2008 Sustainable development report

Chairman’s and chief executive officer’s statement

Over the past 18 months the financial sector has gone through an unprecedented financial crisis, which started in the US and immediately propagated to Europe as a consequence of globalisation and which currently touches all players.

Until last September the crisis concerned mainly speculative transactions like subprime mortgages and securitisation. Therefore BNP Paribas was able to weather the storm thanks to our diligent risk management procedures, our focus on customer service, and an effective, balanced business model backed by a robust retail banking chain.

Since September 2008 and the bankruptcy of a major US bank the crisis grew increasingly violent and far-reaching while a global economic crisis developed. Our investment banking business was battered by extreme market volatility, and BNP Paribas as a whole suffers from the slowing economy and the difficulties met by some of our clients.

In this context, we can observe that we are one of the global banks to best weather the crisis. BNP Paribas generated a sizeable profit in 2008. Our business model is reinforced and our strength renowned as is reflected by our ratings which provide us access to optimal refinancing conditions.

The Banker magazine recognised our solid health by naming BNP Paribas the 2008 Bank of the Year.

Our economic responsibility stems from our culture of managing risks and serving the real economy which constitutes the foundation of our Corporate and Social Responsibility and drives the Group’s overall performance:

• BNP Paribas is the only French bank in the FTSE4Good Environmental Leaders Europe 40 Index.
• BNP Paribas is the first bank to receive ISO 14001 certification for over half of its branches in France.
• BNP Paribas is one of the first seven French companies to receive the Diversity label.
• BNP Paribas is the leading French bank in terms of corporate governance (according to Riskmetric-Capitalcom) and the only company that includes non-discrimination in its risk management policy.

During this time of crisis, difficulty and widespread uncertainty, our CSR efforts are being appreciated as never before. This shows our credibility and a renewed confidence from all of our partners and awards our employees’ commitment and sensitivity particularly evident during the last Global People Survey which was carried throughout all BNP Paribas business units.

This report on the social responsibility of our company presents our CSR effort and the main initiatives taken in 2008.