Well, let us start. Good morning. I'm delighted to see you here for this general meeting of shareholders for fiscal 2026, which is a key moment for all of you, for the Board of Directors, for the Senior Leadership Team of the bank. Thank you for being here. I believe that all of you have been able to get seated after due formalities. I will now do what it takes to validly open this General Meeting of Shareholders for 2026. We are gathered here upon first convening. This meeting is a public meeting, as is the case every year.
The discussions and speeches of this meeting are recorded with three bailiffs of the Paris Court, which will draw up a detailed report in line with the legal requirements, with a recording posted on the website of the bank, with another recording being saved for a minimum period of two years. Please know that anything you say and yourself may be recorded. I would also like to mention the date of the next general meeting on the 11th of May, 2027, at 10:00 A.M.
The universal registration document, including the report of the Board of Directors on the financial statements of the group, was circulated to you, as well as the integrated report, which gives all the information about BNP Paribas Group in a long-term perspective. You have a digital format of these documents also as part of the documentation which was circulated to you. You have two forms, as is habitual. The first, pink-colored, for the agenda of the General Meeting, questions which were asked in writing.
The second green-color form is for individual questions which you may want to have as an individual client, interacting with BNP Paribas Group, and you have a dedicated team here in attendance to help answer any questions you may have. You also have audio headsets so that you'll be able to follow this meeting in good conditions. We have hostesses around the room who will take your question in writing, and you also have a space in the lobby of customer service and the shareholder circle.
Cercle des Actionnaires is here and can answer you. The officers of this meeting, I'll be chairing this meeting in line with Article 18 of the bylaws. Article associations, the scrutineers will be the bearers of shares who are here in attendance, who will be two individuals. I thank you for serving as scrutineers for this meeting. Madame Céline Vaessen , who is here. Thank you for being here.
She is the Chief Investment Officer in charge of the finance pillar at Société Fédérale de Participations et d'Investissement, which is a Belgian state-owned company, which holds an interest in BNP Paribas. Sébastien Le Bihan is the second scrutineer, who is here as well, who is a member of the Board of Directors of the global shareholding mutual fund. Madame Guylaine Dyèvre , sitting next to me, will be the Secretary to this meeting, and the Statutory Auditors of the group were validly convened and are here in attendance.
They are sitting in the front row over there. There are two of them, Deloitte & Associés, represented by Daniel Laurent, and Ernst & Young, represented by Olivier Durand. Thank you, gentlemen, for being here today. The temporary situation of this meeting, given the attendance sheets, give us the information that the shareholders in presence, as well as those having have 847,000,100 shares, i.e., 73% of capital stock, which gives us quorum, knowing that the meeting can be validly constituted.
The various regulatory documents to validly hold this meeting in line with the commercial court requirements have been filed. You have been informed of the agenda. Without further ado, I suggest that we collect the various written questions that you may have by way of the hostesses. I will ask the hostesses to go around the room and collect your forms with written questions.
I can see you better now. Thank you. You were in the dark, now I can see you better. We'll have the questions collected. All right. Thank you very much. This is currently being done, collection of questions. I suggest now that we formally open the Shareholders' Meeting after the legal formalities, which are habitual. Once again, welcome. I'm very happy to see you all this morning. I'm speaking on behalf of the other Directors who are sitting here, who are very attentive to anything you will say, and also want to greet the members of the Shareholders' Liaison Committee who are here in attendance today, who contribute to interacting with the bank staff.
I want to thank them on your behalf, and also the General Management team, under Jean-Laurent Bonnafé is here in attendance, and we'll try together to review the activity of the bank, the activity of the Board of Directors, and to answer any questions you may have. Now, 2026 is a year of importance. Very dense, a busy year, and 2025 was the same. The CEO, and the CFO, and Laurence Pessez will review in a few minutes the performance, the results, the achievements, the development projects, the CSR activity.
Before they do that, I wanted to tell you that to set the scene for what the Board did in 2025, knowing that the Board of Directors was especially active in 2025 in a fast, changing context to pursue growth opportunities and to control both risks and costs. 2025 was marked by a balance of power between key global powers with a number of conflicts arising in several regions in the world, in Ukraine and in the Middle East. I want to say this, I want to hail the extraordinary dedication and the commitment of the group staff who made it possible to continue providing service to our clients and customers.
In the meantime, the multiplicity of barriers, including tariffs, has had a result of upending global trade and interactions between countries and businesses, with these geopolitical dynamics, which are at the heart of the needs and discussions by each of our clients and customers. We as the bank need to take these into account to better support and serve these clients.
Next to these geopolitical dynamics, which had an impact on decisions by the bank, 2025 saw the advance of a new technology, growing very fast with AI solutions, becoming mainstream with all our clients, adopting it, generating more efficiency, productivity, yet many doubts, many fears and concerns, knowing that the bank was a key player in this process, and we'll discuss this further. In this context, the European Union and France have become aware of the need to adapt in order to protect their interests, to protect their values, to protect our model, including our social welfare model, including by deciding to shore up its domestic market.
Energy transitioning, the transitioning of our business model, remain key priorities while reconciling social acceptability, responsibility, accountability, which are key values operated by the bank, which we'll keep promoting. Such transformation involves massive investments. The banking balance sheets are of great importance and will help fuel and finance the economy. We need to take this one step further, not just by public funding, knowing that public funding has reached its limits. In addition of the plans announced by Germany, EU should be able to mobilize European savings, which has been abundant, to invest into strategic services like payment, defense, technology, and energy transitioning in this respect. Jean-Laurent will discuss this further.
The integration of the bank's asset management business with that of AXA Asset Management will generate more added value to the group and will contribute to better managing long-term savings and assets for Europe. In this context, BNP Paribas builds upon the diversified, well-integrated banking model, leading the pack as a trusted partner and financial intermediary for all of our clients and customers to contribute to the stability and robustness of the economy, to serve and support all of our clients, individuals and institutional clients to meet their financial needs under the drive of the CEO and the Senior Leadership Team, whom I would like to warmly thank for their hard work and dedication.
In fiscal 2025, the three business divisions of the BNP Paribas Group posted great performance in 2025, contributing to growth and expansion of the Group and reaching its goals and targets. The organizational structure of the Group was adapted to optimize investment in technology, to keep developing new products and optimize processes. The bank engaged in a number of initiatives to contribute to the strategic sovereignty of Europe, and we have maintained our course to shore up our leadership position in sustainable finance. Your Board of Directors, in addition to all this, has been on the ball with a key project for the Group and for our general community.
Among others, your Board of Directors, jointly with the Senior Management Team, has followed and monitored the U.S. litigation related to the Sudanese affair. All in all, your Board of Directors has confidence in the relevant strategic direction of the Group on the back of well-balanced governance mechanisms with a stable leadership team, which has garnered great experience, will continue thanks to the hard work and dedication of the bank's team to support and serve shareholders the best. Thanks to the trust of clients, we'll remain fully mobilized and engaged to serve a more prosperous, more sustainable economy, as well as a more inclusive society.
I wanted to say this because these are virtues, principles, but also context and goals which are being pursued by your Board of Directors, in line with and on the back of the Group's strategy, which Jean-Laurent will be reviewing. The way the Group has been organized, the way capital and resources are being allocated with budget decisions and how they are made, as well as the general business operations of the BNP Paribas Group. It's of great importance to us. It is the foundations for our action, for development work, and I wanted to review this as a foreword before we go into the gist of the meeting.
Before I turn over to the CEO, I suggest we watch a short movie which basically sets the scene, which was prepared by the corporate communication department and which reviews a few facts and numbers which will shed light to what you'll be hearing during this meeting. In a demanding and fast-changing environment, BNP Paribas builds upon a diversified and integrated model and all the skills and expertise of its 180 people operating in 60 countries and regions where the group is operating. As a European leader in banking and financial services, the BNP Paribas Group stands out as a key contributor to funding energy, environmental and technology transitioning. In 2025, BNP Paribas continued to shore up its setup to better support and serve its clients throughout economic cycles.
We support the advent of European payment solutions with the deployment of the Wero solution. We participate to industry initiatives around digital initiatives like stablecoin. We engage to support development in defense and meet the future needs of our clients in this field. In parallel to that, we've implemented future growth engines, including by way of the acquisition of AXA IM, which makes BNP Paribas the third European asset manager. These initiatives, which have been carried out in Europe and internationally, shows up our leadership in the field of asset management, private banking and long-term vehicle leasing, enabling us to invest in long-term growth engines. BNP Paribas Group falls within a clear and ambitious trajectory for the next generation.
This ambition is supported by significant investments in technology solutions in order to always better meet the needs and expectations of our clients and customers to shore up the resilience on infrastructure and gain in efficiency. Scaling up the AI solutions, we've been engaging more than 800 specialists supporting such leaders like Mistral AI, because BNP Paribas, the bank of a changing world, we keep supporting our clients and partners across all their projects, including in energy transitioning.
Thanks to our diversified and well-integrated banking model, we want to grow the return to shareholders with a 60% payout policy. On the back of its robust fundamentals, financial robustness and excellence performance, BNP Paribas Group has started a new cycle of growth. Our next plan, 2027, 2030, will enable to build up a group which will be even more efficient, which will create even more value for all of our shareholders. BNP Paribas, the bank for a changing world.
That's the stage set. You've seen the essential data and parameters of the strategy and its results. To move forwards in this analysis, I'm going to hand the floor to Lars Machenil, the Group CFO, who will present the group's results and activity in 2025.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. It's my pleasure to present for you the results for 2025 of your bank. You can see them behind me in sum. If you look at the bottom, the net result or net profit, which is up. The results for 2025 was EUR 12.225 billion, an increase of 4.6%. This reflects operating performance that is excellent. If you look at this performance, looking at the P&L lines, you can look at the top there, you can see that revenue has increased by nearly 5%. We can see that the costs have risen but 3.9%, but with a positive jaws effect.
Costs rose slower, more slowly than our revenue. Because we operate in places where we operate, where we are present, and we can serve clients at a marginal cost. In other words, costs are growing slower, at a slower rate than revenue. The cost of risk is also contained, is at 36 basis points. It's 0.36%, in line with our direction, with our to of being below 40 basis points. These are the results you can see. If you look at the bottom, you can find other factors as well.
For example, the small box in the middle, you can see the return on results, which is 11.6%, and the CET1 ratio, which is at 12.6%. The two ratios aim to be at 13%. If you look at capital at 12.6%, we're well on the way, and furthermore, it was at 12.6% at the end of 2025. In the first quarter, it was already at 12.8%, so in other words, on the right track. If you look at the bottom right, you can see the benefit per share, and you look at this and at BNPA, it's at EUR 10.29 , up by 7.5%. In other words, 60% of that amount is returned to the shareholder, to you.
Turning the page, we look at the fact that this is based on a diversified and integrated model which is resilient across economic cycles. On the left-hand side, you can see the distribution of the breakdown of divisions is diversified. No activity accounts for a lion's share. On the right-hand side, you can see these activities are very complementary and generate cross-reference sales or cross-selling. 1/3 of the income I mentioned, or the revenue, comes from cross-selling between divisions. That's our model. If we look in bit more detail at the P&L. Let's look at revenue. Here you can see, in fact, the results for 2024 in these columns and how it's moved into or traded at '25, up by 4.9%, as I said. Here you can see it across the various divisions.
The first one is what we call CIB or BFI in French, which has improved by 5.6%. It's a very good performance. Even technically, it's a record performance, in fact. This is in an environment impacted by what had happened on the 1st of April, 2025. The U.S. termed Liberation Day with tariffs that weaken the dollar. When the dollar is weaker, they buy less or fewer EUR. Our results in U.S. dollars are translated into fewer EUR, in fact, than the previous year. Even despite that, we still have a 5.6% improvement. If we look then at commercial personal banking and services, there are two factors. There's the commercial banking, with a very fine increase, thanks to that rate scenario. I'll get back to that later.
Also, in addition, in specialist activities services, there's a contraction in, specifically in Arval, because we had a positive effect of the new valuation of secondhand vehicles last year. Then there's IPS, which includes insurance and asset management that rose by 19.6%, of course, positively impacted, and we'll go back to this, by the integration of the AXA IM business. That concerns revenue. If we look at costs that reflect operational efficiency, which rose by less than 1% less than the revenue. We can see that in these columns, you can see the trends described. There's the impact of AXA IM. It was added and increased the basis. There was an increase, thanks to inflation, of EUR 707 million.
That was offset by optimization and operating efficiency that we continue to deploy, and these two factors cancel each other out. What you can see at the bottom is that jaws effect that I mentioned before can be seen in each division. That's for the trends. If we look now at the three divisions, let's start off with CIB. CIB, as I said, is based on three franchises that are powerful, that also are integrated and diversified. If you look in, over the last 10 years, you can see in these columns there's an annual increase of 5.8%, and you can see the trend.
If you look at all three divisions, that positive trend of nearly 6% per year is driven by growth in Global Markets and Securities that has almost double-digit growth, slightly attenuated by Global Banking business that had sound performance, but in a less positive context. In a context, as I've mentioned, of the dollar effect and also the tariff effect and uncertainties and, from geopolitical pressure that have led clients to have a more wait-and-see position. This can be seen, and you're gonna see this on the bottom right.
We are the number one bank in CIB in Europe. With that, if we look at CPBS business or activity, and in particular, because we talked about this last year, I'd like to look at revenue from commercial banking in the Eurozone and also everything to do with personal finance. Why? Because intrinsically, if you look in particular at commercial banking, we're in countries, in France, Belgium, that have fixed rate loans. When rates rise, the time that is reflected in the P&L can take time. On average, it's normally the average maturity of a loan, which is usually seven years.
We could have planned that when rates went from 0% to positive rates, we should have seen an improvement over that period. What you can see here in this is the trend over time from 2022 to now, and what you saw at the beginning is there was a contraction in revenue. Why? Because there was inflation, an increase in interest rates that was very sudden and sharp, and also commercial activities that ensured that trend. Now, we're in a situation where inflation is aiming towards the between 2% and 3%.
We have a positive effect that is working year after year for us, now that we're aiming at that, for the remainder of the term of this year, at least, at least until the end of the decade, we'll have on average a trend of + 5% that we could see in the fourth quarter of 2025 and was confirmed in the first quarter of 2026. That's the turnaround you can see in CPBS. If you look at the third division, IPS, you can see at the bottom left, trends for each activity, insurance, asset management, and all these factors. You can see these are variants all around the theme of very sound performance. Another very important factor in this activity is assets under management. As you can see, these columns, there is an increase.
We've risen from just under EUR 1.4 billion to slightly over EUR 2.4 billion. That increase comes from net new business and from the markets, of course, but also the integration of AXA IM. If we look at AXA IM, that you can see at the bottom there, at EUR 1.6 billion, it's in the top three asset managers in Europe, and in fact, even is number one when we're talking about long-term savings. Now that we've looked at the top parts of the P&L, let's look at the cost of risk. As you can see, if I exclude 2020, which was a year where we had a COVID provision that we've recovered, but every other year, we were in line with our objective of 40 basis points.
As I said at the beginning, there is no region, no division that has dominated, so diversification is really working well. On the right, what you can see is what we call private debt or private credit, which is intrinsically an approach which is entirely the same. To give you an idea, it accounts for 3% of our outstanding loans in total. Moving on to the financial structure that we've ended the year at 12.6%. In the first quarter of this year, we're at 12.8%, and our target is 13%. When you look at that dynamic on the left-hand side, the columns, we ended the year at 12.9%.
Over the night from the 31st of December to the 1st of January, there was a new regulation in force. It's called CRR III. It's the translation of the Basel Accords in European law that took off 40 basis points of our ratios. We went from 12.9% to 12.5%. That dynamic means that we've got the generation of results, the EUR 12.122 billion. We take account of the fact that the balance sheet would increase, but that will generate the equivalent of 140 basis points on the ratio. There's 60% of that, which is a return to you. Those are the 90 basis points that you can see in distribution. Last year, we finalized the acquisition of AXA IM that took up 40 basis points.
With that dynamic, we're at 12.6%. That growth dynamic will take us to 13%. If we also look at the bottom left, you can see the other indicators are doing well. On the right, just to give you some extra information, we manage capital on the one hand, but also we manage trends in weighted assets. When we loan, we lend, we increase our balance sheet. Sometimes we can put some of these things in the, on the market. This is what we do through what we call TSRs. These are Transfers of Significant Risks. That has an impact of 80 basis points on the ratio. That's the financial structure.
If I conclude with the distribution and the return, therefore, to you, as I mentioned, the result, 50% is returned in dividend and 10% into share buybacks. If we look for 2025, dividends therefore were EUR 5.16. We've had an interim of EUR 2.59 on the 31st of December 2023. A balance of EUR 2.57 will be paid out on the 20th of May this year, and there are also share buybacks amounting to EUR 1.15 billion finalized on the 19th of December 2025.
Just to conclude, when you look at the progress, in fact, this is. You can see this in these columns. These are over 20 years, where we see dividend per share. Between 2008 and now, it has multiplied by fivefold. That's the returns we're offering. With that said, I am going to conclude my 2025 presentation, and I'll ask Jean-Laurent to take the floor.
Thank you, Lars. Good morning, everybody. Lars presented to you the sound results for the financial year 2025. This makes it possible for therefore for us to confirm the results and the targets for 2026. You'll recall in 2024, we reset targets for 2025, 2026, an ROTE of 12%, a net profit or CAGR of at least 7% over the two years, and 8% of EPS. With drivers to achieve this revenue up by 5% per year, at least, and as a jaws effect of at least 1.5% on average, with a cost of risk of below 40 basis points.
That year, as you know, was a good start for 2026 with the sound results in the last quarters and the first quarter of 2026. That make us very confident that we will achieve the results in 2026. 2026 is almost over for the company that we are, even though there are many months left, and the geopolitics and global scenario are not necessarily easy to divine, but it's now important to interesting to look at the remainder of the year. We looked at the annual results, and we revised our objectives for 2025 for ROTE. We are into more than 13%. We had it at 13%. We want it to be over 13%. The operating margin that we set at 58%, we want it to be under 56%. Our net profit for 2025 to 2028, with an annual growth of over 10%.
The Tier 1 ratio post-FRTB, we know that very probably that will be deferred to 2030, but for 2027 and 2028, we want that ratio at 13%. That's how we see 2028. To achieve these objectives, we have launched a number of plans. Somebody have really now announced for Commercial Banking in France for Personal Finance. Others are known for Belgian, CBC, Arval, Asset Management. These plans will each contribute to a return on equity. The details are given in that graph. BCEF, that's Commercial Banking of France, will ensure on its own, so to speak, will improve the ROTE over the period by 2028 by 0.4%, Belgium by 0.3%, Personal Finance 2.5%.
We can see that the group, in fact, is already on the right footing since 2025 with the announcement of a number of plans concerning one or two essential business lines, is already on track for the following text. You hear you have all the details. All we have to do is add CIB and insurance and BNL, all of which will be done progressively. For that, for going from 11.6% to over 13% on paper looks quite easy. You can imagine that all this requires investment, work, and discipline in large quantities and a lot of business development. ROTE, that's revenue, and an awful lot of efficiency and cost control and control over processes to have a more efficient bank. In the past, for 2022 to 2025, that will be checked in 2026.
We have, on average, generated EUR 700 million in recurring savings every year. In other words, its efficiency has been improved in operating costs and improved by EUR 700 million every year over the previous years. For 2026, for the entire thing, the entire print, that will amount to EUR 3.5 billion. Nothing new under the sun. This was announced at the beginning of the plan, at the beginning of the plan, we'd planned EUR 600 million. EUR 700 million is a bit more than EUR 600 million. In total, that objective that was included in the 2022-2026 plan to achieve this operating efficiency approach, all of which has been achieved. What is the future? That's a factor that will contribute to the ROTE exceeding 13% by 2028.
You can see in the 1st period, the operating efficiency, the cost- into- income ratio had improved by six points. In other words, 1.5 points per year. In the period that's opening by the end of 2025, that cost to income ratio will actually drop by 2% from 61.2% to under 56% by 2028. All of which will be done by accelerating the processes in the bank, by pooling and simplifying a number of infrastructures, by lightening and aligning a lot of our organizational models within the group, and with the intent of using AI more intensively. That should be done carefully and in a measured way. It's not a technology that is devoid of risks.
We have to know how to use it and to manipulate it correctly with a certain learning curve, then progress. All of which will be to benefit our clients. That'll reinforce the quality of service. We'll continue to personalize digital offerings. Also for our staff members, so we can concentrate the effort of everyone on more added value tasks. Also for shareholders, because that means a structural contraction in costs and therefore greater profitability for the company as a whole.
I gave you some numbers by 2028. You can see how things are proceeding. 2024, 2026, a growth of 7% of net income on average per year. 2025, 2028, growth of net income is 10% with an accelerated trend. The same for earnings per share, because we go from growth rate of over 8% for 2024, 2026, to a double-digit growth rate for 2025, 2028. The payout policy by 2026, which will remain to be clarified and confirmed 2027 in the context of the new 2027, 2030 strategic plan, earmarks a minimum of 50% interim. Minimum 50% dividend payout with 10% buyback, which is a rate of return of 60% for shareholders.
What we know for fiscal 2027 is that this minimum 60% return rate will be maintained, and we will see how this can be improved. The core Tier 1 ratio. You have here our goal, i.e., 13% as at the 31st of December, 2027 over the period of the growing under the improvement of results, which is partially consumed by the risk-weighted asset, i.e., the development of the bank's balance sheet and the assumption of dividend payout, shareholder return, the FRTB possibly, if it is being implemented before 2027. Knowing that the conversations at the European Commission level means and shows that it will be postponed. All this gives us 13% of return by 2027, which will be maintained for 2028 and beyond.
Since the Q1 results were published, the ratio is already 12.8%, which gives us the possibility and even probability that this 13% is reached even by late 2026, which is a key information because growing the bank's core Tier 1 ratio is not an easy task, and late last year and early this year has made it possible to accelerate this 13% growth trajectory. Now, back to the strategic plan 2027, 2030. This was already guided when we disclosed our annual number. We've been repeating this regularly. The efficiency of our current programs makes it possible for us to generate some EUR 700 million per year.
We are going to bring this EUR 700 million mark to a higher level. One of these drivers will be on the back of artificial intelligence solutions. You can see this how this will sketch out and pan out. Until now, AI was used to grow revenues, not so much with respect to optimizing efficiency, but by 2030 things will balance out with AI contributing to both revenue and efficiency, meaning that the AI solutions will enter a second phase with more intensity, more contribution to the optimization of processes. You have here a few examples of use cases for AI. Once again, AI technology has lots of upside to improve sales development, business development, customer advice, efficiency, revenue.
It also holds its risks, and proper implementation will involve and require that we improve and significantly grow all cyber security setup because AI driven universe is a universe which moves faster, which is more open to the outside world, which has its host of difficulty and issues. The bank needs to be stronger and more efficient. Much for my presentation. I believe that the BNP Paribas Group is in good marching order. 2025 show this.
The early part of 2026 is confirming this. 2026 will be ending very shortly. We already are preparing for the 2027, 2030 strategic plan with respect to focusing on operating efficiency with the interest rate scenario favorable. The bank is a global diversified bank which can moves into many fields and areas to keep developing, growing, and on this basis. Until we review the 2027, 2030 plan in some more granularity shortly, I believe that fiscal 2026 should hold fine promises. Over to Laurence Pessez now.
Thank you, Jean-Laurent. Hello, everyone. I will now be reviewing the highlights of our CSR strategy and walk you through some achievements in 2025. Remember that our CSR strategy was drawn up some years back and support our Growth, Technology, and Sustainability strategic plan, which is currently in place. Let us start with how our strategy and achievements are being perceived by those assessing us, i.e., the non-financial rating agencies.
These non-financial rating agencies have been benchmarking companies and banks, this year again, BNP Paribas Group is ranking above its peers across the various rankings. Tangibly, CDP is ranking us just on climate transitioning with A- versus a B rating for all the banks. MSCI gives us the best possible ranking of AAA, it is the most used agency by investors to screen companies to invest into. Our best rating, unprecedented rating is with Sustainalytics, which is the only agency to rate non-financial risk for a bank.
Now, with a rating of 12.3% versus an average of 25%, we rank in the top quartile of this category. Now let me say that for this agency, Sustainalytics, the best rating is zero because the least risk you have, the better you fare. Thanks to its continuous investment, BNP Paribas ranks first in sustainable finance for the third year in a row with $69 billion invested in 2025. Here again, based on external sources, Dealogic, where we get our data, this amount covers sustainable green and social bonds and assets.
This leadership position, which has been confirmed over time, is a sense of pride for the teams. Now, the Corporate Knights magazine ranks us and has been ranking us for 12 years in the 100 most sustainable companies. IFR has been ranking us as 2025 sustainable finance house for the third year in a row. A leadership position which has yet again been confirmed this year. With respect to our CSR strategy, it is unchanged, and we continue delivery across the pillars we've defined as priorities in the context of the GTS strategic plan.
Energy transitioning, protecting biodiversity, circular economics, financial inclusion and sustainable investment. You have here some key facts and numbers which summarize what we've achieved in fiscal '25. First, the amount of the funding of energy transitioning to support our clients transforming to a low carbon economy reached EUR 252 billion over four years between 2022 and late 2025. We've exceeded the goal we had set for ourselves, which was EUR 200 billion. We wanted to reach EUR 200 billion by 2025.
This amount covers financing of individuals for electric vehicles as well as home renovation and energy renovation work in houses, as well as large renewable generation projects in Europe and elsewhere in the world, as well as sustainable bond issuances by governments and states wanting to implement energy transition infrastructure, like in Asia. With respect to transactions protecting land and marine biodiversity, we set for ourself a goal to reach EUR 4 billion by late 2025. You can see that we reached EUR 6 billion, which means that we've exceeded this target.
Among significant achievements, we've arranged blue bonds for EUR 130 billion for development banks to protect and restore coastal ecosystems in South America. By reaching EUR 347 billion in assets under management by late 2025, which are characterized as sustainable, quote unquote, by the European taxonomy, BNP Paribas Asset Management is among the European asset managers which has the most extensive sustainable funds.
As an example of funds managed by BNP Paribas Asset Management, the BNP Paribas Solar Impulse Venture Fund has been investing into startups which are innovative and high potential in sustainability, like two French startups, Axioma, which aims at accelerating environmental transitioning of farming with biosolutions and Fairly Made, which has developed a platform to optimize the tracking and tracing of the supply chain of the textile and garment industry.
With respect to generation of energy, by late 2025, 82% of our credit exposure was directed at low carbon energy sources, mostly renewables, as a majority, and also nuclear power, energy, which ranks us favorably to reach our goal of 90% by 2030. The social and societal level, we reached 5.5 million beneficiaries of products and services, fostering our financial inclusion goal with the Nickel account being operating in five European countries, with more than 520,000 microcredit clients, by way of our microcredit business. With these very large amounts, you can see that we've done very tangible achievements in fiscal 2025.
Now, let's review our human capital strategy, the support and service we provide to our people, which is at the heart of our strategic plan. The people strategy pillar is of great importance to the bank. What needs to be underlined in 2025 is, first, that with 41% of women in the senior management community, we've exceeded the ambitious goal of having 40% women by late 2025 that we had set for ourselves. This was back in early 2022. This gender balance goal has been reached with 53% of women across all the population of high talents for the group.
The employee engagement in NGOs and community organizations has improved in 2024 and 2025 with the goal of volunteer work, which was one million hours. We've exceeded 1.3 million hours, including skills donation hours for firefighters in the group, as well as initiatives to community organizations during work time. Almost all group employees have psychological support and listening mechanisms that can help them in situations of crisis and when they need it.
Finally, training and development of employees remain a key challenge and a key goal for the group with almost all employees of the group, which have undergone at least four training sessions in 2025, including 73,000 having undergone at least one of the Tech Academy training sessions in the field of technology and AI. Again, some 160,000 employees have been trained at least once in sustainable finance by the Sustainability Academy ever since it was launched in late 2022.
71,000 employees were trained in 2025. All this has meant that the engagement index was 81%, which is a very high level. Finally, patronage and sponsorship with close to EUR 180 million. The sponsorship and patronage budget for the group is set at a very high level across its three areas of activity: solidarity, culture, and the environment. A bit more than 25% of its budget has been devoted to so-called skills and expertise patronage. 75% have been devoted to repetitive initiatives, most of them 73%, 75% for solidarity action, part of it being for France.
In 2025, two new foundations were created in Portugal and in the Netherlands, meaning that there are 15 foundations and allowance trusts created by BNP Paribas around the world. In the current context of difficulty by the NGO world with declining funding and membership, the BNP Paribas Foundation in France demonstrated it was able to act innovatively while committing to long-term action, combating food precariousness, helping refugees in the context of a program initiated by the group some 11 years ago. The disenfranchised suburban areas in France, the so-called Disenfranchised Suburb Program, was launched 20 years ago.
Civic-minded initiatives like community living, the protection of Republican values, combating disinformation and the memorial transmission, access to culture with a five-year program with middle school students visiting Villa Medici in Rome, which is a high place for culture, and the support to 60 artists, institutions, and festivals. Finally, the bank's foundation has been active in the field of environmental protection.
This year, it allocated EUR 7 million to 11 research programs over a three-year period in the Climate and Biodiversity Initiative program, working on such initiatives like the future of fisheries and marine ecosystems, and to promote biodiversity of phytoplankton in North Atlantic and European coastlines. 2025 was a very dense and busy year across all fronts with very fine achievements, as I have just reviewed. Thank you again for your attention. I will turn over to our chair, Mr. Jean Lemierre, who'll tell you about the governance mechanisms in place in your bank.
Thank you, Laurence. I think that through the figures, the facts, the programs, the commitments of the bank, you can see that in 2025, what your bank has done, has attempted to do and what it intends to do. It's now up to me to talk to you about governance. I'll do it in two parts. The first part concerns the Board of Directors and another part concerning compensation. Firstly, the Board of Directors. Following the AGM last year, the number of members at the Board was risen to 16. We're normally at about 14. Why? Because you accepted it. We hired in advance some Board Members. Alas, two of those are leaving. It was planned.
Monique Cohen, Daniela Schwarzer, having served the board for 12 years. In front of you, I'd like to thank them most heartily for their work. 12 years of work at the Board of Directors of BNP Paribas. For you, it's a wonderful experience. It's a wonderful, very good contribution both to the Board, in the committees. Monique Cohen has Chaired quite a few, the latest one being the Risk Committee, which is a very important committee. Thank you, both of you, for the work you have done. With that said, the position of the Board is now to go back to 14 members. There are a few modifications, there are two submitted to you for your approval. It's not arrivals, renewals.
The first one, I'll be very brief, is mine, my term of office. I will comment on the context afterwards. The second one is the term of Jacques Aschenbroich, who you know. He's in front of me. He's a very experienced Board Member, an industrialist with extensive experience. He Chairs the Governance, Ethics, and Appointments Committee of the bank. That's extremely important work. These two proposals to renew our terms of office are done in a context of decisions that you approved last year on raising the age limits of the managing Director and Chairman of the Board with the rationale of preparing for succession plans.
This is neither the place nor the right way of talking about this in detail. Just to say that what we said last year, we haven't forgotten. Jacques is also very attentive to this, that all of this be very present in the work of the Compensation and Nomination Appointments Committee and to prepare succession plans. I wanted to mention this point because it's a continuation of your deliberations from last year. If you approve these two renewals, here are some factors about the composition of the Board. It's highly diversified in skill sets, maybe in genders, of course. We fully comply with legislative requirements. It is highly diversified in skills.
Your Board has renewed its skill set extensively, I'd like to thank you for that support to extend in a context that I mentioned, that Jean-Laurent mentioned, that is highly diverse in terms of risks, financing, and technology. I believe that the Board of BNP Paribas today is based on a composition that is highly diversified, very broad-based, and that can shoulder the responsibility that you have entrusted us with. Once again, if you approve the two renewals that I mentioned, this would be the composition of the four committees: Accounts, Risks, Governance, and Compensation. With one or two significant changes, I mentioned them.
Monique Cohen will hand over the Chair of the Risk Committee to Bertrand Badré. Other than that, the chairs will remain unchanged. I've mentioned this. It's very important on more than one level. We spent a lot of time looking at this in the Board to ensure that the skills and experience and seniority in the Board are there, and that people can attend the various committees. The Committees of the Board is where the basic work of the Board of Directors is carried out. That's it for the composition part of the Board. Let's talk about compensation or remuneration.
This table basically is the most important one. For 2025, it shows compensation and remuneration for 2025 as per the principles you drew up in approving the ex ante policies and the comparison with 2024. As concerns me, it's quite stable. The President, the Chair, there is only a fixed rate, not a variable rate for the Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officers. Well, there are three components in their compensation scales. There's a fixed part drawn up last year, a variable annual part, I'll go back to the details of that, and a long-term part, what we call the PRLT.
There you have an overview of 2025 compared to 2024 for the executive company officers. Now let's look at the details and look at annual variable remuneration for 2025. This presentation gives you the criterion, the weight of each criterion, and the results for 2025. You can see that the criteria have all been met, or just about, or in some cases, far exceeded. These are unchanging criteria. We apply them consistently.
It's EPS, it's EBIT, and a criterion of worth 15% for CSR factors, and the Board's appreciation of the way the strategy has been implemented by the Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officers. You've got the results for the Chief Executive. In the following slide, you have the same breakdown for the two Deputy Chief Executives or Chief Operating Officers. These have been, in fact, adapted to the ex ante policies that you voted for their respective responsibilities. There is a cap anyway at 120% of their fixed compensation. There are good results there.
There you can see an overview of the breakdown of the annual bonuses for the Chief Executive and the Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officers with the ratio awarded against the target, when they all exceeded slightly 100% and very comparable to what was done last year, which shows the good results of the bank, the full application of remuneration criteria, and the fact that the criteria have been achieved. A last important slide, which is the slide about the long-term incentive scheme. Now, a word about this, because the long-term scheme depends on conditional payments done after five years that are dependent on two important criteria.
The first is the intrinsic performance of the BNP Paribas share price. The second is a comparison against performance, of course, with the EURO STOXX Banks index. In other words, a comparison of the share price with the share price of other banks. To put things simply, these are two criteria that are difficult given the economic context and the fact that economies and, in fact, banks are not done generally in the same way in Europe.
That means these criteria will have been very demanding, very difficult, and they have not been changed. You've got this PRLT that's awarded. You know how it's done for the Chief Executive and the Deputy Chief Executives or C hief Operating Officers. As you know, all of this is capped in relation to their fixed rate compensation. That's it for the long term. This presentation is important. We do it every year. You know it well. It's done. We talk about remuneration multiples.
It shows how the compensation of company officers, mine and the Executive Company Officers change in relation to Group employees. The gap is tightening as far as I'm concerned. For the Chief Executive, it has slightly widened because the fixed rate part was updated last year. For the others, it's more or less the same situation. For those who are used to these ratios, these figures are low and the gaps are much smaller than in many other companies. For 2026, one or two amendments submitted to you, your approval in the resolutions. There I will be very brief because I'm concerned by this. I'll be as factual as possible.
Any question you may have will be addressed by Marie-Christine Lombard, who chairs the Compensation Committee, sitting opposite me. She will answer any questions you may have. The Compensation Committee with the board, with me present, considered that my fixed rate, having been the same since 2014, when I was named, appointed Chairman of the Bank, it would be legitimate, suitable, decent, I don't know what word you'd like to use, to ensure an increase. If I've understood, the committee looked at two major indicators.
Inflation over the period would have led to 24.7% increase. Trends in group employee compensation at the SA, the increase would have been 39%. In total, the committee considered and the Board have decided on a 15% increase, so significantly less than inflation and trends in employee compensations. I won't say anything else. Any other question you may have will be for Marie-Christine. Three modifications that I would consider to be technical for the variable part for the company officers, for the CEO, and COOs.
Three points that are not completely technical, but if I use the word technical, it means it amends the organization over time and in the distribution of the breakdown of the compensation, but doesn't change the overall amount. All of this falls within to the cap of 2:1 for. As we're not changing that, and we're not changing the fixed-rate compensation, you can see the characteristics, the general ones are the same. There are three modifications proposed to you, basically to align with market practice and the practice of other banks.
The first is to set the annual variable remuneration at 120% of fixed-rate remuneration, which raises the ceiling to 144%, a little close to the median of other banks. Secondly, to introduce a backstop which could apply to the criteria of EBIT. That goes opposite. It's more strict and than the current approach. Currently, we have a linear approach, not 100%, therefore zero. Here, we're all talking about tranches or sections. Above 70%, there will be no payment made. All of this is in line with market practice. The third criterion is to take account of the PRLT and the annual variable remuneration to set this at 60% and to make this simpler.
Much simpler, in fact, is to amend the rule to award the long-term bonus scheme over time and to plan ahead for this. In fact, what we're doing, it's a market practice. You've got an application that's rather strict. Therefore, three technical modifications, a ceiling at 140%, a backstop, and a different breakdown of payments of variable compensation over the long term. These three measures will not affect the total. We're talking about a breakdown. We're still in the two-point platform, which is again, the legal ceiling for compensation of company officers.
These three amendments, therefore, are proposed to you, and I hope they can improve and implement, and sometimes it's a bit more favorable, sometimes it's a little less, the compensation conditions in relation to other banks. There we have the various amendments that I wish to present to you. You can see that in terms of compensation, there's no major modification, which we see every three years. When you look at the compensation package for the Chief Executive, these are relatively technical points, and they have some importance. Please take them into account. I have presented the questions concerning governance. Of course, I'll answer any questions you may have. I'll hand over to the Statutory Auditors. True.
Is all of this true, in other words. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, on behalf of the College of Co-Statutory Auditors, I'm going to present the findings of our various reports for 2025. The consolidated accounts were drawn up by the Board of Directors on the 4th of February, 2026. To remind you, we do our work all throughout the year and review the quarterly situations, the half-yearly accounts, and the annual accounts. Our work concerns the significant entities included in the scope of consolidation of the group, the bank itself, subsidiaries in France and internationally. The objective of our mission is to ensure a fair and sincere and regular view of the accounts, and on the fact that there should not be any significant anomalies.
Our reports can include a description of areas of risk or significant domains, which, in our professional opinion, are more important for the said statements. With regard to consolidated financial statements, the key points of the audit, there are four of them. They cover the assessment of the credit risk and the assessment of depreciation, the valuation of financial instruments, general IT controls, and assessment of liabilities in pensions and retirement schemes. For each one, we've got identified risks and the reports given by the Statutory Auditors .
The extent of our works and our findings are presented in a report submitted to the Accounts Committee. During our verifications in these key points, we have without reserve opinion on the financial accounts. In accordance with the transposition into French law of the CSRD European directive, we've had the requisite sustainability reports. We drew up a limited assurance report on these aspects with three separate conclusions.
All of ours are without reserves about the compliance of the bank. We have three observations. One on the process of assessment for the dual materiality and its results, which are annually reviewed and may change in future years. An observation on financial assets excluded from the scope of calculations for greenhouse gas calculation emissions, and also for third-party appoints and for retail clients. Finally, an observation on the transition plan that exposes the scope of the financial assets and the limits relating to the availability and quality of data, as well as the difficulty of projecting trajectories for decarbonization.
With regard to our other reports, in the company accounts, we have a certification without reserves, with a point that's required about the change in accounting method and the application of new regulations for accounting standards, and also on terms of payment information. On regulated agreements, we have no new regulated or commitment to be submitted to the approval of the shareholder meeting this year. As for the non-competition agreement between Mr. Jean-Laurent Bonnafé and BNP Paribas was authorized by the AGM of 2016, sorry.
As for the extraordinary general meeting, we have specific reports concerning the resolutions 18, 19, 20 and 24 concerning the issue of shares and negotiable securities, also on the realization of operations reserved for corporate savings plans, and resolution 26 concerning the reduction of company capital by the cancellation of shares. We have no observations to make for these reports. Thank you for your attention.
Thank you, Statutory Auditor. We now have the highly awaited moment, which is the time for questions. I'm going to mention the fact that there are written questions that we have received and for which a response has been made. They are published on the bank's website, and I ask each and every one of you to read the questions and read the answers. These questions, for your information, were written up by five different people. The first series of questions for the Forum pour l'Investissement Responsable for ESG, ethics, AI, and resource, and human resources. A second series of questions by Reclaim Finance, with five questions concerning the environment. A third series of questions worded by Mirova, also about environmental issues.
A fourth series of questions by EPAC, again, about environmental issues. A fifth series of questions by Notre Affaire à Tous, again, about the environment. Once again, I recommend that you read the questions and the answers. They are important for our discussion. I will now open up the session of questions and answers. Thank you. I've received several written questions. I will take those, both all the oral questions and those written down. I will try to ensure that as many questions as possible can be answered in the allotted time with a quick discussion, as concerns may be highly varied.
To make a speedy discussion possible, we have planned not an indication of the time allowed, but just to remind you, without mentioning the duration, just so that everyone can understand that each and every speaker is taking up time. All of this not to limit your ability to take the floor, but to ensure as many people as possible can do so.
Again, not to limit the questions, but to go to the crux of the matter and try and have a dialogue, you asking us questions or having comments, and general management or the Board of Directors, with me here can respond to your comments. Once again, it is very important for us to have a sustained and as detailed a discussion as possible. I will hand over the floor for question, if there are none, but I'm sure there will be. I have these written ones. I'm going to alternate. Number three.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm an individual shareholder representing L'APAI, Association pour le Patrimoine et l'Actionnariat Individuel. This year, we probably won't go into substance because this is an ending plan, and there'll be a new plan next year. The questions will be relevant, but not so much on substance. My first question, knowing that we're here to vote for resolutions, let's speak about 19th resolution. I don't like the wording you've used. Resolution number 19 is to suppress the subscription right. It is said that in the text, I mention the shareholders meeting delegate the power to the Board, the capacity to provide for a priority period for the issuance.
Knowing that BNP Paribas has been a leader, instead of having this very imprecise wording that like other company, that you provide for an obligation of having a subscription period for individual shareholders. What prevents you from delisting the participatory share of BNP Paribas? Last year, Mr. Bonnafé, you stated that transnational mergers were not generating values. You are not the only one to say that.
Other bank leaders said the same. I was somewhat surprised when I heard a few days ago in the press that UniCredit launched a hostile takeover bid against Commerzbank. What according to you, is there a new aspect in the banking paradigm which would mean that what you said last year is not so relevant anymore, or would you disagree? Last point, which is more of a comment. I saw the offers and discounts given to us in the Cercle des Actionnaires for the French Tennis Open. Really, these are not great terms.
Thank you for these very specific questions. We'll try and answer your questions in as specific and as precise a manner. Lars, can you answer the first two questions of this gentleman?
Yes. Now, with respect to Right. Looking at the concept for preferential subscription rights for existing shareholders, the concepts we'll be using basically are those which are basically in line with the industry. We'll take note of your point, and we'll keep exploring options with respect to these preferential subscription rights for existing shareholders. All right? Are you happy with the answer?
Thank you, Lars.
You've basically addressed the two questions, right? "Yes, I've did that in a summary manner," says Lars Machenil. We are considerably improving in being precise. Let's put it in other words. They are lengthy answers, which are of a technical nature. I will take note of your two questions. The Board of Directors will look into it and will answer you. Jean-Laurent. About UniCredit, there are cross-border transactions and so-called transborder transaction.
There's nothing new in this transaction, says Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, because the UniCredit group holds HVB, which is a German domestic bank. The project is to merger it with Commerzbank, so it is a domestic consolidation project with generation of added value. Now, whether this transaction will fly or not is another story. This is a principle of a domestic merger.
The problem with cross-border mergers with respect to domestic banking operations has a number of issues, IT systems, local payment services, local regulations, and we are well-positioned to know that when we, when you own several domestic banks, you need to keep and maintain them, which means that you pile up legacy processes and systems, and you find it difficult to generate synergy. Nothing much has happened since last year really.
Yes, banks are similar but yet different. Let me emphasize one point here. It's not up to us to comment upon transactions carried out by our peers. In the transactions that you've mentioned, sir, the combination is between two German banks. Not so much in the holding mechanism, but the physical merger process is being carried out between two German domestic banks. Cercle des Actionnaires, the shareholder circle, I've taken note of your point. I wasn't aware that there was only one day devoted to the French Open. You're right to ask this, sir, and raise this issue. We'll try and do better.
Question number four.
My name is Lucie Pinson. I'm the Founder and Director of Reclaim Finance, an NGO. I'm extremely happy to be here with you today after a few years where I was not able to attend personally. This year, I'm attending your meeting in a very tense context with the risk of an economic and financial crisis, with an energy crisis which is already well-entrenched. In such a context, BNP Paribas' choices are defining choices.
In the last few years, we hailed the efforts made by BNP retrenching from companies exploring new oil and gas field. To us, this retrenchment by BNP Paribas shows the fact that BNP Paribas wants to protect its clients and shareholders as well as societies at large. Having said that, there's a dark spot, i.e., the fact that BNP Paribas has been supporting some gas projects, including LNG, GNL terminal projects and gas-fired power plants. Now, we know that the energy prices have been skyrocketing with very tangible impact for most of your clients, be they individual clients and businesses. This impact and the associated risk add up to the impact of gas on climate and general health.
17% of lung cancers in Europe are associated with Electricity being generated from gas. In such a context, it seems important that BNP Paribas pursues with its effort by adopting two new measures to terminate its funding of fossil fuel projects and gas projects by taking action now against any new infrastructure. My question is simple: Will you continue in this direction by adopting new measures against the development of new GNL of new LNG terminals and gas-fired power plants?
Thank you for coming back, madam, and thank you for supporting the energy transitioning policies which have been implemented by the BNP Paribas Group. With respect to the future, Jean-Laurent, would you answer the question? Yes, indeed.
Thank you for emphasizing the fact that we've made progress and that we've made commitments with respect to energy transitioning. Our bank has had an impeccable journey. Nothing is perfect, but we've had a very significant journey. As we benchmark favorably against others, we've had a precise and robust activity. I won't tell you about the mix of funding fossil fuel projects versus renewables over the last 15-year period. It's been remarkable. We were at 90% fossil funding versus 10 renewables. We've reversed the trends. Now, funding gas projects, it takes a very special place. Gas is being called the transitioning energy. Transitioning energy means that this energy is not desirable over time.
Gas as an e-energy can replace more negative types of energy like coal or lignite, gas being preferable. The situation of Europe does not objectively make it possible, as was the case in the past with a nuclear power generation. I know that a number of countries have tried to do away with nuclear power generation, they didn't do so well because it's a key aspect of European transitioning gas. Yet is a necessary evil. It can be deplored, it's a fact. The tensions you're mentioning with respect to the price of gas is connected with the fact that we lack the right infrastructure. Gas is not transmitted so easily.
When you don't have enough infrastructure, you can be trapped with prices which are higher than what would be desirable if transmission was easier and more fluid. We are a European bank for a large part of our operations, for a majority part of our operations. Our aim and desire is to keep supporting the development and expansion of European economies. The recommendations you are fielding, we hear. We hear them, but they are not accessible now because it would mean depriving ourselves within the next 10 years from energy, from an energy source which so far, which today is indispensable for the European continent. I'm doing this with some degree of regret, but we have to look at the hard facts.
It's better to have some investments in this field which will be replacing infrastructure which is more negative rather than not doing anything and remaining entrenched in the old system, knowing that at the end of the day, electricity will be replacing it all. Europe was not able to accelerate at the right pace in a uniform, homogeneous, and determined manner towards electricity because it got bogged down by the choice between nuclear power and not nuclear power. We understand your question. We hear your voice, we hear your recommendation, being the largest Eurozone bank in, on the European continent, we cannot decide to eliminate investments today, which may prove essential. Well, at the time being, they are indispensable investments.
Without doing it a lot, we are doing this on a time-specific basis, and we do not prohibit this, because if you prohibit an activity, we have to stick to your guns and you can't revert course. Strategies in these aspects are strategies which need to stay the course over time, and this is what we're trying to do. I hope I have addressed this question, which is a tough question, because indeed, if 20 years back, our economies and our politicians had looked at the situations a bit harder, we would have been more advanced towards electrification. This is the reality. We need to keep advancing, and the European economy is not strong enough today for us to do without a source of energy which is today indispensable.
Thank you, Jean-Laurent, for your answer.
In line with, and to pick up on your question, because it's a similar question, I have a question in writing on whether BNP Paribas has a specific strategy being prepared for nuclear fusion.
Do I need to answer the question?
Well, yes, you can try.
Well, we are not there yet. There's still work needed for a number of years, whether it is a few years or dozens of years, but it's not immediately accessible as technology and is not a technology which can be used for the current energy transition. So it's a more long-term technology even though progress is being made every year. Technology, in simple terms, is less risky and more straightforward and simple than the current nuclear power technology for self-evident reasons with respect to side effects and disposal of waste. It's a very different type of technology.
When the time comes, if the technology is ripe, we will prepare and build up procedures and policies to make sure that there are processes in place to do business and not prohibit such business. This technology which, this technology, as it emerges and is sketched out, appears simpler in the strict, in a strictly banking sense, rather than nuclear power generation. To answer your question now, when the technology is more better known at a more granular level, we'll see how we'll build up procedures and processes. Because when sometimes in some situations, when you advance and make progress, things end up being more complicated than at the start of the process.
Yes. Question here.
Good morning, CEO, Chairman. Hello, everyone. I have a technical question which can help one of your subsidiaries, Uptevia, earn more money. As an individual shareholder, I noted that it was easier for me to use the digital format for bearer shares than individually registered administered shares. For individually registered administered shares, you have to have a specific account for every company with Uptevia. Versus bearer shares, I just have to open my digital securities account.
I only have to click a button, and all the trades and everything can be done very quickly and very easily. My suggestion is that you offer the same technical solutions when you have bearer shares and individually administered registered shares so that you can access the options directly with your securities account. Regulations will force you to go the digital way, but shareholders would interact more with you with digital for and for bearer shares and for individually registered administered shares. You have the same custody fees, so I do not believe that banks would be reluctant to go this way. I'm sure you won't answer me upfront, but at least I would ask you to investigate this option.
Lars, you wanted to make a comment?
Yes, I do take note of your comment, sir. As you know, the Uptevia platform will keep changing, so I do take good note of your suggestion. Thank you, it will help improve things going forward.
Question number five at the back.
Hello. My name is Alexandre Poidatz. I work with Oxfam France, an NGO which issued a court action in 2023 for climate change. Since then, in 2024, you stated that you wouldn't facilitate new bond issues for companies developing new upstream gas and oil projects. You've kept helping these companies, supporting these companies by providing loans. You provided a EUR 9 billion revolving credit facility to a major oil company. Why having this double standard in your climate change policy, and why not stopping funding to such companies?
Well, my answer will be very straightforward. In banking, you have the drawn loans and credits and financing, and then you have the off-balance sheet side of things, which basically cover all trading and market activities, including bond issuance. Basically, we help a company to get funded by lending such companies directly or by supporting them in the bond markets, as you said so. This is not because litigation was commenced against us, but because it was a result of our development and process. We de facto stopped the funding of such projects in the areas you mentioned, so this is done.
Then you have all the financing being held on the balance sheet of the bank. We take an interest in the mix of what we're funding out of EUR 40 billion of funding, energy sources and energy generation projects back in 2012. Some 90% of those were to fund the lignite coal and fossil fuel. 10% was for renewables, including water, hydro and nuclear. We decided to revert the trend and upend the trend by 2030. This is how we guide our balance sheet operations, this is why we are not working on a case-by-case, ban-by-ban, prohibition-by-prohibition. This is how we've proceeded. There were very few renewable, renewables projects, lots of carbon, 90/10.
We now have 1090. We've upended the situation within less than 20 years, 2010 to 2030, and we are very much advanced in this trajectory currently. This is what we've been doing, and it's quite an easy option. If you close the off-balance sheet and if you squeeze out the on-balance sheet transactions, you address your issue over time, because once again, it's, we are talking about transitioning. We are not talking about piling up prohibitions. Transitioning is about supporting companies towards a new universe, which will be better for them tomorrow and better for us all tomorrow. This company is very much advanced in the nuclear business technology, which will probably be the next generation business model, and they've invested massively in the U.S.
Thank you, Jean. As a continuation, it's a bit interesting. It's a written question about deforestation. Perhaps, Laurence, it might be for you. The written question came from Miss Velasquez. You have a commitment for Cerrado and Amazonia, but not for other regions where deforestation issues may occur, and the question also mentions Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina. Yes, Laurence, in 2021, we took measures that are very serious to counter deforestation in Brazil by asking all our clients present and working in agribusiness in Brazil to have a zero-deforestation strategy implemented by the end of 2025. Why Brazil and not Bolivia, Paraguay, or others that also have some of the other part of the Amazonian forest, rainforest in their territory?
It's because we have a presence in Brazil. We have a subsidiary there and clients in agriculture, so we can talk to them. We have influence over them, and therefore, we have an impact. That's what directs our actions. We choose our fights according to the impact we can have. We have no presence in Bolivia or in Paraguay, and we have no clients active in those fields there. Simple answer.
Thank you, Laurence. I'm looking at number right at the end there. Right at the end is Okay, number two. You really found somebody who could help you.
I am gonna talk directly. I came last year. A year ago, I asked the same question, so I'm gonna ask it again. I'd like Mr. Antoine Sire, too, to talk about this because he's now joined the Board. You cannot come into the room with a computer. It's a shame.
There's an annual report that's. It's a little shorter. Last year, it was 1.8 kilos. It's unreadable. You cannot turn up with your bag. You've got women turning up with large handbags coming into the room. If you're doing this in a low-cost and you have like a low-cost airline, and everyone has the same rules and no discrimination, gender discrimination. That's my first question. Can we get an answer because, in fact, last year I was told it was security for PCs. I don't see which one. When I leave my computer in the cloakroom , I'm more worried that it'll be hacked than there are room than things here. That's why I have questions. That's my first one. Why can't I have my PC with me, and why is it so security-obsessed?
If I have to carry a 1.8 kilo annual report, I will do so. I won't throw away my computer. I could do, though. Anyway, that's my first question. My second question: What are you doing about financial sovereignty in Europe? You have action with that consortium of Wero. Are you taking other measures? I have a question about distance, remote banking. Are you happy with Hello bank! results and the trend of Hello bank!? I didn't see a lot of information about this. It's 916 pages. Without a computer, I can't do a find, a quick find via Control F. I have the thing about stock options on page 107 of your thing, what you call the PRLTs. Are these the equivalent of BNP shares? What's the quantity issued?
There's 916 in an IFRS standard and 2.3 million calculated. These performance shares are in relation to the share price of BNP and a basket of other European shares. Can you give us the metrics for this on the basis of 100 or the day when these PRLTs will be issued? It's quite nebulous and not very clear. It's on page 107 of the annual report. I have those three questions for you.
Says Mr. Lemierre, at the risk of disappointing you or creating a feeling that there is a communication issue, it's a question of security. It's an object that can be thrown. I'm sorry. You listen to me, I listen to you don't have to listen to me. We have security services here. They make sure that we have them. There's over 1,000 people in this room. There are rules that are applied. You can dispute them. You can disagree with them. I am obliged, as the person responsible for the security of these things, I have to apply a certain number of rules. You may disagree, but this issue here is based on that kind of conversation. You made that observation last year. You had an answer. You were fully informed, therefore.
Now, I know that you experience this as a difficulty, as an inconvenience. Others, I hope, will consider it as a means of protection. We could have a long discussion about this, but we'll get out of this fairly quickly. You see that it's not completely abnormal to take measures ensuring the security of this meeting. That is my point.
Hello bank! Jean-Laurent. On the financial sovereignty, we're not sovereign. We're a company, a trading company, and we have a rationale of an overall economy and starting with the European one, and we are therefore, if we look at the things that make us stand out the most compared to the European banking sector, we are among the number one leading banks, investment banks.
If you look at CIB, you look at EMEA, Europe, including the UK, all of Europe and Middle East and Africa, we are in the top three bank, investment banks on the market. That's a sovereignty aspect in that we ensure access to a very large number of actors, economic actors. The 2nd and the 4th and 5th are American banks. That gives you a position of the bank on issues as critical as our access to market financing, which in a global market is very important, and in the future will be even more so. That's an example I will give you. Another example I could give you, at the peak of COVID in 2020, therefore, there was a quarter where practically everything had stopped. A bank had EUR 400 billion in originations between bond issues and financing.
When I say did, I meant originate and then distributed, that was BNP Paribas. I think we were 60% of the European market 'cause a lot of banks, including the American ones, had withdrawn. Having people at home, so to speak, establishments that had that ability to implement and grant financing of all kinds at that level, that's a mark of what we could call our contribution to European financial sovereignty. Again, we are not sovereign. It just gives you an idea of the power of our platform. The good word, in the good sense of the word, not in the sense of trying to dominate somebody. Hello bank! was a project that started off many years ago that goes with our domestic banks.
If you look at the position of commercial banking in France, most of the assets in the information system, BCF and Hello bank!, is the same. Hello bank! is basically these are clients that have an exclusive online approach, whereas in commercial banking, you've also got access to advisors and a network of branches. It's not completely a pure digital bank. It is one that is part of an overall system assigned, aligned with that commercial bank, that idea of advisors with branches and added value services. Are we happy with them? Well, Hello bank! is progressing at a regular rate in Europe 'cause it's in multiple countries. We've exceeded 3 million clients. The approach of this approach varies from one country to the others, depending on our position as a domestic bank in Belgium and compared to France, for example.
The quality as perceived, and the scores awarded by clients looking for this type of banking, are high. It's very competitive. A lot of our players turn up, and sometimes they turn up, and they offer innovations. It's not for me to mention their names 'cause they are well-known. I'm not going to add more, there are innovations every day. That competition in digital approaches remains very awake. We have to make sure the IS and the apps change quickly, fluidly, and efficiently. You asked about this. We often hear that Europe does not control its destiny in terms of payments because if only the main providers, Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal are U.S. providers. There's this idea that all of this should come to the, to an end and be replaced by something that's more European and for, let's say, security reasons.
That's not untrue. There's an issue that Europeans should be aware of at the end of the day, is that whatever the means of payments developed in Europe, very often there's technology in information system that is American. The response of sovereignty in means of payment is that there are information systems and the ability to become an important continent or a leader in these issues in information systems. It'll start off with artificial intelligence, which is the latest arrival in these families of information systems. We're in a cycle where there are other projects emerging. European banks, some of them in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, tried to develop a European means of payment.
It led to, with a number of episodes, which I will say Well, I wouldn't mind mentioning here, but it led to something called Wero, which is quite modern, which meant instant payment. I think now it's used by 50 to 60 million Europeans and is being propagated. Other countries, other banks will be joining. In Italy, and also in the Iberian Peninsula, there are two other schemes, infrastructure, shall we say, that were recently overhauled, that we're currently working on the interconnection or the connection of these different infrastructures.
It's quite probable that by within a foreseeable future, three, four years, there'll be a Wero or an equivalent will be taken as a whole, it will be interconnected, and will enable the European consumer to pay or do peer-to-peer payments, things that are a genuine alternative to what we could call cards or PayPal. Banks, in particular, in France and in Benelux, they hadn't lost sight of the importance of means of payment. That wasn't always the case in every country. Have started again, Italian banks, Spanish banks, are saying that with all of this, we are collectively taking over that means of payments, and also in terms of the economic performance and in price value for money. That's another example. It's not perfect. Wero doesn't do everything, it is a possibility. It's an innovation.
We have not had for a very long time an innovation of that quality and extent. I would say the last time was some 20 years ago, was a contact-free card that was a major development. We went from contact free, that was about 15 years ago. Now, we've got something that's even different and completely digital. I'm giving you some examples. I could add the new asset manager that BNP Paribas have was created with BNP Paribas and AXA IM, a European leader, that will make it possible for many investors to have new high-performance, interesting products that will be able to finance a number of projects. BNP Paribas Asset Management and AXA IM, our platform, are working on how to finance projects that are required for AI, for data centers, and so on and so forth.
That type of player has a position which is to help not only today's world, but tomorrow's world. Those are just a few examples. Of course, we don't know how to do everything at BNP Paribas, but we all have our limits. It gives you some examples of our commitment to the European economy as a whole.
Mr. Jean Lemierre says, "Yes, I want to echo what's been said and to stress the importance of the actions and role of BNP Paribas in our European sovereignty, which is normal." It won't be digressive, but it's very important, and hence the very important point made by Jean-Laurent Bonnafé with regard to what we call the level playing field, in other words, having positive conditions and in terms, especially with regard to our transatlantic friends, for states, for companies, for financial infrastructure, financing long-term savings, customer service. It's one aspect of European sovereignty. That, that's absolutely true. A final question you asked about the PRLT. Unless Lars Machenil wants to answer it, but it's really to do with accounting questions. There are two ways of expressing the PRLT. It's one that's awarded and the accounting rule that wants a fair value. You've got two figures.
One is the awarded figure, the other is the fair value, which takes account of the probability of the or the likelihood of payment of a specific amount. "No, it's exactly that," says Lars. "You're referring to the annual report, which is a regulated document, and where regulations requires us to give the fair value and the nominal amount." To be clear about the semantics of this, BNP Paribas does not have a performance or stock option share. We talk about a PRLT, which is a representation of the share. Don't want to go into too in the technical details. Your question, it was perfectly legitimate, and the difference can be explained by the obligation in accounting terms to provide a fair value. In terms of the themes that have been mentioned, multiple questions have been written questions have been submitted, and I'd like to share.
One is about cyber risks, fraud, phishing. What are the actions or what decisions taken by BNP Paribas to limit or even avoid that kind of risk? Everything to do with cyber fraud.
I can see Guillaume Poupard looking at me now with great interest in his world. Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, this risk, I wouldn't say did not exist 10 years ago, but it was much lower than it is today. Today, there is some EUR 500 million which year in, year out are allocated to addressing cybersecurity aspects. Cybersecurity has become a central part of IT systems. You don't have any appropriate IT system without cybersecurity. It is totally intertwined with any and all IT aspects. The cybersecurity budgets keep increasing because the massive systems and the massive data being processed is skyrocketing. You have breakthrough technology.
You keep hearing about new models emerging, like the Anthropic model, which might make it easier to hack IT systems. The answer is always the same. It is a question of continually investigating and screening your systems, ensuring that you have a rating, review, a correction, patching, mechanisms always in place. As soon as a leak, and as a weakness and vulnerability is identified, then you need to patch it extremely quickly. A vulnerability is identified, you have to patch it extremely quickly. Having said that, there might be many such vulnerabilities because the new devices and technology solutions are far from being perfect. Since they are continually being upgraded and renewed and replaced, you always have a new vulnerability and issues coming up.
Cybersecurity involves lots of great talent, efforts, investments, monitoring, and discipline. It also involves being in touch with and in conversation with the best players in this universe. You have lots of pure players, but you have discipline. Discipline must be at the core of our IT system, the way we develop IT systems and the way you interact with third parties, because we don't all build it in-house, so you need to metabolize the devices and systems from the outside. Much for my answer. EUR 500 million of expenses is quite a high amount, accounting for 8% of IT system expenditures.
When you benchmark, it is very comparable with the large American banks' budget on cybersecurity, and it is quite higher than the percentage of our European peers. It's not abnormal given that we are highly exposed to the international arena and to trading systems which require that you respond in an intraday manner.
Thank you, Jean-Laurent. Now, in our conversation, I want to pick up on some written questions which ask about the Sudanese case, the Sudanese litigation. There are different types of questions here. Mr. Mechriz is asking us about the real tangible risk for the bank compared with other situations that we have experienced in the past, which I want to mention, but which you have in mind.
What is the real tangible risk that the French court looks into this case? A second question asked by Mr. Panot on the same topics: Why didn't you book any provision for that? A third question is being asked by Mr. Mirable on where we stand and what is the timeline about this Sudan case. Jean-Laurent, would you like me to answer or will you answer? Okay. Well, first, Jean-Laurent Bonnafé. These are facts dating back to early 2000, which have nothing to do with what we are today as a bank. It is a civil set of proceedings, as Jean mentioned, that we are dealing with. We have appealed first a ruling which was very partial because it's basically this ruling was handed down to cover three individual situations.
In fact, our appeal was accepted very quickly. Some had doubted that. Like all appeal proceedings, they are a lengthy and complex governance mechanisms and processes. By May, we will file our plea, and we're convinced that our argument is very strong, knowing that there's no causal track between what was mentioned, i.e., operations conducted by Swiss subsidiary and the very egregious event which took place in Sudan. Very egregious because Swiss law is applicable law, was recognized by such in the U.S.A. We've had concurring advice that according to Swiss law, there's no causality, so there can't be any penalty. Our plea argument will be put forward in late May.
Their plaintiff, via their counsels, will counter our appeal plea within 91 days, being precise, so this will be in September. The judges will be appointed, there will be hearings, and then a ruling will take place. The proceeding is underway. It's no longer a public people's popular court who will hand down the decision, but there will be professional judges who will decide, knowing that there are principles of secondary liability in the U.S., so we have a strong argument. Some legal journals have commented upon our case, which seem to support our case. A very high level legal journal. The proceedings are underway, and we are contributing to them.
We haven't booked any provision because we believe we don't need to book a provision, given our analysis of the situation and how the events have unfolded. This is my straightforward answer, what can be said now. Knowing that this is a complex situation, which obviously didn't do good to us, for facts that we are invoking, that for which our liability is being invoked. Thank you, Jean. Let me again repeat something I've said. These are sensitive, yet very important cases, based on very old facts and events. Since then, the governance mechanisms and the policies of the banks were strengthened. Basically, these mechanisms, before that situation, are the ones which are being challenged.
I have a forward-looking question on the competitor, the competition from online banking organizations. I won't mention it because your CEO didn't want me to mention it. EUR 5.2 billion revenue last year. EUR 1.5 billion of net income was posted by this online bank, i.e., a factor of one for 10 compared with BNP. With respect to its growth base, it grew 45%. It grew its revenue 45% year-on-year, and it grew its net income by 65%. There's a ratio of 1 : 4 or 1:5.
This is a bank which wanted to disrupt and Uberize the likes of MoneyGram and Western Union, but they are penetrating now the French market, and they seem to be wanting to disrupt the retail banking operations and possibly even the private banking operations. I know, I know that it is a venture capital firm, which is a different story. I believe the market value was $75 billion last year, possibly reaching $100 billion this year. Engaging in the secondary markets. What is your take on such threat?
I said that my question was a forward-looking question, but I believe that five years down the road, it won't be forward-looking anymore, but a very real situation with such an online bank becoming institutionalized five years down the road, knowing that these online banks are borderless. You mentioned that Hello bank! and Boursorama are posting very honorable results, but this is a disruptive startup which you do not see many of. I would like to know how you perceive this threat and whether you believe that this neobank I remember WeWork, which was a real estate boutique, which wanted to be perceived as a high technology bank. It is a bit both. It is putting itself forward as a technology bank. It's a very valid point and question, sir.
We are discussing it at Board level. Indeed, this is a platform which was really innovative, has been so for many years, has been investing massive capital. This is the situation when you have venture capitalists backing your firm with those venture capitalists investing over many years without necessary aiming at quick returns. We remember the number 26 and other platforms. This platform has met with some degree of success. It is a global platform, reaching out to many countries with its revenues being generated differently according to countries. Some operations that they are conducting, we won't or we wouldn't. Lots of payment solutions across currencies and across countries are being carried out to simplify things which we wouldn't do in a market like France or Belgium or Italy.
Those markets we operate in, the only possible defense is to be well-equipped with our own better performing online bank with a better performing app and portal with very good capabilities for daily retail banking. We need to be on par. We need to be abreast of these banks, and we spend a lot of time, efforts and energy. It's about massifying the capacity, and it's about the depth of market which has been quite limited. They don't sell all banking product. They don't sell any product, any saving products. I wouldn't call that a superficial palette of business, but it has its own narrow breadth and very different from the palettes of banking solutions like the ones we are offering in France, Belgium or Italy.
Now, things may change, but it is difficult, I think, to maintain a single platform. You maintain a single platform when you carry out a single type of uniform business. When you penetrate domestic markets due to regulations and warranty rights, the specificities and regulations are local. A mortgage loan is a very different product in France than in Belgium. This possibly is the platform which made its initial project a success. Many failed and many have changed into a more, a smaller object.
It is up to each domestic banks now to offer a fluid, high quality digital services which are on the par with those which pulls competition and innovation forward and are driving the entire system to offer higher quality, cheaper, more fluid, faster products. All the better for the clients and for the industry. You had low-cost carriers in airlines. You mentioned Uber. You have industries where new entrants with novel practices will disrupt the incumbents in existing situations. The most agile operators will survive such situations well, because things tend to balance out because they cannot digest everything everywhere. We need to be on our toes. We need to keep investing. The strategic plan by 2030 has lots of digital building blocks, but every day you need to have high-quality apps and irreproachable service quality standards.
Thank you, Jean-Laurent. I can tell you that the Board of Directors has been very attentive to such issues associated with competitors, with the need to adapt, and it's part of our discussions. Lars, I do have a question for you, Lars, which is a very precise question on the liquidity ratio trajectory. This question basically notes that the liquidity trajectory in fiscal 2025 was somewhat different and special from the other years. The answer is why? Have you addressed any alerts? How this lowering of the liquidity ratio, dividend policy and share buyback programs intersect?
There are several things here. You've mentioned an indicator called LCR, liquidity coverage ratio, which is 125%, which must be in excess of 100%, it's not a very telling proxy. I'd rather use a proxy, called liquidity reserve, it stands at EUR 464 billion, which is the equivalent in cash at hand of the GDP of a 10 million inhabitant country. Yes, it is slightly down compared with the situation by year-end, prior year, because in the last quarter we had changes in the economy, which was mopped up by the bank, where the demand for loans was higher than deposits. In late 2025, with respect to trading operations, is usually a low point in business. This was the situation.
Going back to this LCR ratio, standing at 125%, down from 134% by year-end 2025. When I told you about the 470 billion liquidity, the indicator we use is EUR 360 billion, i.e., lower than that. You have liquidity which you may release, which is not accounted for in this metric. This metric accounts for 30 points of LCR. If you crystallized it would add an additional 30 points. We do lots of stress tests where we can see that the liquidity level is appropriate and sufficient. Every year we issue securities. We already are in May, and we've already met 60% of demand, so things are going well in this respect.
With respect to the connection with the dividend policy, I told you about the stock of liquidity of EUR 460 billion. Buying back shares, we are talking about a buyback program of EUR 1 billion. In relative terms it's hard to compare, so there's no impact on liquidity levels.
Thank you, Lars. Next question number six.
I think there's a question, in fact, to do this. Mr. Lemierre, Mr. Bonnafé, I have a question for you. As a grandparent, what would you say to your grandchildren when they ask you, "Granddad, what did you do with all the power you had in your position to preserve the habitability of the planet for us and our future generations?"
You're asking me, I can tell you. I worked at BNP Paribas. The Board is very attentive to that, and we do everything we can. If there's one place, if there's a location where these questions have an operational meaning in a bank, in a bank, it's in a bank, and it's in the Board of the directors. We take decisions. Those decisions have consequences, sometimes adverse, sometimes positive.
I talk with general management, and I like to pay tribute to Jean-Laurent and his staff members for the work they do. We allocate budgets. We hire engineers who know about it, who work with clients, that implement transition policies. Yes. Yes, money is our concern. Your deposits are our concern. They're yours. It's very important. You could say we can go faster. I'm the first to think so, but we're doing it. Make no mistake, I have children who ask me this. I'm used to that question. I'm used to using that question in my thinking. Very frankly, when you listen to Laurence Pessez and you listen to our reports, it's not perfect. It's not enough. We all agree, but we do something. Action is fundamental. I won't stress this anymore.
Energy transition, well, dealing with the climate is a matter of action. It has to be done in concrete, operational terms, day after day, by taking risks. I sincerely believe that the bank is doing that. That's what I would say to my grandchildren. Are you as comfortable as I am, Jean Laurent?
Sorry to interrupt you. A bank is figures. It's ratios. It's techniques. It's also commitment and a bit of passion. We believe in what we do. I'm sorry to add this because sometimes a shareholder meeting, there's a lot of figures, a lot of data, and we're not very used to expressing ourselves. There are some issues, such as the one you've mentioned, where we can go beyond the figures.
Number eight, please.
Well, as you know, financial institutions are increasingly surveilled for considering their links with the transfers of weapons and zones of conflict. BNP is no exception. Multiple reports, as well as a court case, are highlighting BNP Paribas investments in Israeli colonies and in arms manufacturers, providing Israel with weapons since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza.
The opinion of the International Court of Justice in July 2024 forbids any support, including financial support, for the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories after the genocide and avoid any involvement in the trade of weapons that may undermine international law. BNP Paribas has continued to do this and includes companies such as BAE Systems, Leonardo, Rheinmetall, that are all highly involved in the export of weapons to conflict zones that are active, such as Gaza. My question is, therefore, how do you guarantee shareholders that the bank is not exposed to a possible court case for being accomplice to war crimes?
You also asked the written question about the same theme. Okay, it wasn't me. Mrs. Labi asked the same, more or less the same question. That's for the answer.
I think that you'll be answering multiple questions, so I'd like to remind you, first of all, that we work in strict compliance with the laws and regulations in effect. Those can be national or international treaties. There's no doubt about that. There's a big confusion about in these discussions. If I take the alleged investment that we do in occupied territories, in fact, these are analysts that start off with the idea that European companies or non-European companies working in that way to export material that ends up in these territories, these companies somewhere, or very often globally, are financed by BNP Paribas. The analysts add up everything that's financed by BNP Paribas in any company, and then they come out with a figure, and they say, "Okay, that's your investment." None of that is very serious as an approach.
These analyses, these studies, so to speak, we have to put speech marks around that because there's a lot of communication, there's a lot of publication, and I'd even go as far as saying, calling it propaganda. Now I'll stop there. We are not committed in these issues. We're not people that would do things that are not compliant. We work in full compliance with European and international laws and regulations, as a duty of the bank, and that's the situation. Now, there's no doubt that what happens in Gaza is absolutely awful. It's a human crisis. What's going on in the occupied territories is unfortunately, and still talk in the same vein, the conflict we can see in the Lebanon. Any conflict, Ukraine, all these situations are awful. It's a human drama.
We're talking about families that are destroyed, that disappear. We can question the reasons for that folly. The world hadn't known for quite a few years such episodes that are so brutal, so violent. We have to ask ourselves about that. The bank is not responsible for that situation, it's not because the bank finances a company somewhere in Europe, and that company sees at one point or another some of its work or equipment in a specific location, that doesn't make us responsible for that. I think we have to be reasonable and have some objectivity in that kind of assertion. I don't think the propagation of that kind of assertion will help the matter. I don't think it's like that we should go about things. I'm not a politician.
As I said, we are not sovereign. We are a company, and I can say, tell you that every day we pay attention significantly, very significantly, and increasingly so, in an increasingly complicated world, to avoid any issues for tomorrow's shareholders, but even today's, for the things that would be regrettable in the field. That's what I can say globally about these various issues.
Lars, I have a written question for you. The question is as follows: "For Mr. Machenil, what is the significance of the upturn in long-term rates for fixed-rate real estate?"
That may look paradoxical. Perhaps you could explain the effect of long-term rates. It all depends on which country you are. In a country like France or Belgium, mortgages are at a fixed rate. When a bank sets a loan at a fixed rate, it doesn't mean they enjoy it, but we're required to. They have to hedge over the duration of that. It's usually for about 20 years. It can be amortized. Sometimes it's reimbursed early, as it is. It's not always 20 years.
Just to do things simply, for clients of BNP Paribas that have a statistical faculty to reimburse earlier than the average, the average rate, the term is seven years. When you give an issuer a mortgage, the money has to be available, has to be available over seven years, and the bank has to be covered for this. When the credit, when the mortgage was granted, if fixed rates rise on the next day, nothing happens.
It's a huge service that we give to families and the economy, basically, a household, a family, gets a service that they know from the beginning with a monthly amount, which is an amortization, that'll reimburse the principal and the interest. It's protection. It's not applied like this in every country, it's a risk for the bank. In fact, sometimes when rates rise, part of the deposit will be invested in other vehicles than what we could call liquid savings. These are longer term, that makes it harder for the bank to ensure its liquidity at a lower cost. When rates rise, for those with mortgages, there's an insurance which says, "Nothing happens to you." It's a bit harder for the bank if it hasn't managed its balance sheet. For new mortgages, it goes without saying that the cost of money is rising.
In fact, it's quite transparent that anyone can understand. It's different from variable rate interest loans. Now, there are markets that are structured like that. You take out a variable rate, you have some flexibility, but if it rises, it goes very quickly upwards. We saw this after Russia invaded Ukraine. The amount paid by a family can be doubled practically. It goes very quickly. That can be very complicated because we know the purchase of property, it's 30%-35% of a family's monthly income. When that doubles-For example, that won't help. Afterwards, it'll relax. It won't be for the whole term of the mortgage, but it is another system.
For the bank, when we look at the major trend for banks like ours that are very focused on private banking affluent, that have financial savings that are more extensive than the average with some fixed rates, high fixed rates and long rates rather, are more profitable because some of those deposits are transformed over time. It's more profitable for them. It has to be said quickly because it also depends on the trend, because if they had actually trended too fast, then it can be other phenomena in the company's profit statement. What's important to understand, and we saw this in recent times, for example, in Belgium and in France, the fixed rate system for mortgages is a genuine guarantee for families, for households, for borrowers.
It has a cost for the banking system because it will actually expose the banking system to major drawbacks. The income of French commercial banks and Belgian ones, , two, three years, either they were flat or they were actually contracting, whereas business was actually the same as before. We went from 3%, 4% up to less than 1%. The bank is paying out. Somewhere, the service tendered to the economy, it means that other people have some kind of readability and ability to carry on paying, reimbursing their mortgages, because when there is that kind of crisis in rates, well, the economy is never normally behaving so well, so it can also mean that maybe employment may be rarer or whatever. I'm spending some time on this because there are two ways of looking at it.
There's the service we offer the client, which is very good quality for the fixed rate system. Customers remember this on average as a form of a long-term investment. Sometimes it's a practice that is complex, expensive, and heavy for a bank to carry. Managing a fixed rate is difficult for a bank in a world where rates are very often shook up by geopolitical approaches that are external, so to speak, to the country where we operate. For example, potentially, there is tension that has to do with today's geopolitics. It has nothing to do with the local economics situation.
If I can just add something for the shareholder, from that point of view, for the shareholder, if short-term rates remain between 2% and 3% and the slope is still steep, so going up over time, we can plan to see an increase of 5% each year up to the end of that decade. That's the dynamic, so to speak, of deposits.
I have a final written question, a written one, at least as far as I'm concerned. It's a suggestion, actually, that I will forward to the teams organizing, is to offer some coffee at reception. Asks a question in the form of suggestion. Why not a quarterly interim payment for the dividend? Well, quite simply, the bank introduced a half-yearly interim payment some two years ago. That's quite recent. We did so cautiously for reasons to do with the stock market share.
A quarterly interim payment, it does exist. I do know some, but they're very rare. It would have consequences that might not be favorable in terms of the appreciation of all the share price, but let's remain at this point. Let's at half-yearly payment. I've taken note of the idea. Perhaps things will change, the market will change. Thank you in any case for that suggestion. I'm looking at the end of the room. If there are other questions, I don't see any other speakers at the end either. Therefore, we're going to go to the vote. The discussion, and it was great that we took your questions and had long and detailed responses. Thank you for your attention and your patience.
The quorum is 805,149,430 shares, or 73.18 of shares that have voting rights, so we can validly vote. Karen, as most of you have already been in this system, I'll just explain this very briefly. You have a tablet with 13 things. The only things you should use are the yellow, green, and red buttons, as you can see on the keyboard. Green is for, yellow is to abstain, and red is the vote against. For each resolution presented to you can choose. You have to press hard on one single key for abstain or against. The vote takes place after each resolution has been read it out.
You'll be asked to vote and say, "Voting is open." You'll see a timer as well in about 12 seconds, which allows you to do this. Once the timer has come to an end, the President will say, "Voting is closed," and you will no longer be able to vote. There will be results on the screen a few moments after the counting has finished. To avoid any interference, please switch off your telephones during the voting process. Thank you again. Shall we go? I'll give you the reading of the approval of the parent company voters for the financial statements of 2025. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 99.61% voted for. Approved. Second resolution, approval of the consolidated financial statements for 2025. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 99.68% voted for. Approved.
Third resolution, appropriation of net income and determination of the dividend for the year ending 31 December 2025. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 99.96% voted for. Approved. Fourth resolution. Fourth, special report of the Statutory Auditors on related party agreements and commitments falling within the scope of articles L225-38 et seq. of the French Commercial Code. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 98.98% voted for. Approved. 5th resolution, authorization for BNP Paribas to buy back its own shares. Voting is open. 99.08% therefore approved. 6th resolution, renewal of the term of office of Mr. Jean Lemierre as a Director. Voting is open. Voting has ended. Approved by 94.58%. Thank you. 7th resolution, renewal of the term of office of Mr. Jacques Aschenbroich as a Member of the Board. Voting is open.
Voting has ended. 96.96%. Congratulations, Jacques. Approved. 8th resolution, vote on the components of the compensation policy attributable to tech directors. Voting is open.
Voting is closed. 99.29% adopted. 9th resolution, vote on the components of the compensation policy attributable to the Chairman of the Board. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 96.8% approved. Thank you. 10th resolution, vote on the components of the compensation policy attributable to the Chief Executive Officer. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 91.01% approved. Thank you. 11th resolution, vote on the components of the compensation policy attributable to the Chief Operating Officers. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 91.01% approved. Thank you. 12th resolution, vote on disclosures relating to compensation paid in 2025 or awarded in respect of the same year to all directors and corporate officers. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 97.44% approved.
13th resolution, vote on the components of the compensation paid in 2025 or awarded in respect of the same year to Mr. Jean Lemierre, Chairman of the Board. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 97.37% approved. Thank you. 14th resolution, vote on the components of the compensation paid in 2025 awarded in respect of the same year to Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, Chief Executive Officer. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 94.26% approved. Thank you. 15th resolution, vote on the components of the compensation paid in 2025 awarded in respect of the same year to Mr. Yann Gérardin, Chief Operating Officer. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 95.04% approved. 16th resolution, vote on the components of the compensation paid in 2025 awarded in respect of the same year to Mr. Thierry Laborde, Chief Operating Officer. Voting is open.
Voting is closed. 95.18% approved. 17th resolution, advisory vote on the overall amount of compensation of any kind paid during 2025 to executive officers and certain categories of personnel. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 99.26% approved. Moving on to the extraordinary part of the meeting. 18th resolution, share capital increase, maintaining preferential subscription rights for Voting is open. 94.57%. For the extraordinary parts of the meeting, the music is different, right? 19th resolution, share capital increase with a removal of preferential subscription rights. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 96.8%, thank you, approved. 20th resolution, share capital increase without preferential subscription rights for existing shareholders through the issue of ordinary shares up to 10% of the share capital. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 96% approved.
21st resolution, overall limit on authorizations to issue shares with the removal of, or without preferential subscription rights. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 99.24% approved. Thank you. 22nd resolution, share capital increase by capitalization of reserves or earnings, share premiums or additional paid-in capital. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 99.55% approved. 23rd approval. Overall limits on authorizations to issue shares. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 96.59% approved. 24th resolution, share capital increase with cancellation of preferential subscription rights by issuance of bonds, which would only be converted into shares if the CET1 ratio would fall below a threshold of 5.125%. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 96.71%.
25th resolution, authorizations to be granted to the board to conduct transactions reserved for the members of the company savings plans with the removal of preferential subscription rights. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 99.69%. 26th resolution, authorization to be granted to the board to reduce the share capital by canceling shares. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 99.72% approved. 27th resolution, amendment of the articles of association relating to the director representing employee shareholders in order to take into account the legal provisions transposing the Women on Boards directive. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 99.98% approved. 28th resolution, authority to complete legal formalities. Voting is open. Voting is closed. 99.99% approved. Thank you. This vote is the last item on our agenda. We'd like to thank you for your attendance.
I would like to thank you for being here today and for supporting us throughout the year, for your trust, and for the trust you put in the Board of Directors. I would like to thank all those who helped organize this meeting and who worked hard. It is very important for all of us, this shareholders meeting, which is at the core of the life and governance mechanisms of the BNP Paribas Group. I would like to warmly thank the Senior Management Team, as well as all the employees of the group for their hard, high-quality work, the results and performance being generated, and the attention paid to short, medium, and long-term issues, strategic challenges, and the big changes in society, which impacts us. You need to onboard them, as you rightly said so.
Thank you for the diversity in our discussions. Very important for all of us. Thank you, and enjoy the rest of the day. Goodbye