Morning reax as BNP Paribas commits to take majority stake in Fortis

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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Brussels, Belgium 1. Various of Fortis headquarters 2. SOUNDBITE: (French) Jean-Michel Cappoen, Socialist Union leader for Fortis personnel: "Whether we are reassured? The only thing we can say at the moment is that it seems like a solid financial group. I think nobody can contradict that for the moment. It is a financial group which in Belgium at least does not have an overly stretched network. Those are the positive aspects. But do not ask me yet what this all means. I do not know what the future will bring," 3. Various of Fortis advert: (English) "Fortis, another way of saying 'welcome to Belgium' 4. SOUNDBITE: (French) Anna Lorente, Vox Pop: "What worries me is that the position of the investors is not guaranteed and at some point can not count on having their money. That is really bad. You understand. You see your money just disappear into a hole." Paris, France 5. Various exteriors of BNP-Paribas headquarters 6. Pan inside Richelieu Finance trading room 7. Trader looking at graph on computer 8. Close up of graph of market situation on screen 9. SOUNDBITE: (French) Nathalie Pelras, head of asset management, Richelieu Finance: "The operation BNP-Fortis is a pretty good operation for BNP in the sense that it allows the bank to obtain assets, especially in the Netherlands and in Belgium where they were not present. The risk remains low because BNP will have only 10 percent of the toxic assets, the other 90 percent being taken care of by the state." 10. Trader working at desk 11. Close up screen showing current trading of the BNP 12. SOUNDBITE: (French) Nathalie Pelras, head of asset management, Richelieu Finance: "What is important to understand in the financial and banking sector is that we don't need just a rescue plan. We see it, only injecting liquidities, being present as a support to prevent bankruptcies, as a good thing in itself. It avoids catastrophe. But what is important in order that confidence comes back to the markets is that we see operators in the sector taking opportunities. And that is really what is happening between BNP and Fortis. Today there will be important companies in the sector who will use this crisis in order to buy good assets for a good price. So that is what can restore the confidence of the markets, more than rescue plans from governments, that is only plaster." 13. Close-up banks quotation on screen STORYLINE: Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said on Monday France's BNP Paribas SA had committed to taking a 75 percent stake in Fortis NV. Leterme said the Belgian and Luxembourg governments would, in turn, take a blocking minority share in BNP Paribas. The deal came after two days of closed-door talks between the Paris-based bank, Fortis and government authorities in an effort to restore confidence in the company before markets opened on Monday. The efforts appeared to have little effect on markets, with European exchanges from Oslo to Frankfurt opening lower on Monday. The Vienna Stock Exchange plunged 8.4 percent at the opening bell, the biggest drop since May 2005. In Frankfurt, the DAX was down 4 percent and in Paris, the CAC-40 fell 4.3 percent. In Oslo, shares were down nearly 6 percent. In Paris the head of asset management at Richelieu Finance said the risk taken by BNP Paribas was low. The European Central Bank (ECB), the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank offered more than 60 (b) billion to markets on Monday to try to keep the financial sector flush with cash. The European Central bank offered 50 (b) billion dollars in overnight money, while the Bank of England separately offered 10 (b) billion dollars. According to the Bank of England's Web site, the BoE is offering money to a maximum of 10 bidders in multiples of one (b) billion. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/2afe04b858cbb2f0819665b87590ab81 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork