2012 Registration document and annual financial report - BNP Paribas

7ARESPONSIBLE BANK: INFORMATION ON BNP PARIBAS’ ECONOMIC,SOCIAL, CIVIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY“Civic” responsibility: helping to combat social exclusion and promoting education and culture7.4 “Civic ” responsibility: helping to combatsocial exclusion and promoting educationand cultureBNP Paribas plays a committed role in society: it adds its support to manyinitiatives to combat social exclusion and nurture education and culture.In its civic responsibility, the Group uses all the tools at its disposal, asa banker, employer and philanthropist, to foster the sustainable andharmonious development of society.These actions are in keeping with its three commitments:■ Commitment 7: Help combat exclusion and support socialentrepreneurship;■ Commitment 8: Corporate philanthropy policy focused on education,health, culture and solidarity;■ Commitment 9: Compliance with UN guiding principles concerninghuman rights.COMBATING EXCLUSION AND SUPPORTING SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP7BNP Paribas has for many years been committed to combating socialexclusion in general and financial exclusion, in particular, as this acts asa major brake on development. The Group works in close partnershipwith local players:■ in France, particularly in underprivileged urban areas via ProjetBanlieues;■ in the wider world, by participating actively in the development ofsocial entrepreneurship, efforts to reduce excessive debt and thefinancial education of the public at large.“PROJET BANLIEUES”: STRONGCOMMITMENT TO SUPPORT SENSITIVEURBAN AREAS IN FRANCEBeing closely involved with individuals and businesses in the largeconurbations, BNP Paribas has over the past 15 years channelled asignificant part of its job creation to districts where they are based: forexample, the Group has become the leading private-sector employer inSeine-Saint-Denis.At the same time, in its Projet Banlieues, BNP Paribas supportsassociations, educational institutions, solidarity investment funds andothers working to create economic and social levers in the suburbs,particularly the underprivileged urban zones. Launched in 2006 bythe BNP Paribas Foundation, in coordination with the French bankingnetwork, Projet Banlieues focuses on three areas of action: businessstart-ups and integration into the labour market; education; and localinitiatives. Continued in 2012, this project currently has an annual budgetof EUR 4.5 million.Business start-ups and integration into the labourmarketThe Projet Banlieues mechanism for fostering job creation involvesproviding support to four leading players:■ Adie (Association pour le droit à l’initiative économique), whose partnerBNP Paribas has been since 1993, helps those excluded from thebanking system and the unemployed to set up their own businesses.In 2012, the BNP Paribas Foundation provided EUR 1.1 million forAdie. The Group has become the association’s primary partner, havingcontributed more than EUR 6.5 million in subsidies since 2006, witha total of EUR 5 million of credit lines at end-2012. Since 2006,Adie has opened 13 new microcredit branches in France. Around5,500 microloans have thus been provided, allowing more than3,500 businesses to be set up at the locations involved, representingmore than 4,500 additional new jobs. Alongside this, BNP Paribas hastaken several other actions to support Adie, such as the programme“Engagés ensemble pour l’emploi” (jointly committed to jobs) set upwith the BNP Paribas branch network in France, or the volunteerassociation for BNP Paribas and Cetelem employees and pensioners.4042012 Registration document and annual financial report - BNP PARIBAS