BNP Paribas commits itself to #JamaisSansElles

Paris, 2 december 2019

Press Release

BNP Paribas further strengthens its commitment to gender diversity and signs up to the #JamaisSansElles charter

 

  • BNP Paribas’ Executive Committee signs up to the #JamaisSansElles charter and becomes the first company from the CAC40 to join this movement.
  • The male members of the Group’s Executive Committee have made a commitment to no longer take part in any events that involve more than three people without any women being present.
  • Through this latest commitment, BNP Paribas is further strengthening its actions to support gender diversity.

Signed by all the members of BNP Paribas’ Executive Committee, the #JamaisSansElles charter represents a new step forward in the Group’s actions to support gender diversity and equality. The Group is the first company from the CAC40 to join the #JamaisSansElles movement, which promotes gender diversity. The male members of BNP Paribas’ Executive Committee have made a commitment to no longer take part in any internal or external events that involve more than three people without any women being present (discussions, expert panels, roundtables, etc.).

 
Women make up 52% of BNP Paribas’ staff and the Group has been developing an ambitious policy for many years to promote equal rights and opportunities for men and women. It has mapped out its ambition to promote women’s access to senior positions, and to reach more than 25% women members for the Group’s Executive Committees and more than 30% women in Senior Management positions by 2020.

In line with its desire to accelerate its commitment to promoting equal opportunities and talented women, BNP Paribas plans to extend the signing of this charter to cover all of its top 100 executives or directors by 2021.

“We are delighted and proud to welcome the BNP Paribas Group’s CEO and Executive Committee members to our movement. The commitment made alongside us by the entire leadership team of one of the major players from the financial world is a strong sign of confidence, trust and hope for the transformation of our society. Following various leading businesses, BNP Paribas is the first bank and the first company from the CAC40 to sign up to a charter built jointly with #JamaisSansElles. This charter sets out concrete commitments to support real gender equality, for an equal contribution by, and representation of, women in all the Group’s internal and external activities. The ambitious goal of truly shared governance notably involves increasing the number of women in key positions within the Group. We sincerely hope that BNP Paribas will inspire other major European and global groups. Our action is motivated by the sharing of core values, which we believe are universal: the feminism of #JamaisSansElles is humanism”, declared Tatiana F-Salomon, co-president of the association #JamaisSansElles.

 
“The commitment made by our Executive Committee alongside #JamaisSansElles is absolutely necessary to further strengthen our actions supporting gender diversity. As citizens, as men concerned about balance and representativeness, we have a duty to do everything possible to promote gender equality and continue to fight against all forms of exclusion. While it is undeniable that mindsets have evolved over the years, there are still inequalities to be addressed and it is crucial to continue taking action together. The many women executives who are building the Group in France, the UK, the US, Spain, Brazil and many other countries across our business lines are undeniably contributing to our success”, added Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, Director and CEO of BNP Paribas.

About #JamaisSansElles
Founded by male and female business leaders and key figures from the digital world united around Tatiana F-Salomon, Natacha Quester-Séméon, Laurence Parisot, Guy Mamou-Mani and Xavier Alberti, the association promotes gender diversity across all sectors of society.
#JamaisSansElles proposes concrete actions to promote equal participation and visibility for women in decision-making structures and positions with high-level responsibilities and representative roles. The association is developing charters in partnership with businesses and governance stakeholders, and is working in the education sector to combat gender stereotypes, with the support of the French Ministry of National Education and Youth.
320 male and female leaders have made individual commitments with #JamaisSansElles: executives, politicians, ministers from several countries (France, Germany, Denmark), French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, French members of parliament and ambassadors, NGOs and major corporations. Male signatories make a commitment to never take part in events that are not gender diverse.
#JamaisSansElles is heading up the French delegation for Women 20, a G20 engagement group.
Shared very widely on social media (over 250,000 mentions), #JamaisSansElles is the fourth most significant hashtag of a collective movement since 2015 on Twitter in France (source: Ifop Opinion/FlashTweet).
http://www.jamaissanselles.fr/en
https://twitter.com/JSE_en
https://www.facebook.com/JamaisSansElles.fr/

About BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas is a leading bank in Europe with an international reach. It has a presence in 72 countries, with more than 202,000 employees, including more than 154,000 in Europe. The Group has key positions in its three main activities: Domestic Markets and International Financial Services (whose retail-banking networks and financial services are covered by Retail Banking & Services) and Corporate & Institutional Banking, which serves two client franchises: corporate clients and institutional investors. The Group helps all its clients (individuals, community associations, entrepreneurs, SMEs, corporates and institutional clients) to realise their projects through solutions spanning financing, investment, savings and protection insurance. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the European leader in consumer lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail-banking model in Mediterranean countries, in Turkey, in Eastern Europe and a large network in the western part of the United States. In its Corporate & Institutional Banking and International Financial Services activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas as well as a solid and fast-growing business in Asia-Pacific.

About BNP Paribas’ commitment to gender equality
BNP Paribas’ commitment has been reflected in a number of different initiatives around the world in the last few years. In 2011, the Group signed up to the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles, based on a series of specific recommendations to further strengthen the role of women in businesses, in the job market and within society. The Group is also rolling out various actions with women entrepreneurs through Retail Banking in France and created a dedicated €2 billion fund to support their projects in 2018. Lastly, as part of the United Nations “ HeForShe ” initiative, for which Jean-Laurent Bonnafé was appointed as a Thematic Champion in 2018, UN Women and BNP Paribas announced a partnership in 2019 with a FCFA 1 billion ($US 1.8 million) budget over three years to promote economic independence for women involved in climate-smart agriculture in Senegal.

Découvrez BNP Paribas – #JamaisSansElles Charter of Commitments

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