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BNP Paribas receives Approval to Offer the SWIFTNet Network to its Corporate Clients

BNP Paribas announced today its approval by the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) Board to offer the new interactive, highly secure SWIFTNet network to its corporate clients. Of the 7000 members of SWIFT, BNP Paribas is among the first wave of banks to be approved. BNP Paribas can thus enable its corporate clients to access SWIFT's worldwide connectivity. Clients can leverage SWIFTNet - a new service providing advanced IP-based messaging solutions and remote web-server secure browsing capabilities. SWIFTNet is destined to replace the present interbank network SWIFT FIN by the end of 2004. SWIFTNet will allow corporates to carry out their banking operations and receive their account statements in real time, using a single secure network to communicate with all their banking partners.

For many years, treasurers have been demanding access to the SWIFT inter-bank network. While a small number of treasurers of large multinational companies have been able to use the SWIFT format for communicating with banks, they employed different networks and levels of security. SWIFTNet changes all this, it employs a ‘single window' connectivity providing a single communications infrastructure. Access to SWIFTNet ensures unprecedented reliability, security and rapid interaction with the SWIFT network for corporates communicating with their banks.

About SWIFT
SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) is a worldwide community. Over 7,000 financial institutions in 197 countries connect to one another through SWIFT. Collectively, these institutions, active in payments, securities, treasury and trade services, exchange over 7 million messages valued in trillions of euro every business day.

About BNP Paribas Cash Management
BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is a European leader in banking and financial services, with leading positions in Asia and a growing presence in the United States. It is the number one bank in terms of market capitalisation and 2001 net income in the euro zone. The group has one of the largest international banking networks throughout 85 countries and has over 85,000 employees worldwide.
The Cash Management Business Line brings together 200 specialists in Paris and 300 cash management experts throughout the bank's French and international network. BNP Paribas provides a full range of international cash management solutions : information reporting and payment instructions, e-business services and liquidity management solutions (physical and notional cash pooling). In addition, the group has formed bilateral partnerships with other large banking groups. This opens a network of over 10,000 branches to BNP Paribas' corporate clients and ensures the banks' position as a leading player in international cash management.