ABN AMRO Bank N.V. (ABN) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[Interpreted] Ladies and gentlemen, welcome shareholders and depositary receipt holders in this very exceptional time. I am opening the meeting and welcoming you. On behalf of the ABN AMRO, I am present, Tom de Swaan, as the Chairperson of the Supervisory Board. And the following Supervisory Board members are present on video; Arjen Dorland, Vice Chairman; Jurgen Stegmann; Tjalling Tiemstra; Michiel Lap; Anna Storakers; and Laetitia Griffith. In addition, on behalf of the Executive Board, we have Kees van Dijkhuizen present. The following members of the Executive Board are present via video connection; Tanja Cuppen, Chief Risk Officer; Clifford Abrahams, Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer; and Christian Bornfeld, Chief Innovation and Technology Officer. Hanneke Dorsman is acting secretary to this meeting, and she is present as well. Robert Swaak, new Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO, is present via video connection. On behalf of EY, auditor [ Arja Schmidt ] is present via video connection. On behalf of the Employee Council, we have Rianne Kamphuis also connected via the video. And notary Clumpkens of Zuidbroek Notarissen is present at this meeting to oversee the correct procedure of the vote. Finally, the STAK AAB, the protective foundation, is attending this meeting via webcast. To the extent that STAK AAB is acting as an authorized representative, STAK AAB has cast votes prior to the meeting. Please note the following general remarks. First, please put your mobile phone on silent and do not make any video or audio recordings or take photographs. As you can see and have read in our announcements, ABN AMRO, to curtail and avert potential health risks, has made the unusual request to shareholders and depositary receipt holders not to attend the meeting in person. Instead, the bank has urgently requested that people use the option to cast their vote by electronic or written proxies or through virtual participation. Large numbers have complied with this request, the number of those present is minimal today. We have only one depositary receipt holder present. As announced prior to the meeting, the person present is not in the same room. Nonetheless, we would like to enable all shareholders and depositary receipt holders to follow the meeting and participate actively in the meeting. The meeting will be in Dutch. And as usual, it will be webcast in both Dutch and English and broadcast on the ABN AMRO website. For those present here, a live connection has been set up so that they can see the meeting on the large screen. Attending this meeting virtually is possible as well, considering the exceptional circumstances, this time, virtual shareholders and depositary receipt holders may ask questions during the meeting online. Please use the Lumi application for that. I'll elaborate on that in a moment. Finally, shareholders and depositary receipt holders have been requested to submit questions prior to the meeting. These questions may or may not be combined at the relevant agenda items during the meeting. The entire meeting is recorded on audio for the minutes, and minutes will be made available from July 22, 2020, for 3 months on our website. Afterwards, the minutes will be adopted according to the Articles of Association and will be signed by the Chairman and the Secretary. I note that shareholders and depositary receipt holders have been convened in accordance with the law and the Articles of Association. So legally binding decisions may be taken and shareholders and depositary receipt holders have not proposed items to be addressed at this meeting. On the screen behind me, you see the issued ABN AMRO capital, which comprises 940,000,001 share. I will now briefly elaborate on the procedure during the meeting. You saw the agenda in the convocation. This is detailed behind me. You see the agenda again on your screen. Some agenda items comprise multiple items such as Agenda item 2 that comprises 2(a) through 2(g). And we will cover as many as possible sections and presentations pertaining to an individual agenda item consecutively. After the presentations, we will answer questions relating to those presentations. Agenda Item 2 that will be the case following the presentation by our auditor, EY. Considering the internal cohesion, you will then have a proper and complete overview. Since agenda Item 2(e) will be presented to you for an advisory vote. After this Agenda Item has been described, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. And answering the questions -- we will start by answering the questions received in advance. After that, we will answer questions from participants in the room and the questions submitted by virtual participants during this meeting. I request participants from the room who has a question to rise if he wants to ask a question so that I can see. We are pleased to enable all virtual participants to ask questions while keeping track of time. To give everybody the opportunity, we suggest asking a maximum of 3 questions per agenda item. In addition, as we have announced, virtual participants may ask questions only if they have also submitted questions in writing prior to the meeting. Because of the minimal delay in the webcast connection, every moment that virtual participants ask follow-up questions will be followed by a minute break to give these follow-up questions a chance to be asked. Both virtual participants and participants in the room will have the opportunity to cast their vote throughout the meeting. As virtual participants will have noted in their application, the vote has already been opened, and will remain open until the close of Agenda Item 10, which is the final voting item on the agenda. For participants in the room you may cast your vote throughout the meeting by using your smartphone tablet or PC on all agenda items. Hopefully, you've downloaded the Lumi AGM app and have received instructions from the registration desk. You will have indicated the 9-digit meeting ID number followed by your personal user name and password upon registration. Hopefully, you've already logged into the Lumi AGM application. There are people in the room who can assist you if necessary. I assume that's all up and running and that everything is working. On your smartphone or tablet, you'll see the option to vote in favor, against or abstain as soon as the vote is open. If you do not make a selection or press multiple buttons at once that counts as abstention. And the voting will remain open for those in the room until the end of item 10. The voting results will be disclosed at the end of the meeting. In addition, as you've read previously, at the recommendation of the ECB, the ABN has rescinded the dividend proposal, which is agenda Item 3(b). I'll tell you more about that during the meeting. And given the exceptional circumstances, ABN AMRO had to cancel all social gatherings relating to the AGM. So unfortunately, there will be no reception after the meeting. And I now close this Agenda Item. That takes us to the Agenda Item 2(a), which is discussing the report by the Executive Board. I'm pleased to give the floor to Kees van Dijkhuizen to present the report by the Executive Board.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much, Tom. On behalf of the Executive Committee, I must give you an introduction to our activities over the past year. 2019 was a year in which we focused on carrying out the 3 pillars of our strategy. We also managed to achieve solid results in the course of that despite challenges such as the sustained low interest and even negative interest. That's also when I announced that I would be leaving ABN AMRO, believing passing the baton on to Robert Swaak at the end of today's meeting. The end of 2018 then, we were looking at the new purpose, Banking for better, for generations to come. In recent years, we saw that this purpose gave staff the correct compass they needed in order to make the right decisions, particularly in difficult situations, such as the ones you faced in recent months. And now for 2 years in a row, we've had many -- a huge majority of our staff are in favor of this. Our priority then is also all of our stakeholders -- we want to have satisfactory yield for investors and good banking experience. There are 3 pillars underpinning our strategy. Sustainability is and has long been an important issue for us. Sustainability is at the heart of our modus operandi and our purpose. In addition, it's also a business model. You can see this, for example, from the fact that EUR 21 billion from our private banking clients was sustainably invested in the course of the year. I'm also delighted to see the progress we're making on issuing loans for alternative energy sources. In recent years -- in the recent year, we've also greatly improved the consumer experience. That's our second column. Video banking is a good example of that. In all segments, we are currently using this very customer-friendly way of keeping in touch with the customers. And more than 70% of all retail products and the services currently take place digitally. This gives us a head start in this mode of providing services. And of course, that's extremely appropriate in the current situation. As regards to commercial banking customers, we are in line with our strategy and are working hard on broadening our range of services by working together with partners such as accountancy software and cybersecurity. Finally, we're looking at a future-proof bank where our staff can work together, effectively achieve excellent successes and really think in terms of improving the customer experience, as I say, those are the 3 pillars of our strategy. It took 10 months, most efficient, to allow 95% of employees to work from home, we achieved that in 10 days in the light of COVID-19. We've also worked very hard on improving our processes and our IT infrastructure. Also, we're looking at narrowing the range of products that we offer. In the last 3 years, I was working together with the whole Executive Committee in order to look at the strategy and achieving our objectives, talking about the importance of sustainability for the bank earlier. And it's not just a business opportunity. It's also the right thing to do in social terms and for the generations to come. In the past 3 years, we sped up the computerization agenda of the bank. We set up successful platforms like Tikkie and Grip. We've already got 10 million people using Tikkie. And in the recent years, we shifted from international private bank to offshore private bank for Northwestern Europe. This gives us a scope for further growth. Now I was talking about the cost cuttings we've achieved. And performance has gone up by 10% or more. This is the highest yield of the large Dutch banks, and therefore, puts us at the top of the European banks. We got a very strong capital position and because we started amply in time to prepare for Basel IV, we're also looking at real challenges, though. Firstly, we had to take -- we're the first large bank in the Netherlands to announce that more than EUR 2.5 million balance will result in negative interest being paid. We also were amongst -- we were the first big bank in Netherlands to assure smaller savers below EUR 100,000 would not get charged negative interest rates. We've worked out a very comprehensive plan in order to act as gatekeepers for the financial system. We want to put flesh on the bones of those 5 words. The same applies to our work with the Dutch public prosecution authorities. We cooperate with them as fully as possible. Regarding institutional banking, we also want to look at improving yield by restricting the capital impacts in a number of sectors and activities. And of course, that work is remaining to be finished. ABN AMRO is a solid and resilient bank, able to cope with difficulty in the future. Now in the last year, the Dutch economy did very well, partly thanks to comparatively low public debt, which put the Dutch state in a good position to brace itself and cope with the shock of the COVID-19 crisis. But the consequences of the crisis will nevertheless be very extensive. In addition to COVID-19, we're expecting pressure on the markets to continue to increase in the light of sustained low interest rates. Our clients are facing a very hard time. And I'm pleased to say, we've got more than 50,000 SMEs in the Netherlands being given loans of EUR 50 million and automatic delay in payments. We're also offering suspension of repayments to mortgage customers and personal loan holders where necessary. So this has become the new normal. And I'm delighted to say that we've got good IT systems in place, so that we can have 18,000 people working at home, tele-working, the new normal. Now of course, workers in the bank have been having to work very hard on making the new system work and providing support to difficulties in businesses and difficulties and also to friends and relatives. I'm delighted to report the way in which all of our staff have really put their shoulders to the wheel in order to make sure we can have the best service possible available from the bank. I'm delighted to say that banks are part of the solution this time rather than part of that problem. And it's really good to see how governments, supervisory authorities and banks have all joined hands. We're working closely together, for example, with the Ministers of Finance and Economic Affairs, State Secretary for Economic Affairs at the Deutsche Bank, but also we're looking at a national level with international -- with the European Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Now the COVID-19 crisis had an impact. This impact on the economy is going to be huge for our clients and also for our loan book. We've issued a profit warning in the light of this. Some sectors are going to be really hit very hard, which means that our credit facilities are going to increase significantly. Of course, we're not happy to see that happening. But we have got sound capital buffers, and we are able to handle it. Robert Swaak, who will be taking over from me, was closely involved in all of this work over the past week. Now EUR 2 billion profit, 10% yield, we can see really good solid results in 2019. It's a good success, particularly in light of the very low interest rates. We are, as I say, one of the most resilient banks in the Netherlands and Europe. Our costs are under control, our cost-cutting programs are working out well. Looking at dealing with financial crime activities. We continued to work hard on this in the past, and we expect that we can continue downward pressure on financial crime in coming years. In the fourth quarter, we did have unusually large reserves particularly because of bad loans in the offshore sector. Now corporate and institutional banking in the past 18 months did deconstruct EUR 5 billion in assets. It was not possible for the commercial banking yield to go as we wish to achieve it. We're looking to see what more we can do to get closer to our target there. What about the financial crime issue in combination with the negative interest income that had on income. The income ratio in 2020 will, therefore, not be able to meet its target. Other financial targets are the return on equity and the dividend targets -- all of the other targets have actually been achieved. As regards to our capital position. Well, it's very high up and it's improved significantly since the share issue in 2015. We are looking EUR 2.06. Now I have a final dividend, which would be EUR 1.28, which is 62% of profit. This is in keeping with our dividend policy, where by 50% of profits are paid out as dividend and additional dividends are paid out if our capital position allows it. Now because of the uncertainties surrounding COVID-19, the European Central Bank has called upon European banks to postpone payments of proposed dividends, at least until the first of October. We have decided to accede to that request. The final dividend is, therefore, held in reserve until the fall out of the 2019 crisis can become clear. Until a decision is made about that, therefore, it will not be added to the capital. As regards to our nonfinancial targets as well, we made really good progress in 2019. Diversity remains important. The number of women at the top level or top 600 has held steady at 28%. In our top 60, internal in-house potential for future performances are now coming up towards 40%. Our efforts on the sustainability front have once again been rewarded by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index again was a good score. And employee satisfaction is also holding steady at the target level of 80%. In private banking as well, customer satisfaction remains satisfactory, although lower for some of the others, commercial and institutional. We are hoping to further improve our Net Promoter Score in coming years. That brings me to the end of what I'll say, in 2019, ABN AMRO has financially solid results. And on the nonfinancial report -- front as well, we made some real progress. In the recent years, we've focused particularly on tightening up our strategy and implementing it to have all 3 pillars; sustainability; customer experience; and future-proof banking. In the last year, the bank has achieved 10% yield or more, and the bank has a sound capital buffer, partly thanks to the Executive Committee's excellent work in recent years. Despite facing hostile weather such as the low interest rates, ABN AMRO remains a resilient bank, and we can cope with a blow or 2 in the future. I'll be happy to hand over to my successor, Robert Swaak. I'd be very proud that I have the privilege of working to improving this bank in the future, better banking for our customers, better banking for future generations. Finally, I'd like to express my particular thanks to all of our staff, my fellow members of the Executive Committee, the Supervisory Board, for all the enjoyment I've had working with them in recent years. I wish my successor, Robert Swaak, all the very best in steering the bank into its next phase.

[Interpreted]. Thank you, Kees. Also for these lovely words, I'll be getting back to them later on, as I'm sure you understand. On to agenda Item 2(b), which is the report by the Supervisory Board. This report appears in the 2019 Annual Report, and I'm just going to elaborate on it briefly. One important section in 2019 was planning for the succession of the Executive Committee, especially the succession of CEO, Kees van Dijkhuizen, and the recruitment and selection process of 3 new Supervisory Board members was another important topic for the Board. Of course, other topics figured high on the agenda. These included the legal merge between ABN AMRO Bank and ABN AMRO Group, the approach for detecting financial crime, the investigation by the public prosecution service, the 2020 to 2023 financial plan, and the split of the Remuneration, Selection and Nominations Committee. In addition, the Supervisory Board was involved in and liaised with the Executive Board and Executive Committee to implement the refined 2018 strategy and the new purpose of the bank, Banking for better generation -- Banking for better, for generations to come. Other important topics in 2019 included improving the cost-to-income ratio, simplifying internal processes and controls, optimizing return on equity at the bank, updating the capital plan based on Basel IV, improving the general quality of data, innovation and cybersecurity. The 3 committees on the Board, the Audit Committee, the Risk and Capital Committee and the Remuneration, Selection and Appointments Committee also discussed a wide variety of topics in part to prepare the meetings and decision-making by the Supervisory Board. The Audit Committee addressed financial results, bank-wide risk reporting and the funding and capital plans, those were important topics for the Risk and Capital Committee as was the progress on compliance-related topics. Of course, the Remuneration, Selection and Appointments Committee dealt with the search for a new CEO succession procedures and development of talent and leadership. The new CLA that took effect on January 1, 2020, and the remuneration policy for the Executive and Supervisory Boards. And this concludes Item 2(b), the discussion of the Supervisory Board report, and I will now move on to Item 2(c), which is the presentation by the Employee Council. And I'm pleased to give Rianne Kamphuis, Chairperson of the Employee Council, the floor. Rianne, you have the floor.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Tom. Can everybody hear me? Yes. To shareholders and depositary receipt holders, I'm Rianne Kamphuis, I chair the Employee Council, which is the ABN AMRO's Works Council. I'm pleased to give you the view of the employees of the firm. And that's quite challenging because, in fact, what I say here and everything that relates to banking is under scrutiny. And what I say on behalf of the employees is therefore under scrutiny as well. Is that a reason to refrain from addressing you today? Now more than ever, we aim to do this. Employee participation at ABN AMRO has chosen not to apply the speaking right to various individual items, but to use it on a different more precarious topic. This week, I happen perhaps coincidentally to encounter the topic fault lines that literally relates to a gap that can separate persons or groups. For example, because of a difference of opinion or an event. And each time, the topic that brought about that gap is touched in some way the fault line deepens and the gap widens. The gap between the persons and groups on each side of the fault line keeps expanding. I see such a fault line in the daily operations of our employees during the financial crisis, a fault line emerged between banking and society. ABN AMRO is well aware that in the past, within our sector, some incorrect decisions were taken. Despite doing our utmost to correct those errors, the gap with respect to society remains after 12 years. It has not yet been bridged. Looking back on the previous year, I see the pressure on employees to safeguard our license to operate and practice to apply the progressively stringent regulations without causing our customers to become victims. And I also see how increasingly employees have to defend themselves against criticism from the media and from society. This time more than ever is making clear that we need to bridge that gap between us and society because at present an entirely different crisis figures in society, that's crisis of public health with potentially nefarious consequence for our customers and for the economy in general. We will all need each other. So I hope that we'll learn to seek each other out once again, so that we will trust the employees and the bank to be able to help customers constructively so that society once again acknowledges the added value of banks and recognizes that regulations are supportive, but that there are limits to what is feasible and what is not feasible. And in that way, we can take care of each other. That's my message for today. And the second part to wrap up, but at least equally important is my thanks to Kees van Dijkhuizen. I can say with certainty that Kees has been one of the ambassadors within ABN AMRO in forming our purpose and certainly in conveying it. In his role as CEO, he's experienced turbulent times and has consistently given his all and his full commitment to our organization. Kees, thank you very much for your relentless dedication, including during this very challenging time. On behalf of all ABN AMRO coworkers, we wish you all the very best. And I'm going to give you a short round of applause. Thank you so much.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much, Rianne. I greatly appreciate your kind words. I suggest we move straight on to agenda Item 2(d), Corporate Governance. Now in the chapter of leadership and governance in the Annual Report, you've seen an extensive explanation of ABN AMRO's corporate governance structure. We have what is known as a 2-tier board, that is to say, an Executive Board and a Supervisory Board. In addition, there's an Executive Committee, which supports the Executive Board in carrying out its vision, strategy and preparation for risk across the bank as a whole. The Executive Board is the statutory government of the bank. They are -- have the final responsibility for management and general activities in the bank. And as we said earlier, at the end of today's meeting, Kees will cease to be a member of the Executive Board and on that agenda item, we will come back to consider that situation. The Supervisory Board monitors, advises and supports the Executive Board, and the Executive Committee in their work. The Executive Committee is responsible for guiding ABN AMRO's business activities and those of its subordinates. The Executive Board brings the whole Executive Committee into implementing its -- deciding on the vision, strategy and risk policy across the whole of the bank. So the members of the Executive Committee, altogether make a significant contribution to ABN AMRO's strategic directing with a long-term value creation target and of course, keeping the customer at the center of things. Last year, as you may remember, the legal fusion of -- legal merger of ABN AMRO Group and ABN AMRO Bank was on the agenda of the meeting, and you decided in favor of the merger back then. This merger was then carried out on the 29th of June 2019, and as a result, ABN AMRO Group no longer exists. Against this background, the Articles of Association, Executive Board and the Supervisory Board have been adapted and those of ABN AMRO have also been amended. You will find the rules and the Articles of Association on the website. Furthermore, the Supervisory Board has decided that the Remuneration Commission and the Selection and Nomination Commission should be separated out. From November 2019, onwards, ABN AMRO has a separate Remuneration Commission chaired by Arjen Dorland and a separate Selection and Nomination Committee, chaired by myself. In that framework as well, the bank's rules have been adapted. As I'm sure you've seen on the website. At this moment, NLFI holds 49.9% of ABN AMRO's shares and STAK AAB, 50.1%. In addition, NLFI also holds 6.4% of depositary receipts. With depositary receipts, it has a 56.3% holding in ABN AMRO as a whole. Finally, I will inform you that ABN AMRO provided a report in the Annual Report on its performance according to the Corporate Governance code in 2019. We meet all the requirements of the Corporate Governance code, apart from some provisions set out in the Corporate Governance codes and Regulations section, dealing with that in detail in our Annual Report. In addition, on our website, you can find an extensive overview of the bank's Corporate Governance code and how we apply it. We will now switch onto to Item 2(e), remuneration report of 2019. And here, I refer you to the remuneration report as set out in the 2019 Annual Report. And in particular, we have a meeting document. To deal with that, I give the floor to Arjen Dorland, who is chairing the Remuneration Committee. He will run us through the policy.

[Interpreted] Okay. ABN AMRO has a moderate remuneration policy that meets all the rules for publicly listed and financial institutions. This includes restrictions concerning variable remuneration. And there's a prohibition of bonuses for some employees and senior management. The foundation for the remuneration principles within the bank are set forth in ABN AMRO's global reward policy and aligned with implementing ABN AMRO's purpose, Banking for better, for generations to come and are applied bank-wide in compliance with local circumstance. The Supervisory Board approves the general remuneration principles and did so in the year under review. In 2019, employees in the Netherlands were subject to the ABN AMRO CLA 2018 to 2020. Now a new 2-year CLA has been signed that will be in effect until January 1, 2022. This new CLA reflected various adjustments in terms of employee contributions to the pension plan so that it will remain fit for the future. As for employees outside the Netherlands, in applying remuneration principles, local and relevant circumstances and job markets and regulations are considered as well. The Executive Board has been subject to a separate remuneration policy since 2010. This continues to be based on the policy as adopted by the Executive Board of ABN AMRO at this time. Since then, there have been some adjustments in compliance with more rigid regulations such as the prohibition on bonuses since 2011 and the Wbfo that has applied since 2015. In 2019, the contractual relationship with the Executive Board was amended as a consequence of the legal merge because the 4 executive Board members are managers according to the Articles of Association. They could no longer work based on an employment agreement. As of June 29, 2019, the employment agreement was therefore transitioned into what's known as a services agreement. This conversion has not affected the applicable working conditions and remuneration. The Supervisory Board is responsible for awarding the remuneration of the Executive Board within the limits of the remuneration policy adopted by the General Meeting. The principle is a total remuneration package slightly below the median of the relevant market. As long as the Dutch state holds shares in ABN AMRO, no variable remuneration can be awarded to members of the Executive Board, and there's also a prohibition for individual adjustments of the annual base salary. The base salary of members of the Executive Board may be adjusted only in keeping with collective salary adjustments according to this bank CLA. Since January 1, 2019, the salaries of the 4 Executive Board members have, therefore, been increased by 2.5%, pursuant to the salary increase in the bank's CLA for 2019 and 2020. The ratio of the average annual employee remuneration compared with the complete annual remuneration for the CEO remained the same in 2019 as the ratio in 2018, which was 9.6. This is calculated by dividing the remuneration of the CEO by the average employee remuneration. This includes pension costs, and this is based on the average number of employees in 2019. In 2016, the ratio was 11.4. In 2017, it was 10.0. The relatively low ratio aligns with the moderate remuneration policy that applies within ABN AMRO. For additional information about remuneration of Executive Board members, please see the remuneration report included in the 2019 Annual Report and Note 35 to the 2019 financial statements. The fixed salary for the 5 positions within the Executive Committee that are not members of the Executive Board is based on the Executive Board salary, taking into account the different responsibilities of these Executive Committee members. The salaries of the Executive Committee members reflect the collective wage progression of the ABN AMRO CLA, and in compliance with this been increased from January 1, 2019 by 2%. For additional information about the salary and remuneration of individual Executive Committee members, please see Note 37 of the 2019 financial statements. Remuneration for members of the Supervisory Board is determined by the General Meeting. ABN AMRO does not grant variable remuneration or shares or options to Supervisory Board member. The fixed remuneration for serving on the Supervisory Board and the different committees has remained unchanged since 2010 and appears in the 2019 remuneration report. Since November 2019, there have been the 4 committees as a consequence of the decision to split the Remuneration committees from the Selection and Nominations Committee. Remuneration for membership of subcommittees of the Supervisory Board as maximum of 2 committees. For additional information about the remuneration for individual Supervisory Board members, see Note 35 of the 2019 financial statements. Finally, the auditor has reviewed whether the remuneration report contains the information required by law.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much, Arjen, for this information. Thank you very much, Arjen. Well, ladies and gentlemen, as I said at the beginning of the meeting, we will now deal with replying to any questions that apply to the remuneration report 2019. Other questions dealing with the Annual Report on corporate governance and the financial statements will be dealt with under the next agenda item. First, we will deal with the questions, which were submitted in advance, if any. Then we will invite the one person here in person to ask questions if he wishes, and thereafter, we will deal with the follow-up questions submitted during the course of the meeting by people taking part online. Now questions which are asked during the question -- during the meeting online will be sent on to us via a moderator. As we told, you are kindly requested if you're taking part online to have a maximum of 3 questions per agenda item. For the person attending in the room, I would ask you, please, if you have a question to go to the microphone. If you don't go to the microphone, I will assume you have no question. And again, for you also, maximum 3 questions per item, please. This gives all shareholders and depositary receipt holders the opportunity to ask questions while keeping the timescale of the meeting reasonable. I can now inform you that there are no questions submitted on this agenda item. We, therefore, turn to the person attending the meeting here. Any questions from you? No. There are not. So you have a question.

[Interpreted] Yes. My question is -- it's not quite clear how things are working. Are you asking for questions from shareholders out around the country or me?

[Interpreted] As I said, the way we're doing it is that shareholders and holders of depositary receipts who are taking part online may have asked questions in line and have been able to submit questions, then we give you the floor, sir. If anyone has any follow-up questions online, they ask them next. So if you have any questions on this agenda item, remuneration report 2019, please now go ahead and ask your question if you have one.

[Interpreted] Yes, I can combine this with the vote of the new CEO, if you wish.

[Interpreted] Yes, it's an excellent idea. Okay. Agreed, thank you. So we will now move on then to the first voting item, but before I do that I'd just like to explain -- tell you about the amount of capital represented today and voting instructions. You can see on this screen, I hope you can. Yes, it is on the screen. We have the figures regarding presence today. We've got 840 shareholders and depositary receipt holders, either personally or online joining us today, and they represent 769,523,853 votes, which is to say, 81.86% of the total votes in the capital issued. Well, ladies and gentlemen, you'll be voting online as you look gathered. Prior to the meeting, shareholders and holders of depositary receipts were invited to cast an e-vote in advance. Those votes are included with online votes cast during the course of the meeting, and will be incorporated into the results, which will be displayed on the screen at the end of the meeting. As I said at the beginning of today's meeting, the person who is with us today and the people taking part online, can vote at any time during the meeting if they wish. All agenda items are open for voting at any time. If you wish to vote in favor, that means you're expressing a positive opinion, against means in favor of negative advice, regarding the remuneration policy of 2019. The result of the vote is advisory. It is an advisory, nonbinding vote. As informed you earlier, the results of the vote will be displayed on the screen at the end of the meeting. We'll now go on to agenda item 2(f). Ladies and gentlemen, it's a presentation from the external auditor, E&Y, regarding the auditing work carried out by them in preparing the financial statements for 2019. I'll give the floor to [ Arja Schmidt ] from E&Y.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much, Swaan. I just like to run through what we did as external auditor. My name is [ Arja Schmidt ]. And since 2016, I've been the external auditor for ABN AMRO. In this presentation, I'll be briefly running through the scope of our audit, our approach, the key audit matters and some risk areas on those materialities that we applied, the communication and coordination with the bank, and I'll tell you about our findings in the end. So you can see the scope what we did is look -- what exactly did we look at? We looked at the financial statements and the directors' report. We do a half year report over the 6-monthly figures. We also look at the first quarter and 3 quarter figures in the interest of the ECB, that is. We carry out a review of the integrated annual review, and then we look at COREP, FINREP, and other prudential reporting, which goes on to the Dutch National Bank. On the right-hand side, you can see the timescale. We're basically involved with the bank auditing work throughout the year. What about our approach? Well, in line, some things are the same as previous years, others are different. We have what we call an understand the business exercise. We look at global knowledge of the sector to see what we would expect from banks. We call that top-down and risk-based approach and in line with all Dutch and international auditing norms. We look at estimations and scope. And this produces what we call an audit plan. We then discuss the audit plan with the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board. In our audit plan, we say where we will be relying on internal management control systems in the bank and where we will be carrying out extensive or complete monitoring. We look at which individual activities and countries we will be focusing on in auditing the bank. We don't only deal with ABN AMRO's Dutch auditing, we are the external auditors for all countries where ABN AMRO is active. On the basis of this risk assessment and scope, we can -- we decide what kind of depth we want to go into in our various kinds of investigation. Our non-Dutch auditors are then sent detailed instructions telling them how to proceed and how all the audits are to be carried out. They then report back to us, both on-site and here where we discuss them in the banks headquarters. We've got a team of sector specialized auditors. All of them are fully trained and are independent from ABN AMRO, and we turn to experts in our auditing work for a number of issues, such as valuation of financial instruments, IT, hedging model, fraud, corruption risks. So what's different from last time? Well, because of IFRS 9, in particular, we've got more specialists in our team than we used to have. Moving across to the right-hand side, forecast? What are our key audit matters? Well, as we said in our planning, the first is reserved for the expected loss calculation. That brings in even more modeling and even more subjectivity. As regards to our activities, you can look particularly at the transition documentation of all the assumptions the bank is making. Here, we have our modeling experts here, and there's far more disclosure than they used to be. Second point for attention is other provisions, provisions for claims and compliance-related matters. As you may or may not know, the provisions are set out here by the IFRS 1. There must be an obligation. As a result of an event in the past, there must be more than 50% likelihood that a payment will take place, and there must be a reliable estimation of the amount to be paid. Those are the 3 conditions. Regarding the legal claims provisions, well, we looked at lawyers' letters. Then we've got the CDD program. We also have provisions for. We look here at the bank's calculations. There's a number of subjective elements here and to see what needs to be provided, where additional capacity is required from the bank. A third audit point, as we call it, is the Department of Justice's investigation. ABN AMRO is under investigation from the Department of Justice. When the investigation will be completed and what its finding will be, we do not yet know. And we agree with the bank that no provision needed to be set aside for that in 2019. The last point is reliability and continuity of the IT systems. We're looking at the cyber risks and the change management procedures. And that again is dealt with in our statement. As regards to our final statement, you can see our item by item observations. Next point is materiality, EUR 140 million. That's on the basis of international standards here, and it's, in fact, 5% of operating profit before taxation. Compared with previous year, it was EUR 150 million because profit was a little higher. Now we don't apply materiality exactly the same way to every item. If you look at the remuneration of the Executive Board, you see we looked into that without any materiality threshold to make sure every last detail was correct. On the right-hand side, what topics did we discuss with the Audit Committee and the Supervisory Board? Well, our independence, our overall approach was approved. We presented it in a management letter in which we say what our findings and recommendations are regarding the internal auditing landscape in the bank. Major estimates were put forward and assumptions. We assess these every year, and we report back to the Supervisory Board on that. And we look to see how reasonable their estimates are on the basis of IFRS. They may be conservative or aggressive. Finally, every quarter, we report to the Supervisory Board on our findings regarding the quarterly reports. And once a year in our audit report, we run through all the formal aspects. For example, continuity, IT, any discrepancies found and anything found by our component auditors outside the Netherlands. On this slide, you can also see it says, "Significant difficulties encountered during the audit." That's on the list, I'm pleased to say we have nothing of that kind to report in 2019. And according to the corporate governance rules, we also have person-to-person discussion with the Audit Committee, the Risk Committee and the Supervisory Board, Chairman. Next slide. Yes, here you see the ISA 250. This is a legislation regulation, which we incorporate into our audit. We deal here with some -- on the left-hand side, we have IFRS tax laws and BWT, which legislation that has a direct impact on the financial statements. Those included in our audit approach. And we distinguish between those and those legislations, which will have an indirect impact on the financial statements, for example, MiFID II and GDPR. We look into those if we think they will have a significant impact on the financial statements. We look at the systemic integrity risk analysis. We look to see whether there's anything we need to flag up regarding assessment. And we look at the risk of materiality and risk. We have forensic auditors who are specialists in dealing with this kind of work. And they get together, of course, with the supervisory authorities. On the next slide, you can see nonfinancial information. And how do we deal with that in our audit. Well here, we look at the materialities report in order to see whether the bank is acting in line with all the information requirements and the corporate governance code. Here again, we bring specialists in order to assess the work -- or documents. And when it comes to sustainability and client policy, we actually have a special separate team who deal with the annual review report in order to provide assurance on that matter. Moving on to the next slide, the risk of fraud. Here, we look at the whole machinery of monitoring systems in the bank. I hope you can see it on the slide now. Yes, there it is. That is the one. Here, you can see prevention, detection and response. It's not able to be seen because it's rather small wording on the slide, it's rather small font. But we look at general entries, we go through all of those. We check the correctness of accounting estimates. We look at those matters, which -- anything which might crop up, which wouldn't be expected in the course of normal business practices. We look at forecasts and provisions, and we talk through all that with the Supervisory Board and others. This brings me now to my last slide, Chairman. What were our findings in the end? Well, we've got an unqualified opinion for 2019, going through key points, materiality and scope. We've also issued quarterly reports on the reviews. We've looked at all the various subsidiaries within the company and around the world. And all in all, I could say that the COVID-19 readiness, as you would call it, we would say it will have no -- had negligible impact, if any, on the 2019 financial statements, of course, from the need to disclose in the financial statements. Thank you, Chairman.

[Interpreted] E&Y, thank you very much, [ Arja Schmidt ] at E&Y. Ladies and gentlemen, as I already indicated, at the previous agenda item, we will now proceed to answer the remaining questions relating to the Annual Report, corporate governance and the financial statements. And as indicated previously, we will start by answering questions we received in advance. And [ Mr. Slas ] has submitted 3 questions about this agenda item. Thank you, [ Mr. Slas ]. I will read them out so that everybody can hear your question loud and clear. You ask, first of all, what is the legal foundation for charging the costs that the bank pays to the ECB for storing money there if investors have nothing to do with and are rigidly separated from the operations of the bank, is that reasonable and fair? The operations of the bank are rigidly separated from the operations of the many investors that -- for which the bank already pays costs such as transaction service fees. Investors each have their own responsibility. The bank has its own rigidly separated responsibility if the bank incurs costs that it is responsible for and not the investor. Your second question was. On the graph, long-term interest rates are gradually rising and the 10-year interest rate has already exceeded 0. What will the bank do if interest rates go back in the black in the future and the decision by the bank is then -- and will the bank's decision then be reversed? Question 3, is the ECB will accommodate the banks with measures and then perhaps that decision will no longer be necessary and can it be reversed? Kees, please answer the question.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Tom, and thank you, [ Mr. Slas ] for your questions. Regarding your first question about storing money at the ECB and the cost we charge to our private banking and commercial customers, I can tell you that the bank incurs these costs and pass them on. We do not make any money on that customers with assets below EUR 100,000, as we said, are not charged for negative interest rates. Your second question is what the bank will do if the interest rates go back in the black in the future. I cannot anticipate that. We communicate changes in interest rates when they happen. For competition reasons. I cannot say anything about that. Your third question related to possible reversal of the decision. By that, you mean possibly reversing cost charged to our wealthy and commercial customers, please refer to my previous answer. Those are the costs we charge. Also, we've noticed that our strong capital liquidity position and our important role in the Dutch economy have led us to communicate some measures in recent weeks -- measures for our customers -- measures to support our customers affected by the corona crisis.

[Interpreted] Next, I'll proceed to some questions from the VBDO, the association for investors in sustainable development. The first question of the VBDO was as follows. We would like to express our compliments to ABN AMRO for publishing the first climate risk analysis for the mortgage portfolio. Thank you very much for the compliments. In this analysis, the conclusion is that although the total home portfolio is not exposed to great risk due to floods or drought there is a group of customers that faces significant risk. Especially if these people are unable to or have difficulty financing adjustments to their home because of other socioeconomic circumstances, how will ABN AMRO use this information to protect risk groups, how will ABN AMRO support this specific group financially in the future to withstand the consequence of climate change? Second, VBDO emphasizes its appreciation for the ABN AMRO for both quantifying and publishing the positive and negative effect of the bank. We understand that this process reflects continuous development and the indicators, especially for social impact may be scarce to calculate social impact. There are 3 indicators: child labor, discrimination and failure to pay living wage. This results in a relatively low impact value, especially when compared to the positive social impact on other stakeholder groups. Can ABN AMRO commit that when the announced redefinition of the most important risks takes place, the social impact indicators will also be analyzed and complemented, if necessary, VBDO. Third, would like to complement ABN AMRO for its new policy of granting paid parental leave for up to 6 weeks. Equal distribution of parenting between parents is important because it may reduce income differences between women and men. On average women in the Netherlands earn 15% than men in the Netherlands. In the Supervisory Board report, it turned out that payments are equal within ABN AMRO, is ABN AMRO willing to report on the gender pay gap and calculate it for three levels: workforce, senior management and executives in 2020? Kees, would you please answer these questions?

[Interpreted] Thank you to the VBDO for these questions. Regarding question one about supporting risk groups against climate change, we are devising a strategy to use our analysis as needed to inform and protect customers. We are extending our horizon beyond our own group of customers because the risks identified apply not only to ABN AMRO and our customers. And because these groups of people with a home and households maybe large nationwide. We regard this not only as an individual risk. It's also potentially a social problem. So in the coming year, we will talk with other banks, local authorities and other market operators to identify more consistently and possibly envisage a joint solution. Your second question about impact reporting that is an up and coming discipline and ABN AMRO is a trailblazer here. Thank you for your compliments because it remains dynamic. It's perfectly conceivable that in the years ahead, we may include other risks indicators or topics in scope. Now finally, your question about diversity. Thank you, once again, for your compliments, diversity and inclusion figures high on the ABN AMRO agenda. I just mentioned this in my introduction. And in that context, gender pay gap is positioned on our agenda. We've discussed that topic several times this year. It is not yet sufficiently crystallized, but we'll be pleased to keep you informed when that is the case.

[Interpreted] Thank you Kees for answering these questions from the VBDO. Next, I would like to raise the questions by Mr. [ Mark Koning ], on behalf of MN Services Asset Manager of PMT, PME and pensioenfonds voor de among others. These questions are asked in part on behalf of APG and PGGM as well. Thank you for your questions. You write the following: ABN AMRO had a difficult year in part because of the low interest rates and the announcement of the investigation by the public prosecution service relating to the anti-money laundering act and legislation against financing of terrorism, the circumstances that followed publication of your annual report are at least as challenging. At the same time, we share your optimism about the fundamental features of the bank and the strategic course of the bank. We support the disposition of the ABN AMRO to want to be part of the solution in this crisis in the previous -- the second question is coming, in the previous quarter at clearing in the U.S., you suffered a deep loss of about EUR 200 million caused by closing positions of a single customer. Can you elaborate on what caused this and what the ABN AMRO is doing to evert such losses in clearing. And a third remark from Mr. [ Koning ] concerns possible consequences following the investigation by the public prosecution services, no provision is possible yet. Can you reflect on what the announcement of the investigation has meant for the bank, what the investigation itself means to the bank and what it may mean in the future. Okay, could you please reply to these 3 questions. Thank you.

[Interpreted] Regarding your question about the loss on clearing in the U.S., I can tell you that a customer with vast divergent positions ran into trouble given the very extreme market circumstances, we intervened to manage the position, ultimately had to close it and sell it at a serious loss because of the massive volatility, the loss was impossible to avert. As to the question of whether we can prevent this in the future, in the history of ABN AMRO Clearing Bank this has not previously happened. Clearing has an excellent track record in terms of lending losses. We have -- we have almost all positions of customers in view real-time and the impression of the other clearing customers is good. You asked about the significance of the investigation by the prosecution service and what it means for ABN AMRO. We can't say anything about the investigation. While it's ongoing, we're cooperating. Over the years, ABN AMRO has invested in various programs, such as trust and reliable banking and structural AML, know your customer process, and we'll continue improving them to serve as gatekeeper in the financial system.

[Interpreted] Now next, the VEB has submitted a long list of questions on agenda item 2, and I'm grateful to the VEB association of stockholders for that list of questions. We have responded in writing to the complete list. We summarized some of the questions for this meeting, and we will now reply to them successively. Some questions are understandably related to the impact of COVID-19 on the bank's financial position, including the capital position. Including during extended stress period, the feasibility of the financial targets and the role of the bank has attributed by the government as a transmission mechanism to support the actual economy case. Would you please reply to those questions here?

[Interpreted] I'll be happy to, Tom, and I'm grateful to the VEB for the long list of questions. At end 2019, ABN AMRO had huge capital and liquidity buffers. In addition to the minimum requirements of the regulators. In the meantime, the regulators have temporarily reduced the requirements during the crisis, which has further increased the capital buffer. In addition, ABN AMRO has decided to suspend disbursement of the final dividend for 2019 and not to distribute an interim dividend in August 2020. That means that ABN AMRO will be able to accommodate serious loan losses for a few years. Various scenario analysis, including stress test performed since COVID-19 erupted, we are able to withstand and make do with our current capital liquidity buffers to support our customers in these times. ABN AMRO has decided to support -- to automatically support commercial customers with loans up to EUR 50 million in the sense of interest and repayments on 6-month loans unless -- for 6 months until unless the customer does not want that, private customers with mortgages or consumer credit are eligible for 3 months postponement of interest and repayment. That should give them some space to breathe. And there are also expansions of existing products such as state-guaranteed loans, and they're also known as the BMKB or GO provisions. We will carefully consider any request for this product because the companies to be basically healthy and capable of sustaining the loan and ultimately repaying it. Responsible lending is important also at this point. ABN AMRO has indicated previously that considering the present interest environment, 2 financial targets will not be achieved in 2020. These include the cost/income target and the return on equity that compares -- this crisis compounds at so that the long-term consequences for the economy, our customers and the quality of our credit portfolio is presently uncertain.

[Interpreted] Thank you. I will now continue with the questions from the VEB. VEB has also asked questions about risk management and high lending losses in 2019 and the ambitions of various business units. Kees, would you once again please reply to these questions from the VEB?

[Interpreted] First, risk management, especially at this time, is absolutely essential. At this point, these positions are monitored more actively than previously, not only in corporate institutional banking. As you know, ABN AMRO has been decreasing certain exposures for a while and continues to look for ways to improve the cost-to-income ratio. We have good digital products and digital customer services and the present day and age prove their importance, and we're trying to see how we can continue to expand them efficiently. Private banking remains focused on additional growth and possible expansion of strong positions within Northwest Europe. The loss of a few custody customers will not change that and will not change the profitability of private banking. As is previously indicated, we are now considering how to structurally improve the profitability of corporate and institutional banking. Finally, various initiatives should yield additional income. These include a shift within the private bank from customers with an execution-only mandate to an advisory model or discretionary asset management and developing various partnerships and platform initiatives within commercial banking and within corporate and institutional banking, we aim to increase cross-selling and originate to distribute.

[Interpreted] In addition, the VEB has also submitted some questions to E&Y. The questions are as follows. The first question is: one of the 4 key audit matters related to the provisions for envisaged related impairment allowances for loans and advances to customers. The explanation of E&Y relating to the structure of the audit and the audit certificate acquired differs from the year before, in some respect. A: Can E&Y provide a substantive explanation as to how E&Y has analyzed the developments in composition of the loan portfolio. B: Has E&Y in some way changed its audit approach with respect to this key audit matter compared with the audit of the 2018 financial statements. The second question from the VEB to E&Y, is E&Y indicates "that it selected individual loans at various stages" and to have conducted detailed case file reviews. A: According to E&Y's key observations, has E&Y noticed in various cases a difference with respect to the timing of the impairment. What do this observation means? Specifically how many individual cases are concerned and what amounts were involved; and b, to be following the audit operations and inclusions by E&Y, has an adjustment been made in the provision taken by ABN AMRO for each individual loan. And the third question from E&Y to VEB (sic) [ from VEB to E&Y ] reads as follows: In the key audit matter concerning the reliability and continuity of IT systems, E&Y notes that the systems require improvement. E&Y qualifies the reliability and continuity of the IT presently as acceptable, whereas last year, it qualified them as "adequate." Can E&Y explain this changed assessment and the difference in the qualifications used. And I'll ask [ Arja Schmidt ] to reply to these questions, [ Arja ].

Yes, Chairman, the composition of the fund portfolio. The answer is that for each sector, there is a separate audit team concerning issuing new loans as well as about managing the different portfolios. These teams discuss every quarter the changes there and any external developments that are relevant for the sector. We are also using data analysis increasingly to identify exceptions and trends. For example, an analysis of interest on new issues with new -- we also take out the product approval process within the bank for new products and examine what the new products are with the launch. That's not very material for the balance sheet of the bank, but we observe the quantitative aspect to remain informed about the latest trends and identify new risks for the financial statements that result from this. Question 1B was whether we changed our audit approach with respect to this key audit matter. No, the approach was similar. The difference was that we are able to rely far more on data analysis, such as migration of risk categories or details about loans recently issued. Next 2a, according to the key observations, the difference was noted. In some cases, that's true. In some cases, because we assessed a provision differently from the bank. And in some cases, there is also a shift between quarters, but we did not consider these differences to be material. And b, has there been an adjustment following your audit operations? Our remark is that we did not reach conclusions based on individual loan but by portfolio. Since the questions were not classified as material the bank did not make any adjustments and were apparently unnecessary. Third, with the key manager IT system, we generally use the same approach as we did last year. The wording is slightly different in English. I believe that acceptable and adequate are roughly the same, if you translate those back into the Netherlands. I didn't think very much of it.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much, [ Arja ]. I'm just looking to see whether there are any questions from the person who's with us in the room. Yes, go ahead, please. Yes, just one moment, please.

[Interpreted] Yes. Good afternoon, Mr. de Swaan. I'm delighted to be here in the ABN AMRO's headquarters today. Although I'm the only shareholder present here. Everything is being set up very, very well. I got lots of space around me. This is an excellent example. And I really urge you to show pictures of the room where I'm sitting. This is an example of how we are launched on a new era where we will be keeping 1.5 meters distance.

[Interpreted] Can I ask you for name, please?

Yes, of course. My name is Robert Vreeken from We Connect You, Public Affairs and Investor Relations. And I provide assistance and advice to private and public sector organizations. Now I feel very safe here today. I'm much safer here than I am in the local supermarket, where people often come within a foot or 2 of me. And people actually bump into you. Perhaps, you would get together with other CEOs around the Netherlands to see what can be done because Arjen Dorland just won't listen. ABN AMRO with the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board is characterized by great openness and accessibility. And I'd like to congratulate again, I was saying also what is being done. And well, there's still a gulf. How does this happen? Well, as I said to you last year, Mr. de Swaan and the year before that as well, in fact. ABM AMRO and Rabobank's CEOs are completely invisible. I never see them. I can't see them in person ever, and that is very unhealthy in a time like this where customers really need guidance. So my question is, can you do something about it at last? The current CEO doesn't need to. But the incoming one, perhaps could try and make this into a priority for him? How is he going to put this idea into practice? Secondly, every cloud has a silver lining. Currently, we're not only meeting the 2030 climate objectives we're actually meeting the 2050 climate objectives. Everything -- the air is clean in the Netherlands. We finally reached our objectives. But what matters is, that all the large company CEOs in the Netherlands have now got beautifully sustainable companies. But in the meantime, the Netherlands is still the dirty old man of Europe. We produce a lot of pollution here. How are you going to get together with the government to do something about that to make us into a cleaner country? That's my next question. Now my third question. Money laundering. Now ING had to pay EUR 700 million here, ANB AMRO will be getting a claim against it, a very large one. And what strikes me is 40,000 reports a year. What does the public prosecution authority do with all these things. As far as I can see they don't do a thing. And perhaps the auditor could shed some light on what actually happens here. How many reports do you get? And in how many of those cases, did the prosecution authorities actually do something? Because it's absolutely absurd, ING is paying EUR 700 million. I think ABN AMRO will be ending up forking out EUR 700 million while the actual prosecution authorities are falling down on the job and not prosecuting these cyber-crime gangsters. So I look forward very much to your questions.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much, Mr. Vreeken. First, if I could just correct you for a moment. Arjen Dorland is the wrong name, it is Rianne Kamphuis, who's the staff representative. And Arjen Dorland is in charge of the Remuneration Committee. But don't worry, it's just a confusion regarding names. There's an awful lot of names to deal with. So please, we understand that little confusion is quite normal. I'd like to deal with your first question myself, and then I'll ask Kees to come and deal with the second one, dealing with climate objectives. And the WWFT and their role in this. And perhaps the external auditor might wish to speak on this. I don't think he will be particularly -- any, we shall see. First of all, I'd say that in the last few weeks at any rate, how should I put it? People have been getting their heads together a great deal since the crisis erupted. Banks have become very much in the public eye because we're taking steps. I think it's important to take the right steps. It's much more important than sitting around in talk shows. We've got to do the right things. And on that front, I think that ABN AMRO and the other banks have really shouldered our responsibilities, and we've made it clear how we plan to be part of a solution rather than part of the problem. In very specific terms, I'd say that in the past weeks, the number of. [indiscernible] we're also in the news quite a lot. So on that front, I think you can say that or how shall I put it, there is certainly a trend towards your suggestion, which is the bank should be more visible in society as a whole. I'm very much in favor of that, by the way. But you've got to be able to tell a good story. I think you're a communication specialist, Mr. Vreeken you could only communicate with the outside world if you've got a good story to tell, and I think we've got that. I think we can see that in Kees' introduce marking his departure, he sets out our purpose and our focus on diversity, sustainability and so on and so forth. I guess, a good story to tell the outside world. Perhaps I could now ask Kees to say a little bit more about climate and your vision of these things Kees. And perhaps also the Terrorist Finance act as well.

[Interpreted] Yes, thank you very much for your questions. Well, climate objectives. Regarding ABN AMRO, it's vital at -- well, I mean, to start again, you're in the building, you see what's happening here. This building is called circa because it is a completely circular building. We are involved in making all our office spaces more and more sustainable. We are greening the company. But that doesn't make the Netherlands green. And well, the things -- what we can do, we can provide leverage by helping our clients to become greener. That's the way in which we are setting objectives whereby we hope to have an A-grade for all our IT clients. There's more than 1 million of them, but that's how you make a difference in society as a whole. So commercial banking or SMEs and large companies, all these different sectors in the bank. We're talking to all of them about making improvements, particularly in the real problem areas to see how we can make the Netherlands and indeed the world as a whole, a cleaner place. We have some objectives here, and that's what we're doing. Regarding the terrorism financing Act, known as WWFT in the Netherlands. Well, reports do go into the public authorities and the public authorities takes response which they don't necessarily tell you -- tell us about, that's quite normal. So I'm sorry to say that for that question, you'd have to turn to the public authorities in The Hague to see whether they might be willing to tell you something. Ministry of Justice, perhaps Ministry of Finance. They make statements occasionally, but a bank doesn't get feedback on every report that we flag up.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Kees. Thank you for your questions, Mr. Vreeken. I'd now like to move on. To see what the moderator has to say, whether there are any follow-up questions. Have any questions come in since moderator, please.

Thank you very much. We've got 3 follow-up questions from the VEB association of shareholders. One of them has been answered, in fact. The 2 questions that have not yet been answered are as follows: Can you go into more detail, saying how high provisions would need to be, your best estimate, in the light of the option to delay repayments of mortgages, consumer credits and so on? That's the first question. The second question is the strategy emphasizes sustainability, customer experience and future-proof banking. Could you tell us where growth is going to come from? Private banking in Northwest Europe is barely growing and activities, which were -- should be very promising in 2018 as clearing are now showing significant losses, then the question of trade in oil and energy, which is really being troubled at the moment, ABN AMRO is becoming more and more Dutch focused, which means it is restricting its opportunities for growth. Thank you very much.

[Interpreted] Well, I can be very brief in response to the first question. We are in a closed period now waiting for the results to come through on the 13th of May. So we can't answer the questions on what provisions might be necessary to cover steps we've taken to allow people to delay repayments of debts and so on. Regarding your second point, a question of strategy, where is growth going to come from? I wonder if I could invite Kees to respond to that.

[Interpreted] Yes, of course. I think I dealt with that a bit in response to the VEB's earlier questions. There's all kinds of initiatives out there, whereby we're looking to find ways of growing our income. I mentioned the platforms and partnerships for commercial banking, I mentioned more consultancy models for private banking in the Netherlands and abroad. We are open to acquisitions when it comes to private banking in Germany, Belgium, I think there's a lot of private banking, smaller private banking units out there, which could be turned to us, and we'd certainly have a very open approach to that. And regarding sustainable options for technology and so on, so there are ways of getting to know our customers better. And regarding what you're saying on the international aspect of the company, that's quite correct. We're currently looking into that at the moment. We've never had an explicit growth target at ABN AMRO. But of course, every company looks to see how it can grow because trading water is not the answer. So in the first place, we want to focus on our return on equity, getting above 10%. That's an objective, as you know. But growth, where can we find growth. Well where we're looking for it, but only if it's actually profitable growth.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Kees. Moderator, are there any further follow-up questions?

Not at this stage, not for agenda Item 2. Okay. Mr. Vreeken I see has a follow-up question. Mr. Vreeken go ahead, please.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Mr. de Swaan. There's a little village in Austria. And in the village, we have no reports of corona having infected there. But there's 300 people now planning to sue that village because they have been contaminated. So what we looked at now is a situation where the U.S.A. and the WHO sent medical teams -- wish to send medical teams to China in January, and China refused, and look at the results of that. EUR 3 billion (sic) [ EUR 3,000 billion ] in damage around the world, I think we need to look back at that village, all of us. And here I'm speaking also as a member of the VEB. It's a great shame that VEB isn't with us in person today because they can't respond interactively to this kind of issue. I'd like to suggest that we should all sue China because the harm we are suffering, whereby the dividend isn't being paid and also dividend isn't being paid to the Dutch authorities, Dutch state, which is the biggest shareholder. There's a lot of money people are missing out on. And I think that worldwide, we should sue China and say China is responsible and say we have a claim of EUR 3,000 billion. It's time to show leadership in the Netherlands and globally. So I gave the village in Austria as an example. And now I think it will be a very good idea if ABN AMRO could set an example, take the leadership in this position and stand for the interest of its shareholders.

[Interpreted] Mr. Vreeken, thank you very much, we will certainly give a thought to what you say. Thank you. Any further questions? Just turning once again to the moderator. Have any questions come in? No. No. Okay then. So thank you very much. We can move on then to agenda item. Next agenda item 2G. Adopting the audited financial statements for 2019. Here, I'd refer you to the financial statements as set out in the ABN AMRO 2019 annual report. It was produced on the 10th of March 2020 by the Executive Board, and it's been available on the ABN AMRO website since the 11th of March 2020. The annual report and the financial statements, of course, were made available for inspection at the ABN AMRO headquarters and is also available for free to shareholders and depositary receipt holders at that location. There's an example here at the information desk as well. And as I've mentioned earlier, the 2019 financial statements have been scrutinized by the external auditor, E&Y, who have approved them. Well, now it gives me pleasure to open the floor for any questions. Could I please ask you only to do -- to raise questions, which specifically address the financial statements. Other questions can wait until any other business. Thank you. We didn't receive any questions on this submitted in advance. And I'm looking to see whether Mr. Vreeken has any questions? No. I, therefore, inform you that you can cast your vote on this agenda item. That is to say, adopting the 2019 financial statements. And I'm happy to repeat that online participants and the person who's with us physically can cast their vote at any time during the meeting, and all the results will be displayed together at the end of the meeting. So we now have reached the end of agenda item 2, and we can move on to agenda item 3 -- 3(a), in fact, which is the dividend policy. And I'll give the floor to Kees.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Tom. As for the dividend policy of ABN AMRO, the current and expected capital requirements, the risk profile are all factors in determining the percentage of profit distribution, we assume the moderate risk profile at ABN AMRO and any anticipated factors. From 2018, the disbursement percentage was to be 50% of the steady net profit barring any significant distortions. Additional things such as repurchasing own shares, received consideration if the Basel III core Tier 1 ratio is within the envisaged guidance of 17.5% to 18.5%, subject to the influence of other circumstances, such as regulations and commercial considerations. The combined disbursement percentage is at least 50% of the stable profits. This year, at the recommendation of the ECB, we have decided to maintain the original proposal regarding the distributable dividend for 2019. But the -- we will not be paying it depending on reconsideration of the situation and the uncertainties concerning the coronavirus. And in any case, we won't be paying it out before October 1, 2020. But our dividend policy is unchanged as soon as the circumstances are over, and we've been able to reconsider the situation. We will report to you on that.

[Interpreted] As announced previously, in this connection, agenda item 3(b) of the agenda has been withdrawn. We had to decide that -- we had to decide to emit all of agenda item 3(b) because of the fact that any adjustments to agenda items in the 42 days prior to the meeting are not permitted, as just stated by Kees van Dijkhuizen. I'm pleased to report that as soon as the uncertainties concerning the coronavirus are over, and there has been an opportunity to reassess the situation, we will report to you on that. Are there any questions or comments about the explanatory notes to the dividend policy? No questions have been submitted. I will, therefore, proceed to any questions from the audience. Are there questions from the audience? Yes.

[Interpreted] I noticed that you had some difficulty with my question about money laundering. I'll explain it again. About 2 years ago, the ING distributed EUR 700 million in profit because we had to pay EUR 700 million to the profit. So my question, perhaps you could communicate that to the Public Prosecution Service and provide feedback to all shareholders. My question is how many suspected transactions did you report last year? And what happened there? And in how many cases did this lead to prosecution? And what was the result? Because, perhaps, you have 500 people at work who are very expensive and it's very important that we do this. But if nothing comes of this, and that's what I was told by my contacts, then we're making much to do about nothing. And the shareholders suffer damages just as at the ING, EUR 700 million too little was paid and you have a few hundred employees working that are caught up in a situation, examining these things but doing little with them. That's my first question. If you do not want to answer this, perhaps you could ask the Public Prosecution Service to provide feedback because both the shareholders and the Dutch citizens are entitled to this. Next, I indicated it's important to hold China accountable, and I have not received sufficient reply to that. Perhaps, you need to give that one some thought. But I believe it is relevant. In addition, I understood that the journalist from the [indiscernible] have looked into the matter. And apparently, [ Jared Sam ] did not do very much regarding money laundering. And -- but Ralph Hamers was held accountable for that and will be prosecuted for that as well. What do you expect this situation will be with [ Jared Sambel ]? He be prosecuted as well because that tarnishes the image of the ABN AMRO, so that costs money.

[Interpreted] Are you aware of how many reports we submitted to the Public Prostitution Service?

[Interpreted] I don't have that ready here, but I'd like to make a different remark, Mr. Vreeken because it's correct that a lot of people are working on know your customer, and they're also trying to see whether there are any suspicious transactions. But the most work is the administration. Filing those reports is, of course, part of what we need to do as well. But their primary responsibility is to know their customer to avert having to file such reports. So the majority of our work is to avert having to make such reports. If we do run into something, of course, we will file a report. But the majority of the work does not involve making reports. We're doing our best to know our customers and to ensure that we comply with legislation regulations. That's what our people are working on.

[Interpreted] Okay. I specifically said that this was about the financial statement and dividend policy. I've told you previously, that I will take note of your position regarding China. And we'll certainly give the matter a serious thought. As for Mr. Hamers, all I can say is that I was not aware that he is being prosecuted. Apparently, you know more than I do. And regarding the former chair of the Executive Board, it's basically a screenplay and what the Public Prosecution Service or the ministry will do is not up to me, and I won't be the judge of that either. Thank you. There are no additional questions -- no additional questions were received. As for your question about the reports, I did receive that information. We do not disclose how many reports we file. That covers item 3 on the agenda. And I would like to move on to agenda item 4 -- 4(a), the proposal to discharge the individual members of the Executive Board in office during the financial year 2019 for the performance of their duties during 2019. Are there any questions? We have not received any questions about that. Let me remind you that you may also vote on this item, and that takes me to agenda item 4(b), which concerns the same decision that I just mentioned at 4(a), but in this case, the decision concerns each member of the Supervisory Board in office during the financial year 2019, for the record, please note that this proposal concerns all Supervisory Board members that have by now left ABN AMRO, but were in office for part of financial year 2019. No questions were submitted. I do not see any questions in the audience. Thank you very much. Now please let me remind you that you may vote regarding whether to discharge each member of the Supervisory Board in office during the financial year 2019 for the performance of his or her duties during 2019. On to agenda item 5, report on functioning of external auditor, and I'm pleased to give the floor to Mr. Tjalling Tiemstra, the Chairman of the Audit Committee. He will explain the most important findings arising from the annual evaluation of the performance of the external auditor. Tjalling?

[Interpreted] Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Can everybody hear me? Yes. This year, again, the bank's employees involved in these operations with EY external auditor regarding their view of the quality of the duties performed by EY. And this you'll find the summary of their observations on the slide that is hopefully projected on your screen. The summary of the slide -- the most important point is that on a scale of 1 to 5, EY scored 3.6, representing ample satisfactory and slightly better than in 2018. This positive assessment mainly concerned independence objectivity and knowledge on the part of EY in the evaluation concerning 2018. So not last year, but the year before, the relationships between local EY teams and the management of our subsidiaries in other countries was not always optimal. That was flagged and EY and the management got to work on that. And according to the evaluation, for 2019, this has clearly improved. The evaluation for -- of EY for 2019 did mention that mutual exchange of data and insights between EY and our bank could improve. And of course, we'll get to work on that as well. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Tjailling, for this explanation. Are there questions or comments regarding the report on the functioning of the external auditor? No questions were submitted in advance. I do not see any motion in the audience suggesting that there are questions over there. In that case, I note that there are no questions about this item, and I -- my thanks to Tjalling Tiemstra. I propose we move on to agenda item 6(a), which is the adoption of the remuneration policy for the Executive Board. The remuneration policy of the Executive Board was most recently adopted by the General Meeting in 2015. In the second half of 2019, the Supervisory Board, especially the Remuneration Committee assessed in detail the complete remuneration policy for the Executive Board. The Remuneration Committee took note of trends in market practices concerning Executive Board member remuneration. And after carefully considering and at the recommendation of the Remuneration Committee, the Supervisory Board decided not to change the substance of the present remuneration policy for the Executive Board. The description of the remuneration policy was aligned with the new requirements by law. The main changes to meet the requirements stipulated by law are explained in the cover letter of the Chairman of the Remuneration Committee, and this cover letter is part of the proposed remuneration policy. First, I'm going to address the questions submitted in advance. [ Mark Koning ] on behalf of MN Services and Asset Manager for in part PMT, PME and pensioenfonds van de submitted the following questions also asked on behalf of APG and PGGM. [ Mr. Koning ], thank you for your questions. You write, the following ABN AMRO is operating in a highly regulated environment, also with respect to remuneration policy. As a result, the options for designing remuneration policy at ABN AMRO are limited. We, therefore, appreciate all the more that the present remuneration policy has been carefully construed the foundation for the policy is presented as a rock-solid description and the performance criteria are clear and connected to ABN AMRO strategy. So we're pleased to agree to it. The strict regulations to which the bank is subject also reflect the use and need of performance remuneration, being able to distribute bonuses and related performance criteria is often assumed to be necessary. That's why we ask that you reflect on the impact of the legal restrictions on ABN AMRO's remuneration policy, being unable to provide an incentive in the sense of performance remuneration has that had a negative impact on the bank's performance. And does it complicate recruiting the right people for the bank? I would like to answer this question. And my answer is no. The fact that at ABN AMRO, we are unable to award performance remuneration. In our view, it has not negatively impacted the bank's performance, but it basically proves some the opposite because if you do not award variable remuneration, you have no placebo test either. So there's no control group. And in his introduction at the start of the meeting, Kees has mentioned this very clearly, you can see -- you can tell this by the financial performance. And people who work for ABN AMRO are basically highly motivated to do a good job. And I'm pleased that the Supervisory Board notes this when they speak to people and visit people who worked at the bank. I think we can easily say that in recent years, we have succeeded in recruiting people. And I believe that the recent appointments, especially those starting today, demonstrate this. Hopefully, I've replied to [ Mr. Koning's ] question. And I will proceed to any questions from the audience. I do not see any motion on the part of the only participant in the audience. Next, I'll ask the moderator, whether any additional questions were received.

[Interpreted] Not for this agenda item.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much. And I note that there are no additional questions. Thank you. You may cast your vote here as well regarding the adoption of the remuneration policy for the Executive Board. Please note that a decision to adopt the remuneration policy is taken -- decisions concerning remuneration policy for the Executive Board need to be taken with a majority of at least 75% of the votes cast. That takes us on to agenda item 2(b) (sic) [ 6(b) ] , adoption of the remuneration policy for the Supervisory Board. The principles for remuneration of the Supervisory Board were most recently adopted by the General Meeting in 2015. In the second half of 2019, the Supervisory Board and especially the Remuneration Committee assessed in detail the principles for remuneration and a draft remuneration policy this time with respect to the Supervisory Board. Once again, this was benchmarked with comparable financial institutions and funds listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. The Supervisory Board has decided not to change the substance of the principles for remunerating the Supervisory Board, except for select elements as explained in the cover letter of the Remuneration Committee shared pertaining to the proposed remuneration policy for the Supervisory Board, the remuneration policy for the Supervisory Board was also aligned with the new legal requirements. The most important changes as a consequence of this legal requirement are explained in the cover letter of the Remuneration Committee Chair, which -- cover letter is part of the proposed remuneration policy. Are there any questions? I note that no questions have been submitted in advance. And I'm looking at the audience, I don't see any motion that would suggest questions there either. And I, therefore, note that there are no more questions on the subject. And I invite you to cast your vote of the Supervisory Board remuneration policy. And once again, I note that deciding to adopt the remuneration policy for the Supervisory Board is taken with a majority of at least 75% of the votes cast. I propose that -- ladies and gentlemen that we continue with agenda item 7, which is the amendment of Articles of Association and authorization to amend the Articles of Association for the notary. The reason for the amendment to the Articles of Association is because of the implementation of legislation regarding the new -- the revised rather shareholders guideline as of the 1st of December 2019 in the Dutch Civil Code and elsewhere. This sets out a number of very detailed rules for adopting the remuneration policy of the members of Executive Board and the Supervisory Board and a number of issues which come to light when assessing it. The proposed amendments to the Articles of Association deal with the remuneration policy of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board in light of the Dutch Civil Code. In addition to that, the company -- the lawyers of De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek N.V have largely been entrusted with the task of adapting the Articles of Association. De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek N.V. have produced a draft version of the changes to the Articles of Association, and the full version is available to you in the documents submitted to you as with your invitation to this meeting. Are there any comments or questions regarding this agenda item? No questions were submitted in advance. No questions from the floor. I, therefore, note that there are no questions on this agenda item. I would, therefore, ask you please to cast your vote on agenda item 7, amendment to the Articles of Association, authorizing all, any person employed by De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek in the appropriate capacity to be jointly and separately authorized to execute the deed of amendment. Let us move now on to agenda item 8(a). The collective profile of the Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board intends to change the collective profile of the Supervisory Board. The purpose of the amendment is to embed knowledge and experience in the field of the impact of technologies, both current and emerging technologies on consumers, businesses and business models in the Supervisory Board. Apart from this addition, the amendment is not intended to make any substantive changes. The amended collective profile is included in the meeting documents for the General Meeting. And the General Meeting is requested to approve the proposed changes to the collective profile of the Supervisory Board. We had -- some questions were submitted on this in advance. [ Mr. Koning ], on behalf of MN Services, Asset Managers also PMT, PME and the Merchant Navy Pension Funds. Questions are also asked in the name of APG and PGGM. [ Mr. Koning ], thank you for your questions. You said in recent years, we have repeatedly asked ABN AMRO to reflect on the future earnings model of the bank. No clear views of the future have been communicated on this, but you are saying that you wish to keep up with technological advances as an important part of your future-proofing. You're now reinforcing that by opening up a vacancy for a person in the Supervisory Board, who has specific knowledge of technology matters. Now this proposal isn't made at the General Meeting of Shareholders. It is set aside for later. Question in specific, you are looking in particular for people who have a knowledge of the transformational change agenda. Could you say in the light of this, what it would mean for the earning model of ABN AMRO and what transformation you expect in the future? The future-proofed bank is one of your pillars. We've always talked that in terms of corporate management. But we're now looking to see what future-proof means when we're talking about the bank's earnings model in the future. So [ Mr. Koning ], thank you for that very interesting question, very important subject. We dealt with it a moment ago when talking about the profile of the Supervisory Board. Now the bank is working in a landscape that's constantly in a state of flux, not only technologically speaking, but also we think of very rapid changes in customer expectations, competition, players from other sectors getting involved and legislation changing. We're always having to change and even transform ourselves in the light of this. So how has the bank adapted to this in the past, and how we dealt with it in our strategy, arithmetization. Well, we take the view that transformation is taking place now in the financial sector. We are part of it. We're on board. On the technology front, computerization, I think, as Kees said in his introductory remarks, we found it comparatively easy. I mean easy isn't the nice word, but we were able to switch huge numbers of staff to teleworking from home. And all of these challenges require keeping up with technological developments. And we are very keen to get that kind of IT know-how more present in the Supervisory Board. Perhaps I could here refer to you that we and the Supervisory Board talk about technological developments very frequently. We do it in the Supervisory Board itself, but we also invite external experts to come and talk to us and give us the benefit of their views on the whole technological front. So in the light of this, we came to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to have this aspect of things more strongly represented in the Supervisory board. As soon as we've made some progress on that front and have he found a suitable candidate, someone who's been through all the various processes, we will then come back to you to ask you to nominate this person. Are there any questions from the floor? No? Any questions submitted during the meeting, moderator?

[Interpreted] No. Nothing come in the course of the meeting from online participants.

[Interpreted] Okay. And like I said, I would invite you to vote on agenda item 8(a), which is approving the proposed amendment to the membership and profile of the Supervisory Board. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, agenda item 8(b), information regarding vacancies in the Supervisory Board. In accordance with the rotation scheme of the Supervisory Board, the current mandate of Arjen Dorland, Jurgen Stegmann and Tjalling Tiemstra come to an end at the end of today's General Meeting. This raises 3 vacancies, therefore. In order to make sure they didn't all sit down at the same time, it was decided that the vacancies should be adapted into 4, 3 and 2-year periods. Arjen Dorland is a member of the Supervisory Board in the right of the reinforced right to make recommendations by the Employees Council in the light of Article 2:158 Section 6 of the Dutch Civil Code. On the request of the Supervisory Board, Arjen Dorland, Jurgen Stegmann and Tjalling Tiemstra have all indicated they are willing to stay on for a longer period. Arjen Dorland will stay for a 4-year period, Jurgen Stegmann for a period of 3 years and Tjalling Tiemstra for a period of 2 years. In the light of the valuable contribution over the past 4 years, the Supervisory Board is very grateful to them for their willingness to remain in place. Finally, in the light of the change of the profile of the Supervisory Board, we will be increasing the size from 7 to 8 members. For that reason, there will be a fourth of vacancy arising for a new member of the Supervisory Board, who will have special knowledge on the impact of technologies, both current and forthcoming technologies on consumers, businesses and business practices. We talked about that a moment ago. Of course, there will be a special General Meeting of Shareholders to discuss this as soon as the Supervisory Board have found a suitable candidate to propose. Now I'll give you opportunity to ask questions on this in a moment and comment, of course. But first, I'd like to move on to agenda item 8(c), whereby the Annual General Meeting has the right to make recommendations in the light of the profiles of the vacancies that have arised. Until now, ABN AMRO's shareholders and depository receipts holders have not made any recommendations regarding people to fill these vacancies. We, therefore, take the view via General Meeting of Shareholders, this does not make sure itself of its right to make a recommendation, but you now have the opportunity to do this to make a recommendation or to ask questions or make comments. Now we've had no questions submitted on this agenda item in advance. I'm now turning to see whether any questions from the floor. Mr. Vreeken I see you stand up. So I imagine you have a question or comment. Yes, please.

[Interpreted] Yes, I got a number of suggestions. Mr. de Swaan, you've got an excellent network, and there's now 3 top-class candidates appearing on the market. That's quite a lot. And it's a shame for all the companies in the Netherlands [indiscernible]. They're all coming on to the market. It seems to me that it will be magnificent if ABN AMRO could find a way of getting one of those gentlemen on to the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much. We hear what you say. We will certainly take account of what you say when looking for future candidates. Thank you very much. Now I note that there are no further questions that have been submitted in the course of the meeting. I, therefore, suggest that we move on to the next agenda item, which is agenda item 8(d), reappointment of members of the Supervisory Board. Now the staff council has made use of Article 2:158 Section 6 of the Civil Code. On the 6th of March 2020, in order to provide a recommendation for the membership of the Supervisory Board. And they have proposed Arjen Dorland to be reappointed as a member of the Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board has accepted the recommendation. Supervisory Board, in addition, in accordance with Article 2:158 Section 4 and article 2:144A of the Dutch Civil Code has invited the Employees Council to address the reappointment of Arjen Dorland, Jurgen Stegmann and Tjalling Tiemstra for reappointment to the Supervisory Board for a period of 4 years, 3 years and 2 years, respectively. The Employee Council gave a positive response to these candidates as you will see in the documents accompanying today's meeting. The Supervisory Board, therefore, invites the General Meeting of Shareholders to consider the reappointment of Arjen Dorland to the Supervisory Board for 4 years, Jurgen Stegmann for a period of 3 years and Tjalling Tiemstra for a period of 2 years, which will start immediately after today's meeting is closed. We'll, therefore, finish at the end of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in 2024, 2023 and 2022. After the reappointments of Mr. Dorland, Stegmann and Tiemstra, we will not have met the general diversity objectives, whereby at least 30% of the members of the Supervisory Board should be men and at least 30% should be women. Since there will then be 2 women on the Supervisory Board, which is a 29% and then 5 men. ABN AMRO will still be looking for newer members for outstanding vacancies, and will certainly take account of the requirements regarding gender diversity. We're also seeking for other types of diversity at other levels within our group, as you heard earlier. Agenda item 8(d)(ii), the reappointment of Arjen Dorland as member of the Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board has nominated Arjen Dorland for reappointment as a member of the Supervisory Board. Arjen Dorland was first appointed to the Supervisory Board on the 18th of May 2016. In addition to his role at ABN AMRO, Arjen Dorland is also member the Supervisory Board of Naturalis Biodiversity Center, the Japanmuseum Sieboldhuis, and he's Chairman -- Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Essent NV and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Haaglanden Medical Center. For further information, I would refer you to Arjen Dorland's CV, which you'll find in the documents accompanying today's General Meeting. Arjen Dorland will receive remuneration in accordance with the remuneration policy as set out under agenda item 6(b), if it is approved in the course of this meeting. If agenda item 6(b) is not approved, then Arjen Dorland will receive remuneration in accordance with the decision of the General Meeting of Shareholders in 2015. Arjen Dorland meets the legal requirements regarding the maximum number of board positions under Article 91 Section 3 of the capital requirements guideline, known as CRD IV. Arjen Dorland has confirmed his independence in accordance with the best practice provision of the Dutch Corporate Governance Code. He has no shares or depository receipts for shares in ABN AMRO. In accordance with Article 763 of Articles of Association, the Supervisory Board invites the General Meeting of Shareholder to reappoint Arjen Dorland to the Supervisory Board from the moment today's meeting is closed until the end of the Annual General Meeting of shareholders in 2024. Are there any questions on the reappointment of Mr. Dorland? No questions were submitted in advance. I see no one on the floor asking for the room. We can then move straight on then to agenda item 8(d)(iii) reappointment of Jurgen Stegmann as member of the Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board has nominated Jurgen Stegmann for reappointment as a member of the Supervisory Board. Jurgen Stegmann was first appointed to the Supervisory Board on the 12th of August 2016. In addition to his position as a Supervisory Board member, Jurgen Stegmann is also a member of the Supervisory Board of Janssen de Jong Groep, MN Services N.V., the Boymans van Beuningen Museum Management. He's also proprietor of Stegmanagement B.V. For further information, I'd refer you to Jurgen Stegmann's CV, which is included in the documents accompanying today's meeting. Jurgen Stegmann will receive remuneration in accordance with the remuneration policy as set out under agenda item 6(b), if that policy is adopted. If it is not adopted, he will receiver remuneration in accordance with the decision of the shareholders in the meeting of 2015. Jurgen Stegmann meets the requirements of the maximum number of management positions in accordance with Article 91 Section 3 of CRD IV. He has confirmed his independence in accordance with the best practice provisions of the Dutch Corporate Governance Code. Jurgen Stegmann has no shares or depository receipts for shares in ABN AMRO. In accordance with Article 763 of the Articles of Association, we, therefore, propose the renomination of Jurgen Stegmann to the Supervisory Board, starting from the end of today's meeting up until the end of the meeting of ABN AMRO shareholders in 2023. Are there any questions on this item? No questions were sent in advance. I see no questions from the floor. I, therefore, conclude, there are no questions on this item. We can move on to agenda item 8(d)(iv), reappointment of Mr. Tjalling Tiemstra as a member of the Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board has nominated Tjalling Tiemstra for reappointment as a member of the Supervisory Board. Tjalling Tiemstra was first appointed to Supervisory board on the 18th of May 2016. In addition to his position on the Supervisory Board at ABN AMRO, Tjalling Tiemstra is Director and Proprietor of Drs J.S.T. Tiemstra Management Services. He's member of the Supervisory Board of Royal Haskoning DHV B.V., a member of the Executive Board of Stichting Continuiteit KBW, a member of the Wolters Kluwer preference shareholders of the administration of shareholders' office in Twentsche Kabel Holding, member of the monitoring committee of the Code Pensioenfondsen, member of the Advisory Council to the Court of Rotterdam. He is deputy expert member of the Court of Amsterdam Business Section. He's a member of a number of publicly quoted organizations such as the NBA and the European Leadership Platform. For further information, I would refer you to Mr. Tjalling's CV, which you will find in the meeting -- documents accompanying this meeting does comparing this meeting, Mr. Tiemstra will receive remuneration in accordance with the remuneration policy as dealt with under agenda item 6(b), if that is approved. If the policy is not adopted, he will receive remuneration in accordance with the decision made by your meeting in 2015. Mr. Tiemstra meets the legal requirements regarding the maximum number of management positions under Article 91 Section 3 of CRV IV. Mr. Tiemstra has confirmed his independence as set out in the best practice provision 218 of the Dutch Corporate Governance Code. Mr. Tiemstra has no shares or depositary receipts for shares in ABN AMRO. In accordance with Article 763 of the Articles of Association, the Supervisory Board invites the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders to reappoint Tjalling Tiemstra as a member of the Supervisory Board with effect from the end of today's meeting until the end of the General Meeting of Shareholders of ABN AMRO in 2022. Are there any questions or comments regarding the reappointment of Mr. Tiemstra? Nothing was submitted in advance. I see no signs of a request from the floor. And I note that no questions therefore have been raised on this agenda item. Thank you very much. Agenda item 9, issuance of new shares and acquisition of shares. Dutch legislation stipulates that the meeting of shareholders is authorized to authorize the Executive Board to issue shares or grant recognition to shares and the exclusion of priority rights to shares in ABN AMRO's capital. This is an absolutely normal thing for most publicly quoted companies. In the Netherlands, it's normally dealt with an Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. On the 24th of April 2019, your meeting did grant such authorization to the Executive Board for an 18-month period from the 24th of April 2019, the Executive Board with the approval of the Supervisory Board, proposes to replace that existing authorization with a new authorization as set out under agenda items 9(a), 9(b) and 9(c). The purpose of this authorization is to enable ABN AMRO to response -- respond flexibly if circumstances require the issuing or purchase of shares. Agenda item has 3 underlying points. My proposal is that we go through 9(a), 9(b) and 9(c) all in one go, after which you will be invited to ask questions on agenda item 9 as a whole. We'll start with agenda item 9(a). It is proposed to the General Meeting to authorize the Executive Board for a period of 18 months as from the date of the General Meeting, subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board: one, to issue ordinary shares, excluding for the avoidance of doubt, ordinary shares B. Two, to grant rights to subscribe for such ordinary shares up to a maximum of 10% in ABN AMRO's issued share capital as at the date of the General Meeting. And issuing shares and the authorization be given, can be granted, for example, in order to meet the requirements of the supervisory authorities. On the basis of this, there will be T1 instruments issued which automatically convert into shares. If a number of prescribed capital requirements are not required, the executive board will only act to use this authorization with the approval of the supervisory board, further more this authorization will not be usable for issuing shares for payment of dividends in shares nor for performance-related rewards for management and other members of staff. For the importance of data, I would point out that before this authorization communes, the NLFI must give its greenlight in the light of our relationship agreement. The greenlight from the NLFI is required as long as NLFI does hold at least 33.3333% of ABN AMRO shares. If we move on to agenda item 9(b). It is proposed to the general meeting to authorize the Executive Board for a period of 18 months as from the date of the general meeting today, subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board, to restrict or exclude the preemptive rights accruing to shareholders in connection with the ordinary share issuances pursued to agenda item 9(a). Here again, it's important to note that the Executive Board can only act with the approval of the Supervisory Board. Because more than half of the capital at issue is represented at the meeting, your meeting can make a decision on this by vote. I'll move on to agenda item 9(c), authorization to acquire depositary receipts for shares in ABN AMRO's own capital. It is proposed to the general meeting to authorize the Executive Board for a period of 18 months from the date of the General Meeting to acquire, subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board, fully paid-up ordinary shares in its own share capital under the conditions mentioned in the meeting documents. For the avoidance of doubt, this does not apply to ordinary shares B. The Executive Board will only be authorized to avail itself of this right with the approval of the Supervisory Board. A purchase of shares -- or depositary receipts for shares in ABN AMRO's own capital might, for example, take place in order to capital restructuring or reduction of the capital, including returning capital to shareholders and depositary receipt holders. This will only happen if existing and future solvency requirements, in accordance with the supervisory authorities are met. Regarding the price of the shares, it must be at least the same as the nominal value of ordinary shares and maximum to be the highest price where -- on which depositary receipts have been exchanged on the transaction date or the previous date according to Euronext Amsterdam. A precondition here is the number of shares owned or entrusted by ABN AMRO and its subsidiaries will always be a maximum of 10% of capital at issue on the date of today's General Meeting of Shareholders. This authorization replaces the earlier authorization, which was granted by the meeting of shareholders on the 24th of April 2019. Are there any questions over these 3 proposals? Under agenda item 9, no questions were submitted in advance, no request from the floor. I would like to remind you please that you can still vote on these agenda items under agenda item 9. I propose we now go on to agenda item 10, cancellation of depositary receipts for shares and shares in the share capital of ABN AMRO. It is proposed to the general meeting to resolve, at the proposal of the Executive Board subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board as well as the approval of the ECB and other relevant regulators, to cancel all or part of the fully paid-up ordinary shares in ABN AMRO's own share capital, excluding, for the avoidance of doubt, ordinary shares B or depositary receipts held by ABN AMRO as a result of acquisitions on the stock exchange or by other means under the authority provided by the Executive Board under agenda item 9(c). Any type of withdrawal -- any such cancellation will be limited to 10% of ABN AMRO shares issued on the date of the General Meeting and is for period of 18 months to run from today's meeting. The cancellation of some or all shares will be proposed in order to give flexible and efficient management of excess capital, including capital restructuring or reduction or in the form of returning capital to share and depositary receipt holders. A precondition here is that ABN AMRO must remain in accordance with existing and future regulatory requirements regarding its own capital. The Executive Board should also only act with the approval of the Supervisory Board, the ECB and other relevant supervisory authorities. The Executive Board is not authorized to decide to carry out the cancellation of all or some shares and depositary receipts in accordance with today's meeting. Are there any questions on this proposal? No questions were submitted in advance, nothing from the floor either. I therefore conclude that there are no questions on this agenda item 10, that is to say the cancellation of shares and depositary receipts for shares in ABN AMRO's own capital. You can cast your vote now. Well, that was the last agenda item on which you can vote, ladies and gentlemen. Online participants and the shareholder who is with us physically today, we will soon find voting is closed. As I said earlier, all agenda items can be voted on during the course of the whole meeting. I therefore please remind you to ensure that you have cast your vote on all earlier agenda items as well if you have not yet done so. And at the end of the meeting, after we've dealt with any other business, the voting results will be made known. [Voting]

[Interpreted] Now we're going to agenda item 11, introducing Robert Swaak as member of the Executive Board. On the 16th of June 2019, Kees van Dijkhuizen informed us that he did not wish to seek to renew his membership of the Executive Board. His service here comes to an end at the day -- at the closure of today's General Meeting. On the 9th of January 2020, the Supervisory Board published a press release saying it intended to nominate Robert Swaak. His service would therefore come to an end at the end of the meeting of shareholders of ABN AMRO in 2024. The European Central Bank has approved with the proposed nomination of Mr. Swaak. The same applies to the Employees Council who gave a positive expression of opinion. The main points regarding Mr. Robert Swaak are to be found on the ABN AMRO website. He worked with PwC Netherlands. And a number of periods, he was CFO, COO, CHRO, Chairman of the Executive Board in the period 2006 to 2013. Then until 2017, he was a member of PwC's network leadership with responsibility for global clients and industries. Until early 2020, he was a global relationship partner responsible for a number of global clients. For further information, I would refer you to Mr. Robert Swaak's CV, which you will find included in the documents accompanying today's meeting. It now gives me pleasure to give the floor to Robert. Robert, go ahead, please.

[Interpreted] Yes. Well, thank you very much. Can everyone hear me? Yes. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure you can imagine that I was hoping to introduce myself to you in a very different way from what's happening today. Things are very, very different from what we were able to imagine back in January when my proposed nomination as CEO was made public. We're now facing a global pandemic, and there's an intelligent lockdown in several countries, and one result is that I was not able to join you at today's AGM. So here I am, a long-distance introduction. I'd just like to run you through who I am, where I come from, why I've chosen to go for this beautiful bank. I lived in many countries. My parents came from 2 countries. I've also lived in the U.S. for many years. My Dutch roots sort of drew me back to Rotterdam, and there, I began to study business management and accountancy. Then I became -- ascended to audit at WPC (sic) [ PwC ]. It's a wonderful introduction to international law, international customers. I was very involved in all that, but I was very quickly sent out to San Francisco. I worked there with start-ups, venture capital. I dealt with a lot of transactions, lots of technology, Silicon Valley, at the time when Silicon Valley was growing. I was involved with Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency, helping SMEs to get involved in investments. That was -- in fact, back in those days, ABN AMRO was already one of the groups that was working together with us. When I came to the leadership role in the technology sector, my PwC career developed further towards international businesses. And for -- after a number of years, I was invited to the Executive Board. And as Tom said a moment ago, when I started on the Executive Board, I had a various number of roles. I was CFO, COO and CHRO. What was wonderful there was I found myself responsible for everything that everyone else was working on. Back in that period, I helped to formulate and roll out the diversity policy in the Netherlands. I'm very much in favor of diversity being represented in a company but also in the broader context as well. It always leads to better decision-making, better understanding of things. And I became a member of PwC in this country. And during that -- that was in 2016. Then I was very much involved in extending their financial services sector and dealing with a number of clients in the financial sector. In the last couple of years at PwC, I was involved with the global clients and industries. And in that period, I continued to work on financial services, a global level at that point, of course. The transformation of fintech and b-tech, the transformation of regulators, the increase in financial crime and consolidation of the sector, all of this happened when I was there. And during my various different periods of service on the Board, I contributed to technological transformation and computerization, which was so vitally important. In the last 30 years, I've fought very hard to unite society, not just in my role in PwC but also as manager position in a number of other bodies. A bank can also bring people together. People who work in the bank must feel they're involved and must be able to accelerate and excel. Clients must also feel they are involved when it comes to computerization as well. People need to have a satisfactory yield for investments. Together with the supervisory authorities, I've always felt welcome. A bank has always been a gatekeeper, which means we must build trust in society. And the banks, together with the supervisory authorities, have made sure that we are in a stronger position to do that when it comes to yield, capital position, trust, everywhere. You might ask why ABN AMRO is appealing to me. Why do I want to shoulder this responsibility? Well, publicly traded companies have always fascinated me, and a bank -- a sustainable bank is incredibly important in society and in the economy. Banks really contribute to society. They make sure that confidence can be in place, as Rianne said earlier, or rather that trust can come back again. We want to have confidence and service to the client. It is inherent to who I am and part of what I do. My previous years of experience in financial institutions, sustainability, transformation, legislation, strategy, developing and executing strategy could all come together in my responsibilities for this bank. I'd say I'm really motivated by purpose: we're banking for better, and the 3 ABN AMRO's pillars: sustainability, customer focus and a future-proof bank. As I was saying earlier, IT transformation has been very vital to me in recent years. It's not just a matter of changing the customer experience but also to make things easier for customers. We need to continue IT developments in order to remain future-proof. And if we're talking about sustainability, there's more to it than just being green. For them and for us, it's an opportunity to become more profitable in order to finance sustainable solutions and sustainable investments. Now of course, in PwC, I could -- after PwC, I could have gone to look for something quite different, and I mapped out a number of possible paths to go down. But I noticed that I remained as energetic as ever, and I really wanted to commit myself to a leadership role in business and society in the Netherlands. And that is what ABN AMRO is offering me: our customer, 5 million; bank's highly relevant to society as a whole and now facing a very dynamic landscape. ABN AMRO is one of the 3 systemic banks in the Netherlands. It has a fine history and a fine future. So I'm really speaking very sincerely when I say that I'd like to thank Kees and all his team for what they've done and what they've built in recent years. Under Kees' leadership, the bank has emerged with a strong capital position, good solvency position and an excellent market position. The strategy that was developed involves sustainability, customer satisfaction and a future-proof bank, those 3 pillars. And those 3 pillars really enable you to roll the strategy out, making further decisions in the future and focusing further on computerization. Kees also actually left purpose to the bank: banking for better. That means something to staff. And as we can see in today's crisis, it guides the activities and the choices that the bank makes. It was really impressive to see how this bank was able to make such a clear choice to stand by its customers in every possible way in the thick of this crisis. It's also impressive to see how members of the staff were willing to work from home in all cases for the interest of the bank even though the home situation was also undergoing radical change. In recent weeks, I've had many conversations with people inside the bank and outside it. They've dedicated a huge amount of energy and dedication here. I'm enormously looking forward to getting involved in this bank, to build up relationships with investors and other organizations, sometimes online and sometimes in person. I'd be very happy to get together with my predecessor, the Executive Board and everyone who works for the bank. I'm looking forward very much to getting to know the bank's customers very well both in the Netherlands and abroad. So in conclusion, I'm really looking forward to serving as CEO for ABN AMRO. Thank you.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much, Robert. Those are fine words.

[Interpreted] I'd now like to invite the -- any questions or comments from delegates today. We have one question come in. Question asked in advance is from the VEB association of shareholders. I'll read it out. Is the intention of the new CEO, Robert Swaak, to present a strategy update within the foreseeable future despite the current complex and difficult circumstances? I will reply as follows: that was also clear from what Robert Swaak said. He's familiar with the present course of ABN AMRO. And the fact that he is willing to take on the role of CEO means that he identifies with the role of ABN AMRO and the course the bank has chosen and has thereby indicated that he would like to contribute to the clear challenges that the bank faces in the current circumstances. And that has only improved his resolve. When the time comes, Robert will certainly share his ideas about the strategy with the public. I now see that Mr. Vreeken has risen for a -- so we'll take a question from the audience.

[Interpreted] Good afternoon, Mr. Swaak. I'm Robert Vreeken from We Connect You, Public Affairs & Investor Relations. I'm delighted that you so strongly emphasize connecting because that is exactly the signal from Rianne Kamphuis. People should be able to take pride in their bank. ABN AMRO was the bank. The global operator and the CEO from KPN said it was such a wonderful bank, I could do business everywhere all over the world. That was wonderful. I hope that you can find that, too. And you share something with Mark Rutte. Like you, Mark Rutte is a people person. And another huge advantage is that like you, he wanted to become a concert pianist, and luckily, neither one of you managed to become concert pianists. And Mark Rutte drives a Saab, and perhaps you also drive a Saab or can purchase one in the future. And what I really care about -- this is a nice question. We were at a fancy fair in Amsterdam, and we're inundated by tourists and expats who disrupted our entire society. Finally, our city has clean air, and we've achieved the ambition of 2050. How will you retain that with your fellow CEOs so that things remain clean and we can start it very quietly and no longer deal with that craziness from about 2 months ago? Because now all of a sudden, in Amsterdam, Dutch is the official language. We have our city back again. And it would be lovely if you help Amsterdam and the people of Amsterdam continue realizing that. I was impressed at the reports from accountancy about your strength. And what also helps is that they say a penalty -- they're talking about money laundering that compromises the dividend, and that dividend is the only thing that makes the ABN AMRO attractive at this point. In 2019, the ABN AMRO share price dropped by 25% so that ABN AMRO in 2019 was the Amsterdam Stock Exchange share that performed the most poorly on the Damrak. Well, that may be your good fortune because it will only go up from here. And what I also care about is a lot of media coverage. So on talk shows, that matters. So in print and on Twitter, please be visible everywhere because the other bank CEOs kept silent, and that's important for the Netherlands. So I'm curious. I hope to speak with you soon. It's wonderfully quiet here. This exemplifies the new [ 1 5 ] society at the head office. I hope to meet you soon, and I hope you'll have a wonderful time at ABN AMRO. I wish you all the best.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much, Mr. Vreeken, for your discourse. I'd like to thank you on Robert's behalf. I'm convinced that he listened carefully and would like to take your remarks on board. Thank you. Are there any follow-up questions from our virtual participants. Moderator?

[Interpreted] There is a follow-up question from the VEB, which is whether Mr. Swaak could provide an answer concerning his general vision of the banking landscape in the Netherlands, which has been rife with speculation about consolidations for some time.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much for this question. I suggest that we give Mr. Swaak some time first because he won't enter office until after this meeting, and only then can he consider this. And perhaps at a future exchange of views, he might revisit this topic. I don't think it would be fair to burden him with this fairly broad question at this time. So I would very much like him to contemplate it. He certainly will. And when the time comes, he will get back to you about this question. Are there any other follow-up questions via the moderator?

[Interpreted] There are no additional follow-up questions.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much. I believe I am certain that I speak on behalf of all my fellow Supervisory Board members and others throughout the bank in expressing our great delight at welcoming Robert to the Executive Board and as CEO of the bank. We expect that his experience, his leadership strengths and strategic skills will be a huge contribution to successful implementation, not only of the ABN AMRO strategy but of ABN AMRO overall. And on behalf of all shareholders and depository receipt holders, we wish him the very best of success. Next, before I proceed to any other business, I would like to take a moment to speak about Kees departure. And I'll need to put my eyeglasses on because I printed that text, which I drafted in far smaller print. So please bear with me. Well, I put my spectacles on deer case. Now that we've reached the end of this shareholders' meeting, except for any other business, this will also mark the end of your stint at ABN AMRO. That's why on behalf of the bank, I'm pleased to address you. Kees, in recent years, we learned that you're a transparent leader with integrity, and it's been a true pleasure to work with you. You're open and accessible, and you manage to connect people and motivate them to act. And as Chair of the Supervisory Board, I have experienced that people appreciate doing business with you because they know that you don't play games, and you're a no nonsense person. What you see is what you get. In my view, that makes you a typical Dutch executive in the best of all traditions. You're straightforward, and you don't like silly, nonsense or superfluous ado. We had many cheerful discussions about your choice of restaurant because you liked restaurants to be sport. And that's your style, and it's also your strength. Another characteristic of your integrity is you're extremely generous. You were training your successor in recent months behind the scenes. You involved Robert as much as you could in discussions and meetings so he can get off to a flying start tomorrow at this magnificent job. You have meant so much for this bank, far too much to convey in words. Your greatest merit may be that you have succeeded in presenting a sustainable strategy and purpose that makes us fit for the future. You were the driving force after Banking for better for generations to come, are sustainable. Of course, with concern for the planet, we are someone for entrepreneurship, is reinforcing. And what's equally remarkable is that you've succeeded in getting coworkers and customers on board and have convinced them that this is the right course for our bank. Time has proven you're right because clearly, we have been pioneering on the market and in society. Times are tensed for all of us right now. Many of our customers are facing turbulent times. And our challenge is to care for them and support them so that they can continue doing their banking. Once again, we know that you're an excellent crisis manager. Until the very last moment, you dedicated yourself to walking our bank and the customers through this difficult time. And your qualities as a connector and communicator have thrived as never before. In recent year's case, you were the right man in the right place, and you brought us many good things there. We're very grateful to you, and we're proud that we've been able to work together with you in this magnificent building. And on behalf of everybody at ABN AMRO, I wish you all the very best. Now to wrap up, in recent weeks, we have asked coworkers and relations to share their memories of you. Given the circumstances, we have opened a digital farewell album and have gathered their contributions in this bag. I'm afraid that given your modesty, it's not real leather. We gathered the contributions in this bag that I am pleased to present to you in this manner. Enjoy, and I wish you all the very best. I hope you'll enjoy it a lot. Kees?

[Interpreted] Thank you, Tom. And thank you for preserving me from a written moment. I -- you caught me off guard, I apologize. Thank you, Tom, for your kind words. This is a very special time to be saying farewell, and it's also a special way of doing that. I was deeply honored to be able to work for ABN AMRO 3.5 years as the CFO and 3.5 years as CEO. Both my parents worked at ABN AMRO. My father did so throughout his career. So ABN AMRO has always been my bank of choice. I have fun memories of the many contacts and meetings with customers, coworkers and investors. I'm proud of what I've managed to achieve together with my team at the bank. Rianne, thank you very much for your kind words as well. The working relationship with the employee participation of the bank has always been crucial. At ABN AMRO, that teamwork has always been very constructive. We have done an excellent job in Banking for better purpose for generations to come. We offer our customers sustainable, innovative solutions. The bank is firmly capitalized and has a solid buffer that enables us to help our customers through the present crisis, because that's what I've worked for in recent years, our customers. So now I can be confident in handing over to Robert Swaak, despite this special moment. Tom -- as Tom mentioned, Robert and I have worked closely together in recent months. He was involved in all important cases and participated with me in all important calls. Robert, I wish you all the best at this magnificent bank. And Tom, you and the other, our Supervisory Board members, thank you for the wonderful working relationship in recent years. Of course, there are quite a few negative stories about the past in the newspapers. Fortunately, after nearly 2 years, the calm has returned to the Board.

[Interpreted] Thank you for these kind words, Kees. And I think, once again, that I speak on behalf of everybody present, virtually and physically present, when I thank you for your huge contribution to the bank. Now on to the final item on the agenda, any other business. I see we have received a few questions from the virtual sources. Could the moderator please ask those questions?

[Interpreted] The first question comes from [ Mr. Koning ] from MN Services, and is as follows: Last Monday, the FD reported that the Supervisory Board had previously admonished the Executive Board at ABN AMRO to get control over money laundering. Understandably, you have no comment. What's remarkable is that now content, which apparently surfaces in statements by the Supervisory Board, has been disclosed. Have you spoken with the investigators from the newspaper? And what would it mean if the Supervisory Board of the bank noted this but did not get sufficient foothold to reach a solution? Do you think this reflects on the present performance of the internal supervision and the relationship between the Supervisory and Executive Board in light of the content of this article? In other words, which checks and balances are now present that we're not there at the time?

[Interpreted] I will reply only to the second half of the question. The first half of the question relates to a book that was published the day before yesterday by two journalists. It's a dramatized story. It -- I have no part in it. I cannot judge that nor can I judge my predecessors with the way they operated. As for the second part, Kees already mentioned this, and I deeply appreciate this. He mentioned the tremendous improvement in communication between the Supervisory Board and the bank management. So in the past almost 2 years that I've been here, we've worked very hard at that, both my fellow members of the Supervisory Board and the management. I'm deeply grateful to them, very specifically regarding this money laundering issue. As you know, at the end of 2018, we established DFC, the financial crime unit. And that has further strengthened communication between -- especially the Risk Capital Committee (sic) [ Risk & Capital Committee ] and the management about this issue. This item surfaces very regularly on the agenda of the Risk & Capital Committee, and consequently, the agenda, the Supervisory Board as well. So I believe that the checks and balances at internal control in this area is under control. I cannot judge the past because I wasn't part of that. But at this time, I believe, and I believe that my opinion is shared by the Chairperson of the Risk & Capital Committee, that the checks and balances and the exchange of information and transparency about this item are very, very well in order. They're properly arranged. Are there any additional questions via the moderating?

[Interpreted] Yes, there's a question from [ Mr. Schmitz ] from the VEB. And the question is whether the Audit Committee intends to ask E&Y to issue a statement concerning the half year figures for 2020 because of the potential crisis and possible impact on provisions, impairments and growing concern, principally as a consequence of the coronavirus.

[Interpreted] Is Mr. Tiemstra able to answer this question? If -- I am also a member of the Audit Committee, so I can take that question, too. As in all other years, we will request a regular review. You heard from [ Mr. Schmidt ] of E&Y statements how invigorating the cooperation is between E&Y and the bank and all these matters raised by [ Mr. Schmidt ] align perfectly with the regular review that E&Y always performs. So there's no cause to see it any differently at this time. Are there any other questions from the moderator?

[Interpreted] No, there are no additional questions.

[Interpreted] Are there any questions from the audience? I see Mr. Vreeken rising. Yes, go ahead.

[Interpreted] Mr. de Swaan and Mr. Dijkhuizen, it's wonderful that ABN AMRO had such a wonderful tandem in recent years because there is no serious damage to ABN AMRO. I'm grateful for that. It's unfortunate that in addition to excellence and interesting characters such as Paul Polman, [indiscernible] François from Booksmart. Mr. van Dijkhuizen is going to leave being a CEO in the Netherlands. The good news though is that KPN still has options for new Supervisory Board members next year. And I think it would be wonderful if he joins that to support that wonderful Dutch company. The color is perfect, ABN AMRO green matches the KPN green. So perhaps Mr. van Dijkhuizen could consider that. Now about that dinner, which I'd like to share with ABN AMRO employees all the new style, you -- there's Mr. van Dijkhuizen with his cheese sandwich. Mr. de Swaan, who, well, he dines and lunches at Michelin Star establishments. At ING, I had a Dutch supervisor and the Executive Board would not allow me to take relations out to lunch. Then in London, I had an English supervisor, and all of the sudden, I was required to take lunch with relations. And the impact was that I closed far more deals and was far more effective by going out to lunch with these people because I was able to connect, not only rationally and digitally, but spiritually and emotionally as well. So I wanted to share that for your consideration because -- and it's up to you which restaurants you choose to dine-in in the years ahead. Now to wrap up. You know that I appreciate sustainability. I came especially to present Mr. van Dijkhuizen with a personal farewell present that aligns with his objective. I'm going to give him the WakaWaka, which epitomizes sustainability in the Netherlands. It's a solar panel that radiates light. It's extremely energy-efficient. Unfortunately, we allowed that company to go bankrupt 2 years ago in the Netherlands, but soon, later on, when we could -- when Mr. van Dijkhuizen and I can meet personally, I would like to present him a farewell gift from a shareholder. That's the WakaWaka. Right now, the WakaWaka is in a certain mode because of the coronavirus. But when it's back on track, we can get together. Thank you very much, Mr. van Dijkhuizen for the wonderful times here, and I hope to see you next year again at KPN.

[Interpreted] Mr. Vreeken, thank you very much for your kind remarks. I'll inform the executives at KPN about your position regarding Mr. Dijkhuizen. And thank you for your advertising message about the WakaWaka. We greatly appreciate that. And I'm sure that Mr. van Dijkhuizen will be pleased to receive the WakaWaka from you. A great fan. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm looking to the moderator, has any additional questions been received?

[Interpreted] No, Mr. Chairman.

[Interpreted] Thank you. In that case, before I close the meeting, I would like to share the voting results with you, and they will now be projected on the screen. The first slide, I can tell you that all voting items were approved. These are the results for agenda items 2(e) and (g) and 4(a) and 4(b). And this slide -- the next slide reflects 6(a), 6(b) and 7. And the final slide -- the next slide, 8(a), 8(d)(ii), 8(d)(iii) and 8(d)(iv). And the final slide reflects the voting results on item 9(a), (b), (c) and 10. So all items have been adopted, including item 6(a) and 6(b), which required a majority of 75%. That takes me to the end of this meeting. I am now closing the meeting and would like to thank everybody for attending and contributing to this meeting, especially the technical people who made this meeting possible. Thank you very much. That ends this meeting now. [Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted] were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]