OREANDA-NEWS. April 08, 2011. BNP PARIBAS priced its inaugural RUB 2 bln series 01 bonds issue. According to MICEX trade system, 87 transactions were registered with the Bank s bonds, reported the press-centre of BNP PARIBAS .

ThMaturity is 3 years (1096 days) after the placement date on MICEX Stock Exchange. The issue terms do not provide for any put dates.

The coupon rate was defined by the issuer based on the book-building results and was set to 7.70%, which is 7.85% yield to maturity. First coupon rate was 40 bps below the initial guidance range of 8.10-8.45% whispered upon book opening. The rates of other coupons are equal to first coupon rate. Coupon period is 6 months. The total demand was RUB 25 bln.

Jean-Francois Kochanski, Deputy Chairman of the Board of “BNP PARIBAS”, commented the deal results as follows: "Pricing results exceeded our expectations. The incredible demand for “BNP PARIBAS” ZAO' bonds shows significant investors' appetite for high quality issuers in the Russian debt capital market. We would like to thank all participants for the interest they showed. BNP Paribas Group continuously extends its positions on the Russian market, and this placement will allow us to diversify the resource base in the context of a new source of funding. We are also very thankful to Sberbank of Russia for the top quality arrangement of the deal".

About BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is one of the six 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

About BNP Paribas in Russia
BNP Paribas was the one of the first foreign bank groups who came in Russia in 1974 and started its activity trough a Representative Office. BNP Paribas received its full general banking license issued by the Russian Central Bank in July 2002 after the opening of a subsidiary, subsidiary "BNP Paribas" Closed Joint Stock Company (CJSC).

Today BNP Paribas Group is represented in Russia via three core businesses Retail Banking, Investment Solutions and Corporate & Investment Banking.