Launch of Liquidshare, the European blockchain fintech for SME post-trade

Euroclear group is the financial industry’s trusted provider of post trade services. At the core, the group provides settlement, safe-keeping and servicing of domestic and cross-border securities for bonds, equities and derivatives to investment funds. Euroclear is a proven, resilient capital market infrastructure committed to delivering risk-mitigation, automation and efficiency at scale for its global client franchise.

The Euroclear group includes Euroclear Bank - which is rated AA+ by Fitch Ratings and AA by Standard & Poor’s - as well as Euroclear Belgium, Euroclear Finland, Euroclear France, Euroclear Nederland, Euroclear Sweden and Euroclear UK & Ireland. The Euroclear group settled the equivalent of EUR 655 trillion in securities transactions in 2016, representing 196 million domestic and cross-border transactions. In 2016, the group held EUR 27.7 trillion in assets for clients.

Thibaud de Maintenant graduated from the Business Administration Institute of Paris and from the National Superior Engineering School of Caen. He began his career in the 1990s as an auditor at Mazars in Paris, before joining Clearnet SA in Paris, where he became Vice President four years later. In 2000, he joined Deutsche Bank in London as Head of Securities Services of Western Europe. Five years later, he was named Head of Direct Securities Services (DSS) for the Asia-Pacific region in Singapore. In 2011, he became Director of the Global Securities Services Division in London, to then take on, three years later, the responsibility of Deutsche Bank’s transactional bank in France. In July 2017, he became the CEO of Liquidshare.

BNP Paribas
Caroline Lumley: caroline.lumley@uk.bnpparibas.com

CACEIS
Chloé Lallemand Tel.+33 1 57 78 18 18; chloe.lallemand@caceis.com
Corinne Plessis Tel.: +33 1 57 78 02 35; corinne.plessis@caceis.com

Caisse des Dépôts
Service de presse: +33 1 58 50 40 00

Euroclear
Thomas Churchill: +32 2 326 79 44; thomas.churchill@euroclear.com

Euronext
Aïchata Tandjigora : +33 1 70 48 24 43; atandjigora@euronext.com

Paris EUROPLACE
Arnaud de Bresson, délégué général: +33 1 70 98 06 31; bresson@paris-europlace.com

S2iEM
Diane Cazali: +33 1 56 68 54 76

Société Générale
Fanny Rouby: +33 1 57 29 11 12; fanny.rouby@sgcib.com

BNP Paribas is a leading bank in Europe with an international reach. It has a presence in 74 countries, with more than 192,000 employees, including more than 146,000 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.

Caisse des Dépôts and its subsidiaries together form a State-owned group that is a long-term investor serving France's public interest and local and regional economic development. This role was reaffirmed by the French Law on modernisation of the economy of 4 August 2008.
The Group has renowned expertise in managing public service mandates and it has earmarked four priority sectors for creating jobs and partnering industrial development and innovation: business development, the energy transition, housing, and infrastructure and mobility. http://www.caissedesdepots.fr

CACEIS is the asset servicing banking group of Crédit Agricole dedicated to institutional and corporate clients. Through offices across Europe, North America and Asia, CACEIS offers a broad range of services covering execution, clearing, depositary and custody, fund administration, middle office outsourcing, forex, securities lending, fund distribution support and issuer services. With assets under custody of €2.5 trillion and assets under administration of €1.6 trillion, CACEIS is a European leader in asset servicing and one of the major players worldwide (figures as of 31 December 2016).
www.caceis.com

Euronext is the leading pan-European exchange in the Eurozone with nearly 1,300 listed issuers worth close to €3.5 trillion in market capitalisation as of end March 2017, an unmatched blue chip franchise consisting of 25 issuers in the EURO STOXX 50® benchmark and a strong diverse domestic and international client base.
Euronext operates regulated and transparent equity and derivatives markets. Its total product offering includes Equities, Exchange Traded Funds, Warrants & Certificates, Bonds, Derivatives, Commodities and Indices. Euronext also leverages its expertise in running markets by providing technology and managed services to third parties. In addition to its main regulated market, Euronext also operates Euronext GrowthTM (formerly known as Alternext) and Euronext AccessTM (formerly known as the Free Market). For the latest news, find us on Twitter (twitter.com/euronext) and LinkedIn (linkedin.com/euronext).

Paris EUROPLACE is the organization in charge of promoting and developing the Paris financial marketplace.
As a privileged intermediary of the European and French authorities, with which it develops a constructive and permanent dialogue, Paris EUROPLACE promotes reforms for improving the attractivness of the Paris financial centre.

S2IEM is a European market infrastructure investment company created in 2014, at the initiative of AF2i, upon the initial public offering on EURONEXT NV. This specialised umbrella SICAV (investment company with variable capital) for professional investors is governed by Article L. 214-154 of the French Monetary and Financial Code. Its shares are held by professional and institutional investors with a long-term investment outlook. The SICAV is managed by OFI Asset Management and the custodian is BNP PARIBAS Securities Services.

Societe Generale is one of the largest European financial services groups. Based on a diversified universal banking model, the Group combines financial solidity with a strategy of sustainable growth, and aims to be the reference for relationship banking, recognised on its markets, close to clients, chosen for the quality and commitment of its teams.
Societe Generale has been playing a vital role in the economy for 150 years. With more than 145,000 employees, based in 66 countries, we serve on a daily basis 31 million clients throughout the world. Societe Generale’s teams offer advice and services to individual, corporate and institutional customers in three core businesses:

• Retail banking in France with the Societe Generale branch network, Credit du Nord and Boursorama, offering a comprehensive range of multi-channel financial services at the leading edge of digital innovation;
• International retail banking, insurance and financial services to corporates with a presence in developing economies and leading specialised businesses;
• Corporate and investment banking, private banking, asset management and securities services, with recognized expertise, top international rankings and integrated solutions.

Societe Generale is currently included in the main sustainability indices: DJSI (World and Europe), FSTE4Good (World and Europe), Euronext Vigeo (World, Europe and Eurozone), Ethibel Sustainability Index (ESI) Excellence Europe, 4 of the STOXX ESG Leaders Indices, MSCI Low Carbon Leaders Index.

This press release is being published by BNP Paribas Securities Services, CACEIS, Caisse des Dépôts, Euroclear, Euronext, S2iEM, Société Générale and Paris EUROPLACE (each, with its respective affiliates, an "Announcer") for information purposes only and no legal effect may be derived from it. It should not constitute any recommendation for investment.

Whilst all necessary care has been taken in its drafting, this press release is being made "as is", without any representation, such that no Announcer shall be held responsible for the direct or indirect use of information herein contained.

This document may contain forward-looking information and statements based on information and economic assumptions formulated in a given economic, competitive and regulatory environment. They may prove to be incorrect in the future and are dependent on risk factors. No Announcer is taking any commitment or responsibility vis-à-vis the investors or any other stakeholder to update or revise, in particular because of new information or future events, some or all of the statements, forward-looking information, trends or objectives contained in this document.

None of the information contained, or to which reference is made, in this press release may be considered as conferring any rights or obligations upon any given Announcer. The creation of rights and obligations related to financial instruments being negotiated on such markets managed by Euronext's subsidiaries shall result only from the rules and regulations of the relevant market regulator.

Any proprietary rights and interests included in or relating to this press release are the entire and exclusive property of the Announcers.