Discussions at the Fund Forum International this year centred around the impact of the crisis on the asset management community: how can we rebuild investor confidence in the industry? What products will attract investors back? Which business model will perform best?

Speakers from the academic world provided some thought-provoking insights into:

• the behaviour of investors during the crisis
• the outlook for the credit markets
• the response of central banks to the crisis, and
• the many "wicked problems" the world is facing.

Many participants as Florence Fontan, head of public affairs at BNP Paribas Securities Services, spoke about the current regulatory environment. Whilst UCITS IV was seen quite positively, the reverse is true of the recent draft directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers. There was a general feeling that any regulatory changes needs serious consideration before implementation.

This year again, Fund Forum International proved it was a great place to pick up on industry trends and meet senior people in the European and Global Asset Management industry.

In the face of market turmoil, which custodians will lead the market and what role will the smaller players have? A lot depends on how they shape their business, says Jacques-Philippe Marson, chief executive of BNP Paribas Securities Services. This feature appeared in How to run a bank: the essential reference guide for senior bank management around the globe,published by The Banker, a Financial Times Business publication.

Download the article.

New concerns lead to tighter decision-making in asset servicing, say BNP Paribas' Maria Cantillon and Chris Adams. This article was published in Global Custodian fund markets of the world: the guide 2008/09.

Download the article.

BNP Paribas Securities Services is delighted by the client recognition we have received in Global Custodian’s highly-regarded global custody survey. The bank was awarded top-rated status in six categories and also achieved over 100 ‘best in class awards’.

These results mark a significant improvement on 2007 – bringing us into the top 3 in all areas in which we qualified including most notably: First by clients with assets under custody (AUC) in excess of $10bn, second for European clients, second for fund managers.

The bank’s operational competence and client service received particular recognition from clients:

“Custody services are excellent”
“Excellent response time to questions/queries, particularly settlements. Staff generally very helpful”
“Very committed and motivated relationship team”

BNP Paribas Securities Services would like to thank all those who participated in the survey. Your feedback is extremely important to us and helps us to continuously improve our service to you.

The post-trade market is experiencing a sea change. Market participants (sell side), institutional investors and asset managers (buy side) can not wait until the end of the process to come up with their ideal organisation and will have to continually adapt to remain competitive. Florence Fontan, head of public affairs, explains all in an article published by Banque Stratégie Magazine N° 262 September 2008.

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The need to improve transparency and risk management brings additonal challenges to increasingly complex OTC derivatives investment, according to Dominique Iroz and Pascal Scatozza. This article was published in Global Investor Magazine on 13 October 2008.

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Global Finance ranks 300 of the world's largest banks according to long-term credit ratings and total assets - the top 10 are designated as the "World's Safest Banks". Ratings from Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch were used, BNP Paribas is rated AA+ by Standard & Poor's, Aa1 by Moody's and AA by Fitch.

Joseph D Giarraputo, Global Finance publisher says: "These banks have demonstrated an appropriately prudent approach to risk in providing international financial services. More than ever customers are viewing strong credit quality as an important feature of the banks with which they do business."

The European Central Bank (ECB) has published the following report on the securities custody industry. Florence Fontan, Head of public Affairs at BNP Paribas Securities Services, is a co-author of the report.

The report discusses the evolution of the custody industry, the risks involved and the challenges the industry is facing. The objective is to provide a useful summary of the current state of the european securities infrastructure, as well as a clear overview of the industry.

The report is part of the ECB Occasional Paper Series, which as a rule disseminates work carried out by ECB staff on subjects that relate to the main task and functions of the ECB and the European System of Central Banks. The report, No. 68 in the series, is on the ECB's website:
http://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/scientific/ops/

Download the report

For a colour printed and bound copy of this report, please contact your BNP Paribas Securities Services representative.

BNP Paribas : "Best Sub-Custodian in Western Europe"
May 2007

"Global Finance" magazine has announced the results of its annual survey of the world's "Best Sub-Custodians". The survey ranked custodians based on criteria such as customer relations, technology and local market knowledge, and covered 46 individual markets and 8 regions.

BNP Paribas won awards in three categories:

- Best Sub-Custodian in Western Europe
- Best Sub-Custodian in France
- Best Sub-Custodian in the Netherlands ( for the fourth time)

This is the fith year in a row that BNP Paribas Securities Services has won these awards for both Western Europe and France.
Garanti Bank, BNP Paribas' partner in the Turkish market, also won the award for "Best Sub-Custodian in Turkey".

BNP Paribas named 'Custodian of the Year' in France and Italy
February 2007

At the annual ICFA Awards ceremony held in London on 22 February, BNP Paribas was awarded 2 prizes:

Custodian of the Year - France
Custodian of the Year - Italy

This event, now in its third year, was attended by over 280 professionals from the custody and investment administration industry, and also coincided with the tenth anniversary of ICFA magazine.

Latest survey results - BNP Paribas 'Top Rated' global custodian and N°1 sub-custodian
January 2007

Two recent industry surveys confirm the service quality and product innovation that BNP Paribas Securities Services showed throughout 2006. In the latest client poll of global custodian banks undertaken by Global Custodian magazine, BNP Paribas secured an overall TOP RATED status. It was also TOP RATED in the Fund Manager client segment, ranking First among 13 banks.

BNP Paribas also received high scores in Global Investor magazine's survey of Sub-Custodians, ranking N°1 in three European markets - Belgium, France and Germany.

BNP Paribas named 'Fund Administrator of the Year'
December 2006

For the second year in a row, BNP Paribas Securities Services has been named 'Fund Administrator of the Year' at the annual awards ceremony organised by Funds Europe magazine. Commenting on the jury's decision, the magazine said "BNP Paribas Securities Services' substantial business growth and commitment to innovation make it the pre-eminent fund administrator in Europe... Its ability to support complex intra-pooling, extra-pooling and multi-manager solutions was cited by the judges as an example of its commitment to innovation and client focus."

BNP Paribas is 'Most innovative securities services provider in Europe'
November 2006

BNP Paribas Securities Services has been named as ‘Most innovative securities services provider in Europe’ by Financial-i magazine, an industry journal that covers technology issues in wholesale transaction banking.

The award was one of the inaugural 'Leaders in Innovation' prizes bestowed by the magazine, which recognised product innovation, cost effectiveness of solutions in terms of implementation and deployment, potential business benefits, ease of implementation and the ability to tackle specific business issues or problems.

BNP Paribas distinguished in 2006 Agent Bank survey
October 2006

In the 2006 Survey of Agent Banks undertaken by Global Custodian magazine, BNP Paribas Securities Services earned the 'Top Rated' distinction in 7 European markets (France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland) and was 'Commended' in two more (Belgium and Portugal). The survey, composed of 60 questions covering 10 service categories, received over 5,000 client responses.

BNP Paribas Securities Services was also 'Top Rated' in the regional category of 'Western Europe' - the only bank to enjoy this rating.

Providers were also eligible for a 'Best in Class' rating in each of the 10 service categories, depending on their score in that particular category. BNP Paribas Securities Services in Italy and in Switzerland achieved a perfect score of 'Best in Class' in all 10 categories, and overall the two locations were also ranked 1st among their peers in their respective markets.

BNP Paribas wins top spots in European Clearing Survey
July 2006

In the 2006 'European Clearing Survey' undertaken by Global Investor magazine, BNP Paribas Securities Services was named 'Best Bank' in 4 of the 5 major service categories:

• Best Bank for Settlement
• Best Bank for Managing Fails
• Best Bank for Managing Cash Flow
• Best Bank for providing Financing and Financing Alternatives

BNP Paribas also topped the provider rankings for the Euronext zone, and for a number of individual markets including France, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

BNP Paribas: 'Best Sub-Custodian in Western Europe'
May 2006

Global Finance magazine has announced the results of its annual survey of the world's 'Best Sub-Custodians'. The survey ranked custodians based on criteria such as customer relations, technology and local market knowledge, and covered 35 individual markets and 8 regions.

BNP Paribas won awards in three categories:

• Best Sub-Custodian in Western Europe
• Best Sub-Custodian in France
• Best Sub-Custodian in the Netherlands

This is the third year in a row that BNP Paribas has won these awards, and Garanti Bank, BNP Paribas' partner in the Turkish market, also won the award for 'Best Sub-Custodian in Turkey'.

BNP Paribas Securities Services opens office in the Cayman Islands
May 2006

BNP Paribas Securities Services is reinforcing its capabilities in Fund Administration and Global Corporate Trust by opening an office in the Cayman Islands. Until now, custody, fund administration, NAV calculation and a variety of corporate trust services have been provided to Cayman-domiciled funds and structured finance entities from BNP Paribas' Dublin, Luxembourg and London offices. The new, on-the-ground presence in Cayman allows BNP Paribas to expand services to include trustee, directorship, corporate secretarial and registered/principal office services - clients will thus benefit from a comprehensive ‘one-stop’ investment administration solution for their Cayman-domiciled fund and structured finance activities.

The BNP Paribas Group has been present in the Cayman Islands since 1972 and local staff has delivered administrative solutions to both mutual funds and to support structured finance transactions since 1997, mainly on behalf of the bank's capital markets and private banking divisions. To support the new Securities Services activity, a team of highly-experienced staff from the BNP Paribas Group in Grand Cayman has transferred to BNP Paribas Securities Services, and will henceforth be fully dedicated to the Securities Services' business and clients.

ICFA Awards: BNP Paribas is 'Best Regional Sub-Custodian'
February 2006

At the ICFA European Awards ceremony held in London on 22 February, BNP Paribas received 2 distinctions:

• Best Regional Sub-Custodian: North European Region
• Best Regional Sub-Custodian: South European Region

Organised by the magazine International Custody and Fund Administration (ICFA), the dinner and awards ceremony brought together three hundred industry executives and recognised excellence in a wide variety of services spanning custody, securities processing and investment administration.