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AXA chooses Paribas for the custody of its Securities

Following several months of exclusive negotiations, AXA and Paribas signed a contract on September 7, 1999 whereby Paribas will take custody of the assets of the AXA Group in France.

By the terms of this agreement, AXA Banque, the current custodian bank of AXA Group's French companies, will contract out to Paribas the management of the account and the custody of securities worth a total of 116 billion euros (FRF 760 billion) held by all the different French entities within the AXA Group.

Within this new framework, AXA Banque will continue to manage securities and cash transactions, act as depositary of AXA Group's mutual funds and remain the holder of the securities with regards to central depositaries such as Sicovam SA. This innovating organization will enable AXA Group to maintain and develop its market access through AXA Banque, and retain the management of its asset flow.

This agreement raises the total value of securities held in custody by Paribas to more than 800 billion euros (FRF 5,250 billion), without including the securities worth 200 billion euros held in custody by BNP. Thanks to this agreement, the BNP Paribas Group (the world's sixth largest custodian bank) reinforces its position as Europe's leading bank in this sector of activity.

AXA chose Paribas for its execution capabilities, the recognized quality of its service and its coverage of 18 countries throughout the euro area, including 9 East European countries thanks to the Bank Austria/Creditanstaldt alliance.

Through its regional presence, Paribas will accompany AXA Banque's greater centralization of cash and securities transactions of the AXA Group in Europe.

Preliminary work is already underway in other European countries