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 culture7In 2012, the BNP Paribas Foundation decided to provide supportfor the Restos du Cœur charity in France, paying for one millionmeals for people below the poverty line and who cannot afford abalanced diet. This action is being extended by the installation ofan information system for the charity’s reception centres.Bank of the West, BNP Paribas’ subsidiary in the United States,has been recognised by the San Francisco Business Times as akey player in corporate philanthropy. The bank has distinguisheditself not just by its contributions to the Californian region, butalso by the roughly USD 6 million (EUR 4.7 million) it has given insponsorship to the 19 states where it operates. In July 2012, Bankof the West came no. 2 in American Banker’s ranking of US bankson reputation, mainly because of its civic commitment.Education: promoting equal opportunitySupporting young people through their education, preparing them foradult life, helping them to master economic and financial issues, givingthem opportunities to study at the best universities: BNP Paribas and itsemployees have decided to commit to various educational programmes,with the aim of supporting innovative initiatives in order to transmitknowledge to those who need it most.Autonomy, empowerment, self-confidence: qualities like these canbe acquired by practising an art form and can help young peopleto find their place in society, to develop and to succeed. Thanksto the Smart Start programme, launched in 2012, with projectssupported in eight European countries, more than 800 childrenin situations of social exclusion, and coming from underprivilegedbackgrounds or suffering from a handicap, have been able tobenefit from a course enabling them to discover and practisea performing art. The project partners are the National MusicSchool (Bulgaria), the Associazione MUS-E Roma Onlus (Italy),the Orquestra Geração (Portugal), the Fundación Voluntariospor Madrid (Spain), the Muscular Dystrophy Association Hellas(Greece), the Fundatia Parada (Romania), Helium Arts (Ireland),Westminster City Council and PhotoView (UK).Healthcare: funding research and providing supportfor patientsBNP Paribas’ commitment to healthcare and medical research benefitspeople around the globe, including both research scientists and patients.It is deployed through the Group’s foundations, but also via its subsidiariesand business lines in the many countries where it operates.Recognised throughout the world for its research and preventativework on infectious diseases, the Institut Pasteur has developed aninternational network and collaborates with laboratories in a largenumber of countries. This global network means that high-levelresearch can now be carried out on the main infectious diseases.Important work is being done notably on a combined vaccineagainst measles and HIV (France), on hepatitis C (Japan, Spain),malaria (Brazil), resistance to antibiotics (Portugal) and denguefever (Hong Kong). For the last five years, BNP Paribas Corporate &Investment Banking (CIB) has been supporting these programmesin partnership with the Institut Pasteur and its network, currentlyin 15 counties. Donations made to date amount to more thanEUR 2 million.With BNP Paribas’ operations in five countries of sub-SaharanAfrica, the BNP Paribas Foundation set up an anti-malaria planin 2012, focused on Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali andSenegal, involving the distribution of impregnated mosquitonets, together with support and information for the populationsconcerned. This two-year commitment (2012 and 2013) involvesEUR 200,000 of financing and the distribution of more than25,000 impregnated nets. The leading cause of mortality in mostAfrican countries, malaria is responsible for more than one milliondeaths a year, of which more than 80% in sub-Saharan Africa;it particularly affects children of up to five years and pregnantwomen.Culture: preserving cultural heritage andsponsoring creativity and the performing artsThe need for support in preservation, creation and dissemination isinfinite in the cultural arena, given its importance for our society in termsof human, social and economic development. This is why BNP Paribashas decided to support the creation and preservation of heritage andis involved in numerous initiatives in the countries where it operates.4102012 Registration document and annual financial report - BNP PARIBAS