Flying the Flag for Next Generation Sustainable Treasury

BNP Paribas scales new heights, winning seven TMI Awards in tandem with its clients

As corporate branding goes, BNP Paribas’ trademark green could not be more appropriate – the bank is leading the pack in terms of its sustainability commitments and solutions, and is TMI’s 2021 Global Bank of the Year for ESG.

Scooping the top Treasury4Good Award is no mean feat. But BNP Paribas has been prioritising the transition to a low-carbon economy for more than a decade, through progressive sector policies and product innovation. The bank also recently scaled up its commitment to net-zero by 2050, becoming a founder member of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance in April 2021.

BNP Paribas is also a veteran provider of sustainable finance and continues to push the boundaries in this space, supporting its clients in their sustainability transformations. Highlights include being joint bookrunner on the world’s largest sustainable bond issuance in 2021, as well as a number of ‘firsts’ including the inaugural sustainable (not just green) deposit product for corporates and being the sole structuring advisor and sole global co-ordinator for the first-ever convertible sustainability-linked bond issuance.

ESG everywhere

These sustainable developments are by no means limited to Europe, either. Bank of the West, a US subsidiary of BNP Paribas, teamed up with 1% for the Planet to launch its first checking account designed for climate action. Bank of the West will donate 1% of net revenues generated from the account to support environmental non-profit organisations focused on creating a healthier planet. A key feature of the account is a carbon-tracking tool that enables customers to view the carbon impact of every purchase made with the 1% for the Planet debit card.

Across LATAM and APAC, BNP Paribas is also flexing its ESG muscles to assist clients in their transformation journeys, supporting numerous sustainable and social bond issuances, as well as tackling pressing environmental and social issues across both regions. This includes helping to fight deforestation in the Amazon and a focus on the blue economy and biodiversity in APAC. Indeed, the bank has implemented an ocean protection policy which commits €1bn by 2025 to finance the ecological transition of ships.

Another ESG initiative that impressed the TMI judges is BNP Paribas’ commitment to plant a tree for every contract signed on Welcome, its state-of-the-art client onboarding platform. By its very nature, the digital signing of all onboarding documents ensures that tens of thousands of sheets of paper and ink are saved – but the bank is going one step further with its planting promise, which has already seen 5,000 trees take root.

For all of these reasons, BNP Paribas is a worthy winner of TMI’s 2021 Global Bank of the Year for ESG.

Supplying success

The bank has not been resting on its ESG laurels, however, also taking home TMI Innovation & Excellence Awards for Global Bank of the Year for Trade Finance & Financial Supply Chain and Best Bank for Trade & Financial Supply Chain – Europe.

Speaking about the bank’s commitment to international comments, Pierre Fersztand, Global Head of Cash Management, Trade and Payments, BNP Paribas, says: “Trade finance is key for the strategic development of BNP Paribas. We want to be clients’ preferred partner everywhere we operate. We are committed for the long term as witnessed by our deep and continued investments.”

Present in 65 countries across the globe, the bank operates a One Network policy, with more than 100 trade centres and over 350 experts on hand to help clients across Europe, APAC and the Americas. The bank is continually innovating in the trade and supply chain space, adopting the latest digital initiatives, working with fintechs, keeping ahead of regulatory changes, and threading ESG through all of its activities.

The bank’s five-year vision is to offer digitised multi-bank trade solutions, fully integrated and connected to other trade platforms via standard APIs. To this end, it is an early joiner of initiatives such as Marco Polo, Contour and the Trade Information Network, to name just a few.

Jean-François Denis, Head of Trade Solutions and Network Management, BNP Paribas, comments: “We will continue to invest further into the digitisation of trade solutions and the improvement of processes, service and experience for clients. The mission of BNP Paribas is to accompany clients in their trade projects, notably on centralisation.”

The bank is also working to improve sustainability and set an example for social and environmental responsibility across its trade and supply chain initiatives, as evidenced by its award-winning work with client ENGIE on green guarantees (see below). This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of BNP Paribas’ innovative trade and supply chain work across Europe and the globe.

A cash management leader

With 150 corporate banking centres, no bank has more domestic markets in Europe than BNP Paribas. With cash management capabilities in 23 countries with full access to all local and European payment systems, the bank continues to innovate at pace, earning it the title of TMI’s 2021 Best Bank for Cash & Liquidity Management – Europe.

Together with impeccable service and solutions in all the areas one would expect, ranging from working capital solutions to payments, BNP Paribas is leading the way when it comes to co-creation with clients and fintechs. The bank’s creative ways of working include hackathons, co-design sessions, its well-known Treasury Board sessions, as well as blockchain labs and incubators for early-stage ideas. It also has strategic partnerships in place with companies such as Cashforce.

One of the concepts that came out of a Treasury Board session was the aforementioned Welcome platform for digital onboarding. This continues to go from strength to strength and is ready to integrate with industry solutions such as SWIFT’s KYC Registry when the time comes. BNP Paribas incorporates SWIFT technology into its expert offerings and has also been involved in many early adoptions of SWIFT gpi.

What truly distinguishes BNP Paribas as the Best Bank for Cash & Liquidity Management – Europe, however, is its client service. The bank’s service teams are consistently praised for going above and beyond, as demonstrated through numerous client case studies, including three award-winning collaborations outlined below.

Corporate recognition

Naval Group expertly navigates SWIFT gpi

With innovative partnerships across the globe, Christophe Beuvard, Treasurer, Naval Group, knew that having full transparency over outgoing payments was vital for maintaining excellent supplier relationships.

In the past, Naval Group had sometimes encountered issues with cross-border payments: with different time zones, language barriers and numerous banks involved, it can be difficult to obtain information about exactly where a payment is. “And if our suppliers are not paid on time, that is a real issue for us. Certainty around our cross-border payments is critical for securing our projects abroad and remaining competitive and efficient – as per our strategic plan,” Beuvard notes.

With this in mind, Naval Group decided to implement SWIFT gpi for corporates (g4C). Beuvard turned to the group’s major cash management bank, BNP Paribas, to assist with this endeavour. One of the services he was particularly interested in was the bank’s Pay and Trace capability, which enables gpi payment status reports to be automatically integrated into a corporate’s TMS ERP. This provides complete transparency over gpi payments at any point in time – without the corporate needing to contact the bank.

Pay and Trace also enables Naval Group to hold on to cash for longer, since there is no need to account for potential blockages and leave a window of time for the payment to arrive – meaning that there are working capital benefits, too. Beuvard is delighted with these advantages and the fact that enriched data, including details on routing and fees, is fed directly into the TMS, Kyriba. Further innovation is also in the pipeline, but the developments so far are worthy of TMI’s 2021 Award Corporate Recognition Award for Best SWIFT gpi implementation.

L’Oreal gives payment beneficiaries visibility

Meanwhile, the Award for Best Payments Innovation in the corporate space goes to L’Oréal Group, which worked closely with BNP Paribas to develop a system called BENEtracker to alert its suppliers of incoming payments. Previously, there was no visibility over the payment process once the request for payment transfer had been lodged in the banking system. With every payment disappearing into a black box, if an issue arose, fixing it was a drain on resources for the supplier, L’Oréal, and the bank.

Although L’Oréal had already leveraged the SWIFT gpi initiative to deliver greater payment transparency and predictability, it does not enable tracking that is accessible directly by the beneficiary of the payment. Now, L’Oréal’s current mechanism, co-created with BNP Paribas, pinpoints the exact location of every payment at each point of its journey, removing all uncertainty.

The collaborative effort between L’Oréal and BNP Paribas required to create this solution is testament to how well the two partners have gelled over the years. For Justine Dimovic, Global Head of Treasury & Financing, L’Oréal, having the right relationship is instrumental in driving creativity. “As a corporate we are keen to co-create solutions that will meet the needs we have, and potentially those of other businesses. It’s a great pleasure to be working in this way with BNP Paribas.”

ENGIE guarantees a green approach

A worldwide leading electricity, natural gas and energy services company, ENGIE is a pioneer in the green bond market. It is also committed to net zero by 2045. The company was looking for a green solution to support the issuance of trade-related guarantees for its activity in Spain in the area of renewable energy (photovoltaic and wind plants). So, it turned to long- term banking partner BNP Paribas to set up a cutting-edge €20m facility for the issuance of green guarantees linked to projects that will provide environmental benefits in line with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

The green guarantees are issued in relation to projects that comply with the definition of Eligible Green Projects as per ENGIE’s Green Financing Framework, thereby aligning financial solutions and instruments with ENGIE’s goal of being a global force for sustainable development. This joint innovation between ENGIE and BNP Paribas will also enable further progress in the energy company’s ambition to accelerate the transition towards a carbon-neutral economy, through reduced energy consumption and more environmentally friendly solutions. For this reason, it is the deserving winner of TMI’s Treasury4Good Award for Best Sustainable Trade Finance Solution 2021.