The dialogue that BNP Paribas holds with all its stakeholders seeks to be open and constructive. It aims to identify their evolving expectations and to integrate societal transformations within the Group’s strategic orientations.
BNP Paribas pays close attention to the stakeholders in the ecosystem in which it operates. These are segmented into two types: contractual stakeholders — customers, employees and representative bodies, individual shareholders and institutional investors, and suppliers — or Strategic stakeholders including companies in which the Group invests, regulatory bodies, governments and legislators, international organisations, local and regional authorities, civil society, financial and non‑financial rating agencies, the media and local populations.
In line with our company purpose, we have chosen to interact with all our stakeholders through an open and constructive dialogue. These interactions occur daily, and in many forms, such as providing information, holding structured dialogues, and implementing frameworks for exchanges and relationship management.
What are the objectives of such an approach? This dialogue allows us to anticipate changes in our businesses and continually improve our products and services, optimise the management of risks confronting the Group and design innovative solutions with a positive impact on society.
To inform the analysis of our stakeholders’ expectations, we revised our materiality matrix in 2021. Presented opposite, this matrix maps out and prioritises the various challenges we face. To carry out this update, we assessed the importance of 21 non‑financial issues for the Group by collecting both the perceptions of more than 1,200 senior managers and those of our external stakeholders.
At the end of this study, three groups of issues emerge. They are categorised into critical, major and important issues.
For the Group, issues qualified as critical are essential. As in 2018, these issues include data confidentiality and security, climate change and the energy transition, ethics and compliance. However, they have also broadened to include human rights, responsible investments and financing, and business continuity. These six critical issues, combined with the eight major challenges — economic value, customer expectations, digital transformation and innovation, employer policy, fair and equitable work, governance, talent development and transparent practices — represent the 14 main priorities for BNP Paribas.
The Group has taken these into account in the construction of its GTS 2025 strategic plan (described in the previous pages). The three ambitions that structure the plan — Growth, Technology and Sustainability — are strongly inspired by the matrix. Profitable growth, the continuous improvement of the customer and employee experience and sustainable finance are indeed themes that reach across these 14 priorities and can be found at the heart of this plan.
