Thu, Aug 21, 2025

.BNPPARIBAS New gTLD Application

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New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: BNP Paribas

String: BNPPARIBAS

Originally Posted: 13 June 2012

Application ID: 1-1283-71884

 

Applicant Information

 

  1. Full legal name

BNP Paribas

 

  1. Address of the principal place of business

16, bd des Italiens

Paris  F-75009

FR

 

  1. Phone number

+33 1 42 98 12 34

 

  1. Fax number

+33 1 40 14 45 46

 

  1. If applicable, website or URL

http:⁄⁄www.bnpparibas.com⁄

 

Primary Contact

 

6(a). Name

Ms. Pascale Soncini

 

6(b). Title

Chef de projet Digital - E-Com

 

6(c). Address

 

6(d). Phone Number

+33 01 42 98 38 33

 

6(e). Fax Number

+33 01 42 98 69 46

 

6(f). Email Address

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Secondary Contact

 

7(a). Name

Mr. Mathias Marie

 

7(b). Title

Head of iNames service

 

7(c). Address

 

7(d). Phone Number

+33 1 40 14 73 14

 

7(e). Fax Number

+33 1 55 77 35 13

 

7(f). Email Address

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Proof of Legal Establishment

 

8(a). Legal form of the Applicant

Corporation (Sociélé Anonyme)

 

8(b). State the specific national or other jursidiction that defines the type of entity identified in 8(a).

France

 

8(c). Attach evidence of the applicant's establishment.

Attachments are not displayed on this form.

 

9(a). If applying company is publicly traded, provide the exchange and symbol.

Euronext;BNPP.PA

 

9(b). If the applying entity is a subsidiary, provide the parent company.

 

9(c). If the applying entity is a joint venture, list all joint venture partners.

 

Applicant Background

 

11(a). Name(s) and position(s) of all directors

Baudouin Prot Chairman of the BNP Paribas’ Board of Directors

Claude Bébéar Administrator

Daniela Weber-Rey Administrator

Denis Kessler Administrator

Emiel Van Broekhoven Administrator

François Villeroy de Galhau Administrator

Georges Chodron de Courcel Administrator

Hélène Ploix Administrator

Jane Fields Wicker-Miurin Administrator

Jean-François Lepetit Administrator

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé Administrator

Laurence Parisot Administrator

Louis Schweitzer Administrator

Meglena Kuneva Administrator

Michel Pébereau Honorary Chairman of BNP Paribas

Michel Tilmant Administrator

Nicole Misson Administrator

Philippe Bordenave Administrator

Thierry Mouchard Administrator

 

11(b). Name(s) and position(s) of all officers and partners

Alain Papiasse Deputy COO

Eric Lombard Head of Insurance activity

Eric Raynaud Head of Asia-Pacific Region

Fabio Gallia CEO and General Manager BNL

François Villeroy de Galhau COO

Frédéric Lavenir Head of Group Human Resources

Frédérique Janbon BNP Paribas Head of Fixed Income

Georges Chodron de Courcel COO

Jacques dʹEstais Deputy COO

Jean Clamon Managing Director Compliance and Internal Control Coordination

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé CEO

Marie-Claire Capobianco Head of BNP Paribas French Retail Banking

Maxime Jadot CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of BNP Paribas Fortis

Michel Konczaty Head of Group Risk Management

Philippe Bordenave COO

Stefaan Decraene Head of International Retail Banking

Thierry Laborde Head of BNP Paribas Personal Finance

Yann Gérardin Head of Global Equities and Commodity Derivatives

 

11(c). Name(s) and position(s) of all shareholders holding at least 15% of shares

 

11(d). For an applying entity that does not have directors, officers, partners, or shareholders: Name(s) and position(s) of all individuals having legal or executive responsibility

 

Applied-for gTLD string

 

  1. Provide the applied-for gTLD string. If an IDN, provide the U-label.

BNPPARIBAS

 

14(a). If an IDN, provide the A-label (beginning with "xn--").

 

14(b). If an IDN, provide the meaning or restatement of the string in English, that is, a description of the literal meaning of the string in the opinion of the applicant.

 

14(c). If an IDN, provide the language of the label (in English).

 

14(c). If an IDN, provide the language of the label (as referenced by ISO-639-1).

 

14(d). If an IDN, provide the script of the label (in English).

 

14(d). If an IDN, provide the script of the label (as referenced by ISO 15924).

 

14(e). If an IDN, list all code points contained in the U-label according to Unicode form.

 

15(a). If an IDN, Attach IDN Tables for the proposed registry.

Attachments are not displayed on this form.

 

15(b). Describe the process used for development of the IDN tables submitted, including consultations and sources used.

 

15(c). List any variant strings to the applied-for gTLD string according to the relevant IDN tables.

 

  1. Describe the applicant's efforts to ensure that there are no known operational or rendering problems concerning the applied-for gTLD string. If such issues are known, describe steps that will be taken to mitigate these issues in software and other applications.

To the Applicant’s knowledge, there are no operational or rendering problems concerning the applied-for gTLD string.

 

Hence, the Applicant anticipates the introduction of this TLD without operational or rendering problems. Furthermore, based on a decade of experience launching and operating new TLDs, Afilias, the back-end provider of registry services for this TLD, is confident the launch and operation of this TLD presents no known challenges. The rationale for this opinion includes:

- The string is not complex and is represented in standard ASCII characters and follows relevant technical, operational and policy standards;

 - The string length is within lengths currently supported in the root and by ubiquitous Internet programs such as web browsers and mail applications;

 - There are no new standards required for the introduction of this TLD;

 - No onerous requirements are being made on registrars, registrants or Internet users, and;

 - The existing secure, stable and reliable Afilias SRS, DNS, WHOIS and supporting systems and staff are amply provisioned and prepared to meet the needs of this TLD.

 

  1. (OPTIONAL) Provide a representation of the label according to the International Phonetic Alphabet (http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/).

 

Mission/Purpose

 

18(a). Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD.

According to the Applicant, the purpose of the TLD is manifold, as will be further explained below:

  1. Reflect and operate Applicant’s key and most distinctive brand (“BNP PARIBAS”) at the top level of the DNS’ hierarchy;
  2. Provide stakeholders of the Applicant, including subsidiaries, and their respective suppliers, customers, sponsorships, and their respective directors, officers, employees, with a recognizable and trusted identifier on the Internet;
  3. Provide such stakeholders with a secure and safe Internet environment that is mainly or even fully under the control of the Applicant and its subcontractors;
  4. Provide selected stakeholders in BNP PARIBAS brands with the opportunity to create a secure and safe Internet environment that is mainly or even fully under control of the Applicant and⁄or such stakeholders;

 

18(b). How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

  1. The Applicant, the BNP Paribas Group, has one of the largest international networks with operations in 80 countries and counts with nearly 200,000 employees. The Applicant has key positions in its three core businesses: Retail banking, Corporate & Investment Banking and Investment Solutions .Present across Europe through all its business lines, the Applicant’s Group has four domestic retail banking markets in France, Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg.

BNP PARIBAS is the most used and most recognized brand in the group (alone or in combination with other elements) The BNP PARIBAS brand has a widely spread international exposure.

The Applicant’s group uses the BNP PARIBAS brand for many of its activities, including retail banking in France, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, etc. It is also a distinctive element of many of the Applicant’s other brands, such as BNP Paribas Cardif, BNP Paribas Fortis, BNP Paribas Personal Finance, etc.

The Applicant is one of the best rated banks in the world (Rated AA- by Standard & Poorʹs in the date of 28th March 2012). The proposed gTLD aims at consolidating the reputation of the Applicant’s brand;

  1. From the Applicant’s perspective, .BNPPARIBAS will bring a high degree of recognition and specialization to the currently existing name space. Where in most cases the specific connotation that has been initially given to the gTLDs (or even ccTLDs) has disappeared, the .BNPPARIBAS top-level domain will be unambiguous as regards the identity of the Registry Operator, the source of the content and services offered under the .BNPPARIBAS and⁄or the affiliation between the Registry Operator and the TLD;
  2. As mentioned in the vision ⁄ mission statement before, some of the key reasons why Applicant is applying for .BNPPARIBAS are:
  3. Marketing and branding: reflect the Applicant’s key brand BNP PARIBAS at the top-level of the DNS’ hierarchy,
  4. Safety and security, given the fact that the TLD and most if not all of the domain names registered therein will be completely or at least partially under the control of the Registry Operator;
  5. Affiliation between the core BNP PARIBAS brand and the hundreds of product and service brands registered and⁄or used by BNP PARIBAS and⁄or its subsidiaries in their day-to-day business;
  6. The Applicant intends to implement the following policies and procedures with respect to the registration of domain names in the .BNPPARIBAS top-level domain to include but not limited to:
  7. Reservation of domain names in the name of the Applicant. These names include:

 

  1. a) descriptive names, referring to the actual day-to-day business activities of the Applicant and⁄or its subsidiaries;
  2. b) descriptive names, referring to the internal departments of the Applicant;
  3. c) descriptive names, referring to the subsidiaries or the Applicant, joint ventures and⁄or other forms of entities linked to the Applicant;
  4. d) product and service brands promoted by the Applicant and⁄or its subsidiaries now and in the future;
  5. e) any denomination, subject to the respect of the legal conditions applicable, in order to facilitate the Applicant’s communication and in particular the proximity with its customers;
  6. f) any denomination, subject to the respect of the legal conditions applicable, in order to facilitate the applicant business and in particular the proximity with the customers.
  7. h) reserved names according to specification 5 of the new gTLD Registry Agreement
  8. h) geographic names according to specification 5 of the new gTLD Registry Agreement
  9. i)

 

  1. Launch of the TLD:

 

 

  1. a) Prior to Sunrise⁄ TLD launch: the registry operator will populate a list of reserved names. and will reserve the right to register domain names during the pre launch phase. The list will be made available to sponsoring registrars and potential eligible registrants as an additional procedures to minimize any abusive registrations and other activities that would have a negative impact on Internet users
  2. b) Prior to general availability: The registry operator will ensure a Trademark Claims service during the start-up phase as provided in the registry agreement. These mechanism will be supported by the established Trademark Clearinghouse as indicated by ICANN. The Trademark Claims service provides notice to potential registrants of existing trademark rights, as well as notice to rightsholders of relevant names registered. Registry operators may decide to continue offering the Trademark Claims service after the relevant start-up phases. The registry operator will also implement safeguards against allowing unqualified registrations in accordance to, the registry’s eligibility restrictions or policies
  3. c) Sunrise: allow physical persons, organizations and entities that meet the eligibility requirements in force at that point in time to choose the domain names that are identical to their trademarks;
  4. d) General availability: other available domain names may be registered by physical persons, organizations and entities that meet the eligibility requirements in force at that point in time to choose the domain names in accordance with the applicable terms and conditions.
  5. e) Depending on the terms and conditions in force at the time of launch of the TLD, these domain names may or may not be registered in the name of the applicant for the domain name or in the name of the Applicant for the TLD (BNP PARIBAS). In any case, the Applicant reserves the right to impose additional and other restrictions from time to time at its sole discretion;

 

  1. Given the fact that the Applicant is a company that is established in France, it is subject to both national and European privacy and data protection rules and practices. French and European privacy and data protection rules and practices are recognized to be among the most consumer protective rules in the world.
  2. As an additional data privacy procedure, the registry operator do not plan on selling bulk WHOIS data or contact data in any way. The registry operator will not allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission by e-mail, telephone, or facsimile of mass unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations. The registry operator do not plan on selling DNS query data in a way that is personally identifiable. The registry operator reserve the rights to use registration data in the aggregate for marketing purposes.
  3.             In order to prevent any abusive mining or harvesting of personal data, the registry operator will enforce adequate WHOIS service and access to contact data, such as but not limited to, limit in search returns. WhoIs protection services information can be found in question 26
  4. The Applicant is a multinational financial institution that has been created in 2000 from the merger of BNP and Paribas. The new group thus inherited two major banking traditions: that of BNP, the first French bank, whose origins date back to 1848, and that of Paribas, an investment bank founded in 1872. Ever since that merger, the Applicant has been trading under the BNP PARIBAS brand and domain name (bnpparibas.com). Since its establishment, the Applicant has become a major player at international level, with a worldwide reputation. In 2011, Forbes Global 2000 considered the Applicant’s Group to be the number one bank in the eurozone. Therefore, the Applicant has different ways in order to make existing and future clients, visitors and stakeholders aware of the (gradual) move from the Group’s bnpparibas.com domain name to the .BNPPARIBAS TLD, including but not limited to:
  5. Internet advertising campaigns;
  6. having Internet traffic to its key domain names resolving into domain names registered in the .BNPPARIBAS TLD;
  7. email marketing campaigns;
  8.                offline campaigns; etc.

 

18(c). What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs?

  1. The Applicant will organize the registry operation for the .BNPPARIBAS in such a manner that it will minimize the likelihood of having multiple applications for a particular domain name. This can be achieved in one of the following ways:
  2. Given the fact that, at least prior to the launch of the .BNPPARIBAS top-level domain, the Applicant ⁄ Registry Operator will reserve, delegate and use a large number of domain names that are directly or indirectly relevant to Applicant’s business in its own name. Since quite a number of these domain names will be of a descriptive nature, the chances for qualifying ⁄ eligible applicants ⁄ registrants to register such domain names after the launch will be limited;
  3. The Registry Operator will release available domain names post launch in a highly controlled manner, which also reduces the likelihood that two or more applicants qualify for the registration of the same domain name in the .BNPPARIBAS top-level domain;
  4. As a method of last resort, and subject to the actual domain name registration policy adopted by the Registry Operator and in force at the time of registration, domain names will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
  5. The Applicant intends to make the .BNPPARIBAS top-level domain available to qualifying domain name registrants at no cost to them as per the most likely scenario; The Applicant ⁄ Registry Operator may, at its discretion charge a fee for the registration of domain names under the .BNPPARIBAS TLD. Such fee and domain name registration may be part of a larger package of services offered by the Applicant or its subsidiaries. The use of the .BNPPARIBAS top-level domain by the Applicant may have beneficial effects on the Applicant’s customers and⁄or business partners, as the possible use of an individualized domain name for a particular customer, business partner or other entity may come at a lower per domain name cost than the cost of acquiring this domain name from another provider.

 

  1. The Applicant ⁄ Registry Operator may at its discretion make contractual commitments to increase or decrease the fees for the registration of domain names under the .BNPPARIBAS TLD.