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Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the presentation of BNP Paribas Third Quarter 2020 results. For your information, this conference call is being recorded. Supporting slides are available on the BNP Paribas IR website, invest.bnparibas.com. During today's presentation, you will be able to ask your question by pressing 01 on your telephone keypad. If you would like to ask a question, please make sure to be in a quiet area to maximize the audio quality. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Smashneel, Group Chief Financial Officer. Sir, please go ahead.

Good afternoon, fine ladies, gentlemen. Welcome to BNP Paribas' third quarter results presentation. First and foremost, with the new phase of the pandemic hitting most of Europe, I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy. Also, I appreciate you must be very busy monitoring and analyzing the heavy news cycle and undoubtedly a lot more to come overnight. So I would like to really thank you for taking the time for this presentation. Today is a bit like an egg and spoon race, and in the usual way, I'll take you through the first three chapters of the slides, which I assume you have under your eyes before handing it over to you for questions. The main takeaways of today's presentation are first, the continued strong mobilization of BNP Paribas at the service of the economy and the society at large, and two, the high resilience of the bank in the different phases of the crisis, and this on the back of its financial solidity together with the strength of its diversified and integrated model. So if with this you can move to slide number three, you can see that this diversified and integrated model has resulted in a very strong resilience in the group top line. with group revenues stable on the same quarter a year ago at 10.9 billion euros. Costs, on the other hand, dropped significantly by 3.8% year-on-year, fully in line with our objectives in terms of cost reduction in absolute terms for the full year. Thus, both boost our gross operating income by 7.9% and generating a positive JAWS effect at group level. If we look at the cost of risk, They stand at 57 basis points over outstanding, or 1.5 times the cost of risk pertaining to the third quarter of last year due to the effect of the health crisis. Our net income for the third quarter came in at 1.9 billion euros compared to a year ago, minus 2.3%. When looking more broadly at the nine months' performance, our net income stood at 5.5 billion euros, coherent with our 2020 average. net income full year outlook. Finally, when I talk about the stability of the bank, our common equity T1 ratio clocked in at 12.6%, up 20 basis points on June 30th, confirming the strength of our overall balance sheet. If we look at the ratios, the return on tangible equity clocked in at 8.2%. If we now proceed and we switch to or swipe to or whatever it is to slide number four, well, you'll find more color on the economic background. Indeed, the economic recovery in the third quarter has occurred with differentiated momentum from one region to another and also from one sector to another. The most affected sectors have benefited from public support measures which have been extended, particularly in Europe, in response to the impact of existing and new restrictions in light of the resurgence of the pandemic. Moreover, plans and mechanisms to further accompany the economy are progressively being rolled out in this context BNP Paribas has shown a good level of activity and resilient revenues stemming from its diversification in terms of businesses regions sectors on the one hand and its positioning in the most resilient activities in those sectors and client segments on the other hand this goes in synthesis to show the resilience and effectiveness of BNP Paribas business model throughout the various phases of the crisis. If we now proceed to slide number nine, and we look at the top line, the revenues of the operating divisions, which were up 1.7% versus a year ago, and this despite unfavorable foreign exchange this quarter. While unfavorable, the Euro got stronger versus basically all other currencies. With a resilient contribution from the retail networks combined with growth in the specialized businesses, domestic markets revenues were just slightly down on last year with a 0.6% negative evolution. On the other hand, international financial services revenues were impacted by the effect of lockdown measures, for instance, with respect to the one-off drop in new loan production in personal finance in the second quarter or the lingering impact of the health crisis in our real estate business. both of which saw nevertheless a gradual recovery over the third quarter. And this combined with the unfavorable foreign exchange effect that I spoke about, so the euro getting stronger, and this in spite of growth in Bankwest and asset management this quarter, led to a 7.2% year-on-year decline in revenues at IFS. On a like-for-like basis, the evolution equated to a 3.9% decrease on last year. Lastly, the third business CIB revenues rose sharply by 17.4% with a strong business drive and in continuation of the first half of the year with revenues up in all businesses and all regions. So this is the top line. If we now switch to slide 10 and we look at the costs in the operating divisions. We delivered positive draws on the whole on the back of cost saving measures stemming from the 2020 plan and accentuated by the health crisis. And so overall, costs were down 1.2% on last year, with domestic markets delivering a 2.4 reduction in costs, particularly in the networks, where there is a drop of 3.6%. IFS saw a drop of 6.4% in operating expenses, or 3.6% on a like-for-like basis, thanks to the effect of it reinforced cost-saving measures. If we look at CIB, they operated with massively positive jobs, while its cost rose by 7.2% year-on-year, driven by the level of activity. If with this, we take the next line of the P&L, namely the cost of risk, and you can start on slide 11. At group level, it clocked in at 1.2 billion euros up 400 million compared to a year ago. Expressed, as we typically do, as a percentage of loan outstanding, our cost of risk for the third quarter clocked in at 57 basis points, a level close to the average cost of risk through the cycle. If we now look through two of the different businesses one at a time, and let's start with corporate banking. Cost of risk was up on last year, due in particular to two specific files this quarter, both being atypical which is why we do mention them. If we now turn to slides 12 and 13, where we start with domestic markets, where the cost of risk was up versus last year, with a specific file in the corporate space explaining the moderate rise in French retail, while cost of risk is stable at BNL in Italy, thanks to the evolution of its risk profile in the past years, and particularly in the SME sector. And finally, on Belgian retail, it saw a slight increase. In the other retail businesses, personal finance saw a slight increase year-on-year. And lastly, cost of risk was stable when we look at Europe Med. And Bankwest saw an increase on last year, which, when expressed as a percentage of loan outstanding, clocked in at 63 basis points. So this is the P&L. If with this we move one slide further, And we look at the financial structure as you can see it on slide 14. You can see that the common equity T1 ratio was up 20 basis points, so standing at 12.6%. And so this, due to the combined effect on one hand of the results of the quarter, after taking into account a 50% dividend payout ratio, and on the other hand, the decrease in risk-weighted assets. And this Common Equity Tier 1 ratio at 12.6% is significantly higher than the requests notified by the ECB and above our 2020 plan objective, which stood at 12%. And this while we continue to be fully mobilized to serve the economy beyond our pre-crisis market share. And if you do a little bit of math, it should be noted that our common equity T1 ratio would remain above 12%, at 12.1% to be precise, without the additional reserves pertaining to the 2019 dividend. And then, next to capital, there is liquidity. The Group's immediately available liquidity reserve rose again to a whopping €472 billion, while the Group's Basel III leverage ratio stands at 4.4% on the back of new regulatory aspects. And so with this, if we sum up the group with what we see on slide 15, the net book value per share was up 2.2 euros at 81.2 euros as at September 30th. If we look tangible, tangible stands at 70.2 book value per share and has grown at an annual The rate of 7.2 is or CAGR of 7.2% since 2008 highlighting the bank's continued value creation through the cycle cycles actually. And so we continue to place into reserve 50% of our income in anticipation of the dividend distribution over the year 2020 Now, just some other elements just to top it off. On slide 16, you will find some elements on the continuous reinforcement of the group internal control and compliance system. And then on 17 and 18, you find the elements of our ambitious policy of engagement in society. If I can draw your attention to the role BNP Paribas has, along with four other international banks, in the development of a joint methodology. the well-known PACTA methodology, to help align banks' credit portfolios with the goals of the Paris Agreement as initiated in 2018 at the COP24. Furthermore, beyond the awards and lead table rankings in this area, you most probably heard about the record success of Europe's debut issuance, which aims to fund its sure unemployment scheme. The €17 billion social bonds issuance attracted interest from investors in excess of 230 billion euros, and we are proud to have played a key role in this transaction as lead manager and one of the five banks that handled the sale. Finally, in this domain, I would like also to highlight the signing of a single agreement on diversity and inclusion in July 2020, which sets out clear and concrete measures and targets for the bank. So this sums up BNP Paribas, and if we now look through each of the divisions, and let's start with domestic markets on slide 20 to 24. Overall, the business activity saw a positive evolution in the third quarter, thus prolonging the effect of the rebound witnessed towards the end of the second quarter, and this was evidenced in particular by the production of loans to individual customers, including mortgage loans in France and Italy. This was furthermore evidenced by the good net asset inflow of over 2.2 billion euros in private banking and the continued rise in new vehicle orders at our entity called Arval. As part of the continued implementation of governmental measures, the division carried on providing support to its clients, including in the form of new state guaranteed loans in France and Italy. Lastly, The evolution of the use of digital tools provided further evidence that the lockdown accelerated changes in customer behavior and also within our staff, and that those changes are here to stay. This is illustrated in particular by the rise in the number of active clients on mobile apps, which stands at about 5.8 million, up 22% year on year. Of course, with all these new active clients, the traffic on our mobile apps follows a similar pattern with close to 4 million daily connections. If we now look at the elements of the P&L, revenues showed very strong resilience at 3.9 billion euros, slightly down year on year by 0.6%. This was achieved on the back of resilient revenues in the networks, despite the persistent low interest rate environment and a very good performance in the specialized businesses. allow me to give some color on these entities of domestic markets. If we start with the specialized businesses that I just mentioned, which saw a rise of 5.2% in revenues on the back of a good development of activity in all businesses, and if I highlight some of them, it's personal investors, which operates under the brand Consorzbank in Germany. Then if we look at revenues on the retail side, like BNL and Belgian Retail, they were all respectively up 1% and quasi-stable year on year. If we look at French retail, they saw a decline of 4.6% in revenues due to a drop in net interest income, albeit smaller than in the second quarter. The difference in momentum compared to the other networks is driven mainly by the material deposits generated by the proceeds of state-guaranteed loans in France, which for a significant portion have not been redeployed by borrowers at this juncture, and so therefore are deposited at the bank. If next to the revenues we look at operating costs, which went down 2.4% year-on-year, with ongoing cost savings in the networks, as mentioned before, reaching 3.6%. As such, domestic markets operated with positive jaws this quarter. And the gross operating income was up 3%, and pre-tax income was down 5.4% on the back, of a moderate increase in the cost of risk that we talked about. So this basically sums up domestic markets. And if we now swipe to 25, that is slide 25, you will see that our International Financial Services Division saw a return to a positive momentum in business activity following the rebound witness toward the end of the second quarter. As such, IFS Outstanding loans were slightly up on last year on a like-for-like basis, thanks in particular to the positive evolution in international retail networks at constant scope and exchange rates. The positive momentum was also apparent in personal finance, with, for example, a strong rebound in auto loans this quarter. Furthermore, net asset inflows were strong this quarter, particularly in asset management and also in wealth management. While insurance proved resilient, real estate services activity continued to be materially affected by the impact of the lockdown measures that is gradually recovering. If we look now in terms of P&L, revenues were down 7.2% year-on-year at 3.9 billion euros with a 3.9% negative evolution on a like-for-like basis. The good performance of Bank of the West and Asset Management only partly offset the impact of low interest rates on Europe Med and wealth management and the residual effect of the lockdown measures in other businesses, in particular real estate services and personal finance, as a result of a reduction in outstandings given the lower loan production in the first half 2020. Personal finance, in particular, demonstrated the resilience of its business model with a third quarter pre-tax income up 50%, compared to the second quarter of 2020. If we now look at the costs of IFS, they were down 6.4% year-on-year on the back of continued cost savings and further gains in operating efficiency. With the increase in the cost of risk on the third quarter 2019, IFS pre-tax income was just down 18% year-on-year. On the whole, our retail activities, so domestic markets and IFS businesses, demonstrated in the third quarter the resilience of their business model throughout the crisis. This is one of the key strengths, as you know, of the group, while another strength relies on its integrated and diversified model, enabling it to benefit from the differentiated momentum thanks to a geographical, sectorial, and business footprint. This was also evidenced by the performance of the third business domain, CIB, which, in continuation of the first half of the year, carried on mobilizing its resources and platforms to support corporate and institutional clients in strengthening their balance sheet through bond, equity, and equity-linked issuance, while demand for hedging, forex, credit products remained high with a pickup in equity derivatives this quarter compared to the beginning of the year. If with this, I draw your attention to the slides 32 to 35 on CIB. And indeed, corporate and institutional banking had a very good performance this quarter in all client segments. In the financing space, we have admitted this quarter has anticipated a progressive shift from traditional bank lending, mostly in the form of syndicated loans, to bond and also equity issuances with a view to strengthen the balance sheets of our clients. Moreover, market activities saw strong business demand, normalizing in a way after the exceptional environment in the first half of the year, with a solid level of client activity in rates and forex in particular, and a good performance in equity derivatives as well as prime brokerage. Lastly, the third pillar being security services saw a good level of activity with a still robust number of transactions. CIB just crystallized its clients' positions in all regions by leveraging its commercial setup as strengthened in particularly in Europe by the development plans we have launched in countries such as Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and the Nordic countries, and also the increased cooperation between businesses. If we look first at revenues, they were up 17.4% year on year, they clocked in at 3.4 billion euros on the back of growth in all three businesses with a very good overall performance in corporate banking up seven percent global markets up 32 percent and security services up two percent costs were up seven percent compared to revenues with 17 and this on the back of high level of activity combined with ongoing effect of cost saving measures just generating What else can I say? An overwhelmingly positive JOLS effect. After taking into account the higher cost of risk in the third quarter, CIB's pre-tax income was up 14.6%. If we now look at slide 37, which will conclude today's presentation and summarize the six key takes away from today's presentation. First, the group has been and is still exceptionally mobilized towards serving the economy and the society at large. Two, the stability of our revenues in the midst of the crisis is a testimony to the strength and the resilience of BNP Paribas' diversified and integrated model. Third, the Group has continued to improve its operating efficiency, translating into significant cost savings this quarter. Four, the cost of risk decreased compared to the second quarter, to a level close to the average through the cycle, but reflects the impact of the health crisis when looking at its year-on-year evolution. Five, the group has further confirmed the resilience of its model in the different phases of the crisis, with a third quarter net income down 2% year-on-year and a nine-month net income down 13% on the same period a year ago. And six, as at September 30th, the group's common equity T1 ratio stood at 12.6%, which goes to confirm the group's very financial solid base. And so based on this, our net income year to date stands at 5.5 billion euros ahead of the 2020 net income outlook. And this concludes today's presentation. Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your attention, and I'll be very happy to take your questions.

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, you may press 01 on your telephone keypad. And if you wish to withdraw, it's 02 on your telephone keypad. So to ask a question, it's 01 on your telephone keypad. We have one first question from Mr. Jacques-Henri Goulard from Quai de l'Orchevreuse. So please go ahead.