RepoRt on - BNP Paribas

usiness
continuity
to deal with the consequences of an a/
H1n1 flu pandemic, bnP Paribas stepped
up its preparations in 2009, working
closely with the authorities. the aim is
to meet its responsibilities as a socially
responsible employer and a financial
institution, in order to help ensure the
smooth running of the real economy.
preparing for
a pandemic: a priority
1. objectives: the bnp paribas
group’s preparations have
three major objectives:
— protecting staff through comprehensive
health arrangements covering
all aspects of the pandemic:
recommendations for personal hygiene
in the workplace, provision
of masks, dealing with infected
people;
— helping maintain the essential
activities specified by the authorities
for large banks and financial
institutions: supplying atms with
banknotes, maintaining interbank
payments, continuing activities in
financial markets and the insurance
sector;
— maintaining each institution’s specific
activities, i.e. continuing services
to customers and counterparty
activities, in the event that
the pandemic causes a high level
of staff absences.
2. strategy: a central scenario,
general group guidelines and
centralised decision-making.
to implement this strategy, the group
intends to have consistent arrangements
across the group, without any
differences in treatment between
businesses or geographic areas. the
bnP Paribas group has appointed a
global co-ordinator to organise its pandemic
programme. the co-ordinator
is a member of the group executive
committee, and his task is to ensure
that all participants concerned are
fully mobilised. this means ensuring
that central, business line and country
participants fulfil their roles in terms of
Hr, business continuity, security, real
estate and it infrastructure, communication
and liaison with the financial
authorities.
3. Resources: resources allocated in
2005 were increased substantially
in 2009, in order to:
— ensure that all staff have access
to protection equipment (masks,
disinfectant fluids, cloths);
— enable staff to work from home,
limiting the risk of contamination;
— deploy a business continuity plan
for each business, based on the
methodology developed by the
group’s business continuity coordination
team.
ongoing objective:
ensuring the bnp paribas
group’s resilience
in 2009, further improvements were
made to the business continuity system
to ensure that it is fully operational.
the scope covered by the system is increasing
every year. almost all of the
group is now covered, including fortis
entities, which form part of periodic
reporting.
business continuity efforts are also becoming
more business-like, due to the
increasing involvement of management
and more efficient tools.
133 <strong>RepoRt</strong> on CoRpoRate SoCial and enviRonmental ReSponSibility
areas of improvement have been clearly
identified, and those responsible have a
plan of action. the plan includes:
— ensuring that systems are operational
through more precise definition of
their control arrangements, including
via a comprehensive independent
review;
— updating methodological tools, including
reconciliation with those
used by fortis, in order to adopt best
practice across the whole group;
— continuing to scale up processes, in
order to reallocate resources to the
operational implementation of business
continuity plans.