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BNP Paribas acquires Exelbank, a subsidiary of Banco Sabadell dedicated to custody services

Madrid - BNP Paribas and Banco Sabadell have today announced an agreement by which BNP Paribas Securities Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BNP Paribas, acquires Exelbank, a subsidiary of Banco Sabadell specialising in custody services. As a result of this agreement, Exelbank will be integrated into BNP Paribas Securities Services once the necessary approvals are obtained from the corresponding regulators.

Exelbank provides custody and settlement related services to Spanish and international financial institutions, depositary bank services to mutual and pension funds and outsourcing services related to investment operations and private banking. The subsidiary, with its origin in Banco Urquijo, is more than 40 years old, and is strongly recognised in the Spanish custody market. Currently, it has some EUR 18 billion in assets under custody and serves more than 150 funds, managed by approximately 25 investment managers.

This acquisition consolidates BNP Paribas Securities Services' position among the leading players in the Spanish market, where it already serves a large portfolio of domestic and international clients. It will enable BNP Paribas to add both significant scale to its Spanish custody operations and further strengthen its presence in one of Europe's important investor markets.

Commenting on the agreement, Jacques-Philippe Marson, Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas Securities Services said: "The European consolidation in the securities services industry continues and this transaction reflects our strategy of external growth via selected acquisitions and partnerships. Like BNP Paribas, Exelbank has a well-respected, top-rated team of professionals and a high-quality client franchise, in Spain - all of which will reinforce our service offering in the Spanish market".

Commenting on the transaction, Miquel Montes, current Chairman of Exelbank and Deputy General Manager of Banco Sabadell, said: "After a detailed and rigorous bidding process, we are very pleased to sell the business to BNP Paribas. BNP Paribas Securities Services, the European leader, is by far the best option to guarantee the continuity of the business in our clients' best interests."

Alvaro Camuñas, Head of BNP Paribas Securities Services in Spain added: “We are very pleased to have signed this agreement with Banco Sabadell. We anticipate a smooth migration of activity, and also look forward to developing further strong relationships with Exelbank's clients”.

NOTES TO EDITORS

BNP Paribas Securities Services
BNP Paribas Securities Services is a leading securities services provider to the world's financial institutions, with a local presence in all key European markets as well as in the US and Australasia. With 4,400 dedicated staff in 18 countries, BNP Paribas Securities Services has over 700 clients, including 8 of the world's top 10 investment managers, and a global custody network covering 90 markets. It holds over EUR 3.6 trillion of assets under custody (Dec 2006) and EUR 623 billion of assets under administration for 4,675 funds worldwide. The bank also provides performance, attribution and risk-management analysis for 2,900 investment portfolios, and in 2006 processed over 32 million securities transactions.

BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is a European leader in banking and financial services, and ranks among the world's top 15 banks by market capitalization. It has around 140 000 employees, 110 000 of whom are based in Europe. The group occupies leading positions in three significant fields of activity: Corporate and Investment Banking, Asset Management & Services and Retail Banking. It is present in 85 countries and has a strong presence in all the key financial centres. Present throughout Europe, in all its business lines, France and Italy are its two domestic markets in retail banking. BNP Paribas enjoys a significant and growing presence in the United States and leading positions in Asia and in emerging markets.

In Spain, BNP Paribas is one of the leading international banking groups, with leadership positions in all the business segments in which we are acting with 17 different legal entities. More than 3.300 employees serve approximately 4 million individuals and 1.000 corporate and institutional clients through 140 branches all around Spain.

Banco Sabadell
Banco Sabadell, a company listed in the IBEX 35, heads the fourth most important banking group of Spain, and is integrated by a series of companies, subsidiaries and stockholdings, and commercial brands such as SabadellAtlántico, Banco Herrero, Solbank and ActivoBank.

With total assets exceeding 72,000 million euros and stock capitalisation of around 11,000 million euros, nowadays Banco Sabadell has around 9,800 employees and 1.200 branches mainly addressing the financial needs of small and medium-sized companies, private customers of the medium and high income brackets and professionals, through a wide range of combined-source commercial products which, historically, has always excelled for its capacity for innovation and intensive use of information technologies.