BNP Paribas Global Head of Foreign Exchange in Bahrain

In his presentation at the Awal Ballroom in the Gulf Hotel, Mr. Redeker gave an overview of the G7 economies and their impact on foreign exchange rates.

The focus of the presentation was on the U.S Dollar and the reason for its erratic movements in the recent past vis a vis other major global currencies. The presentation provided an overview of the market, the market consensus, major currency themes for 2004, global risk assessment focuses on the US, and the effect of political outcomes on the currency markets. Mr Redeker also provided a thorough technical analysis on the predicted movement of major currencies against the US Dollar. In addition the presentation touched upon the interesting aspects of US yields, the US macro policy and bond markets.

Mr. Redeker is the Global Head of Foreign Exchange Strategy at BNP Paribas, London which encompasses all major and emerging markets fundamental and technical research. Prior to joining BNP Paribas he was the Senior International Economist at Chase Manhattan Bank, London. In addition, he is a regular contributor to various leading news publications, including Wall Street Journal and Financial Times, and appears frequently on prominent news channels such as CNN, BBC, CNBC and Bloomberg TV.

As part of the presentation, BNP Paribas' Regional Treasury Team from Bahrain also presented clients with various FX Derivatives strategies and yield enhancement products. Such products seek to combine simple deposit structures with derivative products thus allowing the investor to benefit from a potential yield far above normal money market instruments, as well as hedge against currency movements on trade or capital flows.

BNP Paribas has been operating in the Gulf for over 30 years through a network of 4 commercial branches (Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha and Dubai), serving the needs of institutional, corporate and individual clients in the GCC. The bank has resident expertise in the fields of Trade Finance, Private Banking, Investment Banking, Asset Management, Project/ Structured Finance, Equity Derivatives, Treasury Management and Islamic Banking.

In order to continue improving the quality of service and the adequacy of products range, the Bank has adopted a regional development strategy and invested in strong regional logistics, IT and a risk platform in Bahrain able to provide all entities in the region with a timely and high quality support for their clients and counterparts.

In Bahrain, the bank has been closely associated with financing the trade flows within the region and has been at the forefront in introducing trade and treasury solutions and e-banking platforms to its clients, and has also launched individual banking services targeted towards investment products, as well as core banking services.

BNP Paribas has strong ambitions to continue developing new ideas for its clients in the GCC in the future, including network expansion to cover countries where it does not today have a branch presence.