5552019 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
Repairing the social ladder in France
Opened in June 2019, L Ascenseur is the only place in Europe that brings together some 20 associations and social enterprises around a common goal: facilitating access to education, employment, sport and the arts for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The brainchild of article 1 and Mozaïk RH, L Ascenseur relied on crucial support from the various business lines of BNP Paribas, which is the lead partner and founding sponsor. Thanks to the combined efforts of the Bank s various departments, 400,000 young people could receive support from L Ascenseur s tenants in 2019.
Developing the skills and occupations of the future
At the Tech for Good 2019 Summit, BNP Paribas, IBM and Orange announced the launch of the P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools) project in partnership with the French Ministry of National Education and Youth. Two schools in the French departments of Nord and Hauts-de-Seine adopted this initiative at the start of the 2019 school year, the aim being to encourage equal opportunities and develop skills for the occupations of the future.
BNP PARIBAS IS COMMITTED TO RESPECTING HUMAN RIGHTS
Commitment at the highest level
BNP Paribas adheres to internationally-recognised human rights standards. This commitment is expressed at the highest level in the BNP Paribas Declaration on Human Rights, signed by the Group s Executive Management and promoting the respect of these rights within BNP Paribas' sphere of influence.
The Group supports the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, in accordance with the Protect, Respect and Remedy framework. It has also chosen to follow the recommendations of the United Nations Guiding Principles Reporting Framework, launched in February 2015.
Moreover, in late 2018, BNP Paribas published a Responsible Business Relationships Charter(1) addressed towards its customers, reaffirming its will to work with companies demonstrating a high level of governance and responsibility in matters of human rights and fundamental freedoms, health and safety and the environment, in their business practices..
Since 2013, BNP Paribas has been taking part in the meetings and annual gatherings of the Thun group, an informal group representing international banks seeking to improve the integration of the UN Guiding Principles within the policies and practices of financial institutions. In 2019, the matters of due diligence and human rights performance indicators, as well as the current and future regulatory developments, were discussed. The question of the impact of climate change and artificial intelligence on the banking sector s handling of human rights was also examined.
Training
The Group focuses on employee training, which is an important component of its human rights risks management process. Since 2016, a Human Rights and Business training course, set up with the help of the French association Entreprises pour les Droits de l Homme (EDH), of which BNP Paribas is a member, has been assigned to Group employees who can be confronted with human rights issues as part of their work. At the end of 2019, 88% of the employees to whom the training had been assigned had completed the online awareness module dealing with taking human rights into account in lending decisions. Since 2016, more than 7,000 employees have completed this training.
Monitoring of indirect salient risks(2) in the management of distribution of the Group s financial products and services
BNP Paribas has identified two main risks in the distribution of its products and services:
■ non-discrimination in access to financial services;
■ right to privacy (protection of clients personal data).
Non-discrimination in access to financial services The Group considers that sustainable economic development promotes wider access to fundamental rights. For that reason, it strives to boost access to financial services in the communities in which it operates (see Products and services that are widely accessible, Commitment 7).
Right to privacy Privacy protection is identified as a priority ethical issue in the Code of conduct. Binding Corporate Rules, approved by the EU Data Protection Authorities, have been established on Human Resources data, providing an adequate -level of protection across the Group. In 2019, the Group continued to strengthen data protection activities and increased the existing Data Protection Network to over 100 individuals across the world, achieving coverage by territory and individual business line.
The Group enhanced activities to continuously measure developing maturity against GDPR articles and identify areas of improvement through the use of key performance indicators, for example on responding to requests by Data Subjects or conducting data protection impact assessment and personal data breach management. Moreover, the Group has further standardised and automated methods to report personal data breaches and conduct privacy risk assessments to drive overall improvement in process.
(1) Available on www.group.bnpparibas.com.
(2) Salient is the term used by the drafters of the United Nations Guiding Principles Reporting Framework.
