Financial Markets Conduct (BNP Paribas S.A.) Exemption Notice 2021

Summary: The Financial Markets Conduct (BNP Paribas S.A.) Exemption Notice 2021 exempts exempt persons (being BNP Paribas and its subsidiaries (each a BNPP entity) and a related body corporate of a BNPP entity) from the substantial product holder disclosure obligations contained in sections 276 to 279 of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 in respect of any relevant interest in a financial product that an exempt person has as a result of a BNPP entity being granted an authority (lending authority) to act as agent on behalf of a client (the client) to lend approved financial products owned by the client to another entity (the borrower) in connection with a securities lending arrangement entered into between the client and the borrower. 

The exemption is subject to conditions that under the lending authority, a BNPP entity must not:

• have the power to exercise, or control the exercise of, a right to vote attached to any financial product;
• hold financial products on trust for, or on behalf of, the client; or
• facilitate a securities lending arrangement that the BNP entity knows, or ought reasonably to know, is being entered into by the client or the borrower (or both) for the purpose of avoiding the requirement to comply with sections 276 to 279 of the Act.