Helping disaster victims in Türkiye, Syria and Morocco
When the deadly earthquakes struck Türkiye and Syria in February 2023, the Group was quick to activate its Rescue & Recover Fund, which enables Group employees, pensioners and customers to make donations to provide rapid financial support to its partner NGOs on the ground (CARE, the French Red Cross, “Médecins Sans Frontières” - Doctors Without Borders - and IFAW) and to help local populations. For each donation made, BNP Paribas doubled the amount, which raised a total of nearly €1.3 million after the Group’s matching contribution. In addition, in Türkiye, TEB has donated nearly €12.5 million to help victims of the earthquake.
In September 2023, when Morocco was also hit, the Group again activated its Rescue & Recover Fund to support the French Red Cross, through the Moroccan Red Crescent, and CARE through its local CARE Morocco branch. Through fundraising and the Group’s matching contributions, more than €250,000 was raised to help the local communities. At the same time, BNP Paribas also made an exceptional contribution of €500,000 via the BMCI Foundation, bringing the Group’s total support to €750,000. BMCI also contributed €3 million to the national effort to support victims.
The former headquarters of AP-HP become the largest social “third place” in Paris
For eighteen months, the former headquarters of “Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris” (AP-HP) became “Les Arches Citoyennes” (The Citizen Arches), a “third place” (a social area separate from the home or the workplace) focused on care, solidarity and local connections. This temporary installation was part of the project won in July 2022 by the consortium led by BNP Paribas Real Estate, in association with APSYS and RATP Solutions Ville, to develop the first “building with a mission” in Paris. Covering nearly 30,000 sqm and facing the city hall, the site is considered to be the largest “third place” dedicated to social activities in Paris.
BNP Paribas provides support for two social bonds in South Korea
Our Corporate & Institutional Banking division worked with two major Korean banks as joint lead manager and bookrunner of two social bonds. The first, issued by Shinhan Bank with a maturity of five years and an amount of US$500 million, is the first South Korean gender equality-themed bond. The funds raised will be used exclusively to finance and refinance social projects for women looking to borrow. These women will thus have the necessary capital to set up a business, buy their own home and, generally, be more financially independent.
For its part, KEB Hana Bank raised €600 million via an SME Empowerment Social Covered Bond that will increase the lender’s capacity to extend loans to small and medium-sized enterprises. This breakthrough is all the more decisive given that local SMEs make a vital contribution to the country’s economy.
