BPCE - 2019 Universal Registration Document

ACTIVITIES AND FINANCIAL INFORMATIONS 2019

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS OF 2019

Significant events of the fiscal year 4.2.2

Ten years after it was established, Groupe BPCE continued to strengthen its universal cooperative banking model. With regard to strategic advances, in 2019 Groupe BPCE acquired a 50.1% stake in Oney Bank, thereby strengthening its development potential in specialized financial services, particularly payments and consumer finance. Present in 10 countries, with 2,600 employees, 7.7 million customers and 400 brick-and-mortar and online retail partners, Oney Bank will benefit from the joint expertise of BPCE and Auchan Holding with a view to accelerating its growth and expanding its presence in Europe in payment, financing and digital identification solutions. Local digital banking will also enhance the customer offering. The expanded business partnership between Groupe BPCE and La Banque Postale also achieved a significant milestone with the signature of agreements concerning CNP Assurances (extension of commercial agreements and the shareholders’ pact) and the definition of the main terms of the project to merge the asset management activities. Under the project, Ostrum Asset Management will develop euro fixed-income and credit strategies and insurance for Ostrum Asset Management and LBP Asset Management, thus grouping together assets under management of around €435 billion (based on the assets as at June 30, 2019), with the goal of creating an asset manager that complies fully with the principles of socially responsible investment. Following on from the sale of Banque des Mascareignes, the Group finalized the sale of BPCE International’s equity investments in Africa to the Moroccan group Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP): 68.5% in Banque Internationale du Cameroun pour l’Épargne et le Crédit, 71% in Banque Malgache de l’Océan Indien, 100% in Banque Commerciale Internationale in Republic of the Congo. These disposals are part of the Group’s refocusing strategy in priority sectors and areas for the development of its businesses. At the same time, Caisse d’Epargne Ile-de-France acquired BPCE International’s equity interests in Banque de Tahiti and Banque de Nouvelle Calédonie. The plan to integrate Crédit Foncier’s operations and teams into the Group was implemented in accordance with the established procedures and timetable. In accordance with the agreement entered into with CFF’s Management and labor representatives, employees whose jobs were slated to be cut were offered jobs at other Group companies in January 2019. These employees, who also had the option of transferring outside the Group under a voluntary resignation plan, joined their new companies in early April. Loan origination by CFF was redeployed within the Group networks in April after a transition phase. A new real estate partnership management organization at the Group level was set up. Disposals of CFF’s main subsidiaries were initiated internally within the Group, in particular the disposal of Socfim to BPCE SA which was finalized at end-2019. Finally, the project to set up the Financial Solutions and Expertise division within BPCE SA was completed. This division comprises the businesses from Natixis (Factoring, Leasing,

Sureties and Guarantees, Consumer Finance and Securities Services) and Crédit Foncier (Socfim) and will be joined by CFI (Crédit Foncier Immobilier) and Pramex International. This change in the organization of Groupe BPCE will enable a better service to be provided to the customers of the Banques Populaires and the Caisses d’Epargne. To strengthen its collective efficiency, the BPCE Community, consisting of 8,000 people whose actions are dedicated primarily to the two main networks (the Banques Populaires and the Caisses d’Epargne), was established. The aim of this community is to better meet the needs of Group companies, which are having to deal with far-reaching and long-term changes in their businesses, while effectively responding to more demanding regulations. This community, consisting of BPCE SA, BPCE-IT, IT-CE, i-BP, BPCE Achats and the Financial Solutions and Expertise division, has four main roles: i) to develop a strategic vision and prepare for the future; (ii) to be a common home for retail banking; (iii) to pool resources when this is the more appropriate decision to take and (iv) to ensure the Group’s effective performance and sustainability. Concerning the Group’s digital transformation, 2019 saw the implementation of a new “digital inside” approach based on the strong conviction that this transformation must be everyone’s business. It is conducted by and for all the business lines and makes advisers the main players in the rollout of the digital system among customers. This approach has been successfully implemented since the digital rating agency D-rating has ranked the Banques Populaires and the Caisses d’Epargne top of the traditional banks in terms of the level of use and performance of their digital channels and Groupe BPCE the leading bank in terms of transformation momentum. New services were introduced within the Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne applications. They include biometry activated on Sécur’Pass, the IBAN scan, use of selfcare for Banque Populaire insured parties, real time card management with, in particular, locking and unlocking of the card without canceling it, temporary increase in limits free of charge, integration of Paylib between friends. The digitalization of three loan application processes was also introduced: (i) personalized offer on home loans, (ii) full-digital, omnichannel loan offer, enabling all beneficiaries to define their preferred level of autonomy at each step of the application process, (iii) loans for professional equipment taken out online with a pre-established budget on equipment loans. In addition, Caisse d’Epargne Bourgogne Franche-Comté was the first bank in Groupe BPCE to offer full digitalization of home loans. It is a fully online home loan application process, from simulation to the signature of the loan agreement. Banque Populaire also rolled out Alliance Entreprises, an application available on tablets which enables CRMs to share digital content serving as a support during sales discussions with their customers. Therefore, by switching from a traditional “face-to-face” meeting to a “side-by-side” meeting, this new tool increases business efficiency and enhances the strategic dialog with the manager.

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UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2019 | GROUPE BPCE