This prestigious Award recognises the leading role played by BNP Paribas Fortis in Belgium, in a market with a highly promising future.

In 2011, BNP Paribas Fortis played an important role in corporate bond issuance on behalf of Belgian and Luxembourg clients, bringing to market nine such issues during the year.

Among the most high-profile issues led by BNP Paribas Fortis were placements on behalf of Belgacom, UCB, Carmeuse, the French Community of Belgium and the Kingdom of Belgium.

Regarding the Retail market – i.e. issues aimed at individual investors – BNP Paribas Fortis carried out sizeable issues for Nyrstar (€525 million for 5 years), Delhaize (€400 million for 7 years) and Bekaert  (€400 million in two tranches with 5 and 8 year maturity respectively) plus a 4-year, €110 million issue on behalf of Befimmo.

In addition to these larger borrowers, BNP Paribas Fortis also helped smaller-sized entities, such as Studio 100 and Immobel, to gain access to bond market financing through private placements to smaller institutional investors and wealth management specialists.

During 2011, BNP Paribas Fortis confirmed its position as the number one player on the domestic market, acting as lead manager on all but one of the corporate and public sector bond issues targeted at individual investors in Belgium and Luxembourg during the year. 

BNP Paribas Fortis has now seen its consistently excellent performance in the service of the national economy recognised and honoured by winning the NYSE Euronext Brussels Award for the "N°1 Bond Finance House" of the year.

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 BNP Paribas Fortis (www.bnpparibasfortis.com) offers the Belgian market a comprehensive package of financial services for private individuals, the self-employed, professionals, SMEs and public organisations. In the insurance sector, BNP Paribas Fortis works closely with Belgian market leader AG Insurance. The bank also provides wealthy individuals, corporations and public and financial institutions with custom solutions for which it can draw on BNP Paribas’ know-how and international network.

BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is one of the strongest banks in the world*. The Group has a presence in more than 80 countries and more than 200,000 employees, including more than 160,000 in Europe. It ranks highly in its three core activities: Retail Banking, Investment Solutions and Corporate & Investment Banking. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the leader in consumer lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail banking model across the Europe-Mediterranean zone and boasts a large network in the western part of the United States. In its Corporate & Investment Banking and Investment Solutions activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas and solid and fast-growing businesses in Asia.
*Rated AA by Standard & Poor's i.e. 3rd rating level on a scale of 22.