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BNP Paribas inaugurates its Paris Trade Center

After Hong Kong, San Francisco, Montreal, Bahrain, Casablanca, ...BNP Paribas is inaugurating its Paris Trade Center and taking the opportunity to launch "Connexis Trade", an innovative transactional tool that enables users to optimize the management of their cross-border transactions via the Internet. The Bank is expecting a large number of clients at its head office, where they will be joined by Michel Pébereau, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas.

BNP Paribas is the leader in its domestic market and one of the top five players worldwide in trade and export finance. Since the middle of 2000, the Group has been developing a specific network - the BNP Paribas Trade Centers - to satisfy the needs of importers and exporters the world over.

The purpose of the BNP Paribas Trade Centers is to supply international trade solutions by offering clients:

- access to a uniform global network of specialists who are interconnected by a powerful Intranet
- the advisory services of a dedicated expert, who provides tailored solutions and continuous technical support
- a comprehensive range of products and services, including trade finance, export finance, foreign exchange, and cash management.


Today, 50 Trade Centers are operational on all five continents, including 10 in France. The inauguration of the Paris Trade Center is a crucial step in the creation of this network: With 700 clients, it has the highest potential in terms of number of transactions. The network will have 70 Trade Centers by the end of 2002, including 60 outside France.


This inauguration gives BNP Paribas an opportunity to present its client offering in a series of workshops on the topic of "international trade and new technologies", and in particular, its latest product, "Connexis Trade".


"Connexis Trade" is a secure, user-friendly Internet portal that allows users to initiate common import-export transactions (such as letters of credit) on line and to monitor them in real time. It is a transactional tool and a means of exchanging information between the Bank and its clients.


The other workshops presented will cover:

- the Corporate & Institutional portal (https://entreprises.bnpparibas.com), which offers a uniform, structured presentation of the entire BNP Paribas corporate offering and provides access to the various transactional sites, including Connexis Trade
- the offering arising from the partnership with Coface, for distributing Globalliance insurance products and the @rating scoring tool through the Trade Center network
- Bolero (bolero.net), an Internet platform for computerized exchanges of secure, standardized international trade documents; this system is open to all players operating in the field of international trade, including importers, exporters, banks, freight companies, insurers, and customs authorities.


With the opening of the Paris Trade Center and the launch of Connexis Trade, BNP Paribas has confirmed its position as a partner to corporations worldwide as well as its leadership in on-line services.