BNP Paribas Appoints Andrew Strait to Its US Corporate Coverage Team.

NEW YORK -- BNP Paribas is pleased to announce the appointment of Andy Strait as a Managing Director and transportation banker in its Midwest corporate coverage team. He is based in Chicago and reports to Rick Broeren, head of the corporate coverage transportation group.

Andy joins the firm from JP Morgan Chase (originally he was with Banc One Capital Markets) in Chicago where he was a Managing Director in syndicated leveraged finance. He was responsible for the marketing, structuring and syndication of multi-investor financings in the automotive sector. Prior to that, he held various other positions including; First Chicago NBD in the corporate banking division and NBD, Tokyo in the International department.

Commenting on BNP Paribas' coverage platform, Jean Yves Fillion, head of corporate coverage in the U.S. said, "BNP Paribas is continuing to strengthen its corporate client coverage across the U.S. and has made many senior appointments in the Midwest, West Coast and New York in the past year including that of Wendy Breuder to head the Midwest corporate coverage area."

Commenting on the appointment, Rick Broeren added, "Andy brings significant experience to this position and we are confident that his contribution will enable us to further enhance our client service in the automotive sector. This is also a further reflection of our ambition to build our presence in key regional areas."

About BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is a European leader in banking and financial services, with a significant and growing presence in the United States and leading positions in Asia. The most profitable bank in the Euro zone, it has a presence in 85 countries with close to 100,000 employees. The group enjoys key positions in Corporate and Investment Banking, Private Banking & Asset Management, Insurance, Securities Services and Retail Banking.

BNP Paribas provides a full array of financial products through a portfolio of brands that cover a variety of distribution channels. With offices in New York, BNP Paribas in North America offers a broad range of corporate, investment banking and securities brokerage activities. With locations in all the major corporate and financial centers across the United States and Canada, BNP Paribas in North America serves a world-class client base of multinational corporate and mid-cap companies, major issuers and institutional buyers. As a registered member of the NYSE, a NASD broker-dealer and member of SIPC, BNP Paribas Securities Corp. trades and markets a vast array of global and domestic fixed income and equity products.