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. This approach is notably accompanied by efforts to tailor the offering and provide the financial education needed to ensure better use of financial products.

GROUP SUPPORT TO MICROFINANCE BNP Paribas has been committed to microfinance for 30 years and uses several levers to promote its deployment: direct financing of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), investment in specialised funds, development of positive impact funds, distribution of microfinance funds, carrying out technical assistance missions, etc.

A development strategy built around financial and social performance

In 2019, the Group s overall support towards microfinance exceeded EUR 357 million, enabling the direct financing of 28 MFIs in 15 countries, and more than 100 MFIs indirectly in most countries around the world via 11 dedicated funds in which the different entities of the Group invest. New MFIs were supported in 2019, including Than Hoa in Vietnam and Madura in India, which exclusively target communities of women in rural areas who are excluded from conventional financing. In the United States, Bank of the West helped to finance the opening of a new branch of the MFI Grameen America, which is dedicated exclusively to supporting women micro-entrepreneurs.

BNP Paribas is mindful of the social performance of its MFI portfolio, as evidenced by the score of 79% measured by the SPI4 (Social Performance Indicators) tool developed by the NGO Cerise, while the SPI4 global base achieves an average score of 65% calculated over nearly 300 MFIs worldwide.