Laurentian Bank of Canada (LB) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello. My name is Michael Mueller, Chairman of Laurentian Bank of Canada. Welcome to the bank's 2021 Annual Shareholders Meeting. We hope that you and your loved ones remain safe and well. Our main focus continues to be ensuring the health and safety of and support for our team members, our customers, our shareholders and other stakeholders during these challenging times. Part of this effort includes holding this meeting by live audio webcast. The meeting will begin with 2 video presentations, the first by me. My presentation will be followed by a presentation of Rania Llewellyn, our President and CEO, who will speak via video presentation on highlights of the 2020 financial year. Each of these videos will be available on YouTube and the bank's website after the meeting. Before the presentations, I remind you that during the meeting, forward-looking statements may be made, and it's possible that actual results may differ materially from those projected in those statements. For the complete cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements, please refer to any of our 2020 annual information form, management discussion analysis or Slide 2 of the presentation. Let's begin with my presentation as Chairman of the Board. Thank you, and enjoy the meeting. Good morning [Foreign Language] Welcome to this Annual General Meeting of Laurentian Bank that we are holding virtually for the second year. We all look forward to meeting in person next year. Laurentian Bank will celebrate its 175th anniversary in May 2021. Since its inception in 1946, our bank has been through many ups and downs, but through it all, we have always come out stronger. I'm particularly proud of the way the organization has responded over the past year to these challenges of these unprecedented times. From the outset of the pandemic, the Board and senior management put the health and safety of employees and customers first. The bank established many relief programs to support our personal business and institutional clients. These included payment deferrals on credit products as well as a myriad of other steps to ease the stress on our clients. That philosophy of putting customer needs first will continue to guide our actions in the days, months and years ahead. On behalf of the Board, I want to express profound thanks to our employees for their professionalism, dedication and tireless efforts to maintain our operations and support our customers through an extremely challenging period. We are keenly aware of the stresses and challenges faced by both our employees working from home and those who continued working on our premises. I am proud of the commitment that the bank has made to supporting all employees through this difficult time, not only ensuring their physical safety, but also supporting their mental health and wellness. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the bank's operating results. In 2020, Laurentian Bank took proactive steps to ensure its financial strength and stability during this and after the pandemic. As a result, the improvements made in some of our businesses have been overshadowed by an increase in provisions for credit losses as was seen with other banks. They have decreased sequentially since the beginning of 2021. While the Board does not believe that last year's results are representative of our organization's future performance. We made the prudent decision to reduce the quarterly dividend to $0.40 per common share in the third quarter. That is never an easy choice, but it was the right choice to make in order to improve our operational flexibility in this period of uncertainty. The bank's capital and liquidity have always been prudently managed. Strong credit quality, a solid balance sheet and a rigorous underwriting process helped to position us well for the future. 2020 was also a year of change for our bank's leadership. In accordance with the succession plan for senior management, the Board of Directors undertook a rigorous search process to identify and select a new President and Chief Executive Officer. This process concluded at the end of the fiscal year with the appointment of Rania Llewellyn. The Board is confident that Rania will drive the bank's future growth and success. She is an experienced executive who has a solid grasp of strategy and a proven record of successful execution. Rania has been a great addition to the team, and her strong leadership skills are already evident after just a few months. Over the past few years, major initiatives were launched to build a stronger foundation and modernize the bank in order to improve financial performance. including the replacement of our core banking system, the launch of our digital offering as well as the conversion of our traditional branch network to a 100% advice model. The pandemic has accelerated many of the changes that were already taking place in the industry. And Rania and the leadership team will be establishing a renewed strategic direction for Laurentian Bank that leverages our enhanced capabilities in a rapidly changing marketplace. The bank -- the Board has remained committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance to ensure optimal decision-making in creating value for the long-term benefit of all stakeholders. As we have in previous years, the Board members continued meeting with stakeholders to hear how they believe we can improve our corporate governance practices. Our ESG policies, in particular issues around the environment and diversity and inclusion featured prominently in our discussions. In terms of our commitment to the environment, the Board continued to monitor the implementation of measures to improve the bank's disclosure practices, leading to the adoption of the recommendations of the task force on climate-related financial disclosures. In 2020, the bank started to develop a road map to set out the short, medium- and long-term priorities that will be included in its strategic plan. In terms of commitment to diversity and inclusion, the Board is constantly improving its practices in this area to ensure that we have a system of governance that is representative of the markets and communities in which the bank operates. The Board is particularly proud to have appointed the first woman to lead a major Canadian chartered bank, and we regularly review the Board's composition and director profiles to ensure we are well equipped to manage present and future challenges and opportunities. It is my pleasure to officially welcome Nicholas Zelenczuk, who joined the Board last May as Director. Nick has more than 35 years of experience in banking, capital markets and investment management and has held senior management positions with several large corporations in Canada. No doubt he will make a significant contribution, expertise and depth of our Board. Also today, we have the pleasure of presenting the nomination of Suzanne Gouin to the Board. She is an accomplished director who focuses on business transformation, digital implementation, governance and human capital. Her knowledge and experience would complement an already diverse board. Our Board governance policy provides that the tenure of directors is generally between 10 and 15 years. As such, last year, Lise Bastarache, indicated her intention not to seek another mandate at the 2021 Annual Meeting. Lise has been a tremendous asset to the Board since 2006 as a member of the Risk Management Committee and of the Audit committee. Lise, thank you for your many contributions to the work of the Board. Before we turn to the official segment of our meeting. I would like to thank my colleagues on the Board for their advice and wise counsel during these tumultuous times. I am proud of how they dealt with a number of very meaningful and difficult issues over the past year. On behalf of the Board members, I also want to recognize the leadership of the executive team which has demonstrated its ability to adapt to the unpredictable and unnerving events of recent months, and we are very pleased to welcome a number of new talented executives. 3 external hires and 2 internal promotions, who recently joined the senior leadership team. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my personal thanks to Francois Laurin, who is retiring today after a 5-year mandate as CFO of the bank. Francois, your steady hand, your sound advice and your guidance have been extremely valuable, especially during this period of change. On behalf of all of us, I wish you the best in the next chapter of your life. One of Francois' many achievements was to ensure there was a strong internal candidate to succeed him. Today, we welcome Yvan Deschamps as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Finally, to our customers and shareholders, I would like to express our gratitude for your loyalty and trust. You have our commitment that you will always be at the heart of our business. Let me conclude by saying that the bank will continue to move cautiously in the coming months, but that the Board is confident our bank will emerge even stronger and more successful. Thank you very much, and I hope that you and your loved ones continue to stay safe. Thank you. And now from our President, Rania Llewellyn.

Good morning, everyone. [Foreign Language] It's an honor to be here with you, leading one of Canada's oldest and most historic financial institutions. As you may know, this year, we're celebrating 175 years dedicated to helping customers improve their financial health. I am privileged to be part of Laurentian Bank's next chapter. I joined the organization during one of the most challenging times of our lifetime, in the middle of a pandemic, a crisis that's had huge impact on every customer, every employee and every Canadian. Our main focus continues to be ensuring the health and safety of our employees, while supporting our customers and communities. In the past month, we've grown more optimistic with the news of increasing vaccine supplies and distribution. This translates to a greater sense of hope and the return to normalcy and economic stability. For all the challenges we faced as a country as individuals and as an organization, this health crisis has proven that we are resilient, we are compassionate, we are agile and we are resourceful. We've learned a great deal in this process as well. We learned about the importance of adapting our operations to ensure a safe environment for our customers and employees. We learned that a crisis must not impede the evolution of our organization, and that we must still deliver innovative solutions and services to our business, retail and institutional customers. I'm extremely proud and grateful for how our team responded quickly by bringing forward solutions such as credit relief through mortgage, personal and commercial loan payment deferrals to our customers. Difficult time, our customers need peace of mind and confidence in their financial health. In fact, this is paramount. From our humble beginnings in 1846 to today, Laurentian Bank has been there, helping families to grow, communities to thrive and businesses to succeed. Our foundation has opportunity to chart our path forward and build our plans for the next 175 years. Throughout the years, we've worked hard to earn the trust of our customers. Trust needs to be earned. It is never just given. Financial institutions play an important role in the fabric of our country and economy. I believe that banking is a noble profession. Some of the most important decisions of our lives are made with the help of our financial institutions. And in times of hardship and crisis, we all need a banker we can trust. But we know we need to continue evolving, not for the sake of change, but rather to drive long-term value for our shareholders. We must be thoughtful and resilient digitization to be able to realize operational efficiencies while keeping focus on our risk management culture. Number three, engaging and empowering our employees to work collaboratively as 1 team and instilling in our people the power of diversity and inclusion begins with having a winning mindset. These pillars have already steered some of our efforts and actions in 3 key areas: a renewal and increase of bench strength of our senior leadership team, cost discipline with a focus on expense management and cost optimization opportunities to drive long-term shareholder value, and a thorough review of the bank's operations with a view to reassessing our priorities and delivering our value proposition and vision for the future by the end of the year. Shifting gears now to an area of particular interest and focus for our bank and our shareholders, our environmental, social and governance efforts. Without a doubt, this past year has made us all pause and take stock of what matters and what is important to us, our families and our communities. This has resulted in both a heightened focus and responsibility for ESG at both a local and global level. We're spearheading initiatives to expand and build new environmental policies, putting practices into place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, prioritizing waste reduction and improving sustainability efforts in our day-to-day operations. Our short-, medium- and long-term priorities are being guided by a roadmap developed from recommendations of the task force on climate-related financial disclosures. Laurentian Bank is also raising the bar in our social priorities, recognizing that evolution and growth marks is how we will accomplish this. Some of the achievements we're particularly proud of include adoption of the code of conduct for the delivery of banking services to seniors, and we will continue to look at new ways to provide targeted support for other segments of our customers. Addition of diversity targets to the scorecards of our leaders and in the reporting packages that go to the Board. This will drive accountability and continue to improve equity, diversity and inclusion, policies across our organization. Placing a high importance on mental health and wellness of employees in a number of ways including in participating in events such as the recent BellLetsTalk Day and the long or own courageous conversation initiative. We will continue to invest in our employees so they are engaged and empowered. And lastly, we've continued focus on our contributions to our communities, where every dollar counts and makes a difference. In 2020, the bank supported many organizations and causes through corporate donations, sponsorships and the generosity of our Laurentian Bank employees. Of all the progress we've made, I'm proud that women at Laurentian Bank represent more than 55% of our workforce, 46% of our management positions, and we have had equal representation on our Board for the past 3 years. The theme for International Women's Day this year is choose to challenge. At Laurentian Bank, we choose to challenge by leading. We were the first bank in Canada to appoint a woman as Chair of the Board, Jeanine Giuve wood in 1997. And in 2020, we were the first major bank in Canada to appoint a woman as CEO. Lastly, in terms of governance, our bank is committed to the highest standards of governance and transparency in all our activities, so that our customers, shareholders and employees feel confident in how we operate. Our corporate governance culture is firmly rooted in best practice policies, processes and relationships to effectively manage risk, conduct business ethically and positively impact our shareholders. While we've achieved a lot, Laurentian Bank is early in its multiyear ESG journey, and we know there is more work to do. I am personally committed to building a legacy for our future customers, shareholders and employees. That's why I'm happy to announce today that I am undertaking the role of Laurentian Bank's Be The Change agent that spearheads initiatives that increase our accountability and transparency as we evolve our organization like equity, diversity and inclusion, environmental sustainability and enhanced corporate governance. As I mentioned earlier, next month, Laurentian Bank will be celebrating an impressive milestone, our 175th anniversary. We're planning a number of activities throughout the year to connect our rich history and footprint in Quebec with a renewed outlook toward our future. In closing, I would like to take an opportunity to thank our Board for their support, guidance and ongoing counsel. A heart felt thank you to our employees. Your professionalism during the challenging past year is to be commended, and I look forward to an exciting future together. To our customers, thank you for your business and for continuing to place your trust enough. And finally, to our shareholders, we appreciate your ongoing support. We are charting a new path forward at Laurentian Bank. One that is based on renewal and growth for the long term. [Foreign Language] Thank you. Merci.

Thank you, Rania. I would now ask Sivan Fox, Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary, to provide details on the conduct of the meeting.

Thank you, Mr. Mueller, and good morning. Most of the meeting will take place in English, while a portion will take place in French. Simultaneous translation service is available on demand. You are invited to select your preferred language by using the webcast button located at the top of your screen. On a mobile device, the webcast icon is at the bottom of your screen. [Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] This assembly will be held mostly in English. There is simultaneous translation available on-demand, to choose your language, just click on the webcast button at the top of your screen. And for mobile devices, this button is at the bottom of your screen.

I'm sure that it runs smoothly. These rules have been posted on the bank's while we facilitates the meeting procedure, we have asked shareholders or proxy holders who are also bank employees to active proposals or seconders of the formal resolutions. Please note that only persons whose names appear on the bank's register of shareholders at the close of business on the meeting record date, February 5, 2021, or their duly appointed proxy holders are entitled to vote at the meeting. Guests may attend the meeting but cannot ask questions or vote. Once the voting has opened, the polling icon will appear on the navigation bar at the top of your screen. Meeting resolutions and voting choices will then be displayed. After you vote, a message confirming vote received will appear. Your vote can be changed by simply clicking another voting choice. Or if you wish to cancel your vote, please press cancel. You can vote or change your vote at any time on any resolution or proposal up until the closing of the voting. All those represented by registered shareholders or duly appointed proxy holders at the meeting will be counted and added to any votes received earlier by proxy. The poll will be open to allow you to vote for all of the resolutions immediately. You can also choose to wait until the conclusion of the discussion on each resolution and then cast your vote on that resolution. I would like to remind shareholders who have already voted or sent in their proxy that any folks that you cast at the meeting will automatically revoke any proxy you previously submitted. If you do not wish to revoke a previously submitted proxy, you are not required to do anything further and should not vote at the meeting. Shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders may also submit questions at any time during the meeting until the chair terminates the meeting. [Operator Instructions] We will address or answer specific and relevant business questions before the close of voting. Other relevant questions will be answered during the Q&A session following the formal business of the meeting. Questions which can't be answered during the meeting will be posted online along with the bank's answers following the meeting. The results of the vote will be communicated at the end of the formal portion of the meeting. I now invite the Chairman of the Board to begin the meeting.

Thank you, Sivan. Please note that I will act as Chair of the meeting, and Ms. Fox will act as Secretary of the meeting. Please also note that this meeting is being recorded and will be posted on our website. Joining us today via webcast are members of the bank's Board. I would like to formally introduce my fellow Board members and our new Board nominees, all standing for election today. They are Ms. Sonia Baxendale; Ms. Andrea Bolger; Mr. Michael Boychuk; Ms. Suzanne Gouin, a new Board nominee; Ms. Rania Llewellyn, a new Board nominee; Mr. David Morris; Mr. David Mowat; Ms. Michelle Savoy; Ms. Susan Wolburgh Jenah and Mr. Nicholas Zelenczuk, a new Board nominee. I will now call the meeting to order. As in previous meetings, we will first attend to the formal matters set out in the Notice of Meeting, which are: Number one, presentation of the financial statements; number two, the appointment of the bank's external auditor; number four, adoption of a nonbinding advisory resolution concerning the bank's approach to executive compensation; and number five, consideration of any shareholder proposals. A representative of MEDAC will present these proposals. We then have a question period for shareholders and proxy holders, followed by announcement of the voting results. For the benefit of everyone participating today, I will ask Ms. Fox and Ms. Fleurandin to read aloud any questions or comments that we receive. I should also remind participants that in this formal part of the meeting, questions and comments should relate only to business or affairs of the meeting and not to any other matter. Please refrain from any questions which are of a personal nature. [Operator Instructions] Ms. Fox have the notices and documents relevant to the meeting been sent to the shareholders.

Mr. Chair, please let me note that this year, the bank made use of the Canadian notice and access rules for the delivery to shareholders of our management proxy circular and other materials relating to the meeting. Instead of receiving paper copies of meeting materials, shareholders received a notice of meeting and a notice of availability of meeting materials. The notice explains how to access the materials online and how to request paper copies for materials. It also sets out the business items of the meeting. Meeting materials are also included a voting instruction form and a form of proxy. Computershare, our transfer agent, has confirmed to the bank that the meeting materials have been made available to shareholders of record entitled to vote. As secretary, I am now tabling a copy of the notice of meeting, the management proxy circular, the affidavit relating to the delivery of the meeting materials and other documents distributed in connection with this meeting.

Thank you, Ms. Fox. I will start the formal part of the meeting with the appointment of the scrutineers and confirmation of meeting quorum. Before addressing the agenda items with your permission, Ms. Martine Gauthier and Ms. Gale Demick of Computershare Investor Services will be acting as scrutineers at the meeting. The scrutineers have the shareholder list of the bank as of the close of business on February 5, 2021, the record date for determining shareholders eligible to vote at the meeting. A copy of the scrutineer's report on attendance will be attached to the minutes of this meeting. I have been advised by the scrutineers that notice of the meeting was properly given and that we have a quorum. I can now declare this meeting properly constituted for the transaction of business. The first item on the agenda is the presentation and tabling of the bank's annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended October 31, 2020, and their accompanying auditor's report. Unless there is an objection, I will dispense with the reading of the auditor's report. I will now ask Ms. Fox if we have received any questions or comments relating to the 2020 financial statements. Ms. Fox?

Mr. Chair, we received no questions or comments regarding the financial statements.

Thank you. Before we continue, and on behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Ms. Lise Bastarache for her valuable contribution and service throughout her tenure on the Board. Let's begin with the election of directors. The number of directors to be elected at the meeting is 11 in accordance with the bank's bylaws and the recommendation of the Board and its human resource and Corporate Governance Committee. All nominees are listed in the bank's management information circular on Page 7. The election of the directors will be conducted on an individual and not slate basis. The bank has adopted a majority voting policy for the election of directors, and therefore, if any of the directors standing for reelection do not receive the vote of at least a majority of the votes passed at the meeting, that director is required to promptly tender his or her resignation to the Board, and the Board would then determine whether or not to accept the resignation in accordance with the policy. The names of the bank's proposed nominee directors are displayed on your screen for ease of reference. I will now read their names aloud. Ms. Sonia Baxendale, Ms. Andrea Bolger, Mr. Michael Boychuk, Ms. Suzanne Gouin, Ms. Rania Llewellyn, Mr. David Morris, Mr. David Mowat, Mr. Michael Mueller, Ms. Michelle Savoy, Ms. Susan Wolburgh Jenah, and Mr. Nicholas Zelenczuk. Ms. Gouin, Ms. Llewellyn and Mr. Zelenczuk are new nominees standing for election to our Board this year, we thank them and our returning nominees for their confidence in our organization and their willingness to serve. Can I now have a motion to elect the directors.

Mr. Chair, my name is Susan Cohen, and I hereby move that each of the 11 proposed nominees be elected as a director to serve until the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until his or her respective successor is elected or appointed.

Thank you. Who will second this motion?

My name is Emmanuela Fleurandin, and I second this motion.

Thank you. Ms. Fox, have we received any questions or comments relating to the election of directors.

Mr. Chair, we have received no questions or comments relating to this item.

Thank you. I now invite the shareholders and proxy holders to vote on this item if they have not already done so, following which we will continue with the meeting. [Voting]

The next item on the agenda is the appointment of the auditor. On the recommendation of the Board's Audit Committee, I would like to recommend that Ernst & Young be appointed external auditor of the bank. May I have a motion for the appointment of Ernst & Young as the bank's external auditor until the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until a successor is appointed and to authorize the Board to fix the auditor remuneration.

My name is Susan Cohen, and I hereby move that Ernst & Young be appointed as the bank's external auditor until the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until a successor is appointed and that the Board fixed and approve the remuneration.

Thank you. Can I have a seconder?

My name is Emmanuela Fleurandin, and I second this motion.

Thank you. Ms. Fox, have we received any questions or comments regarding the appointment of the auditor or its remuneration.

Mr. Chair, we have received a question. And I will ask Emmanuela Fleurandin to read it out aloud as it's presented in French.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] So regarding the remuneration, I am Daniel, and I am on behalf of MEDAC, the education on the defense of the shareholder, MEDAC. It is surprising to see the amount for the -- exiting -- a new CEO, the amount is quite high. And so we are asking shareholders to vote against this proposal. This is the end of the comment.

Thank you, Mr. Daniel, for your question. This specific motion relates to the appointment of the auditor. I believe your question related to the compensation of the CEO. So I'm not sure what else to respond to you on this basis. And I would ask shareholders and proxy holders to vote on this item if they have not already done so, following which we will continue with the meeting. [Voting]

The next agenda item is the vote on the nonbinding advisory resolution concerning the bank's approach to executive officer compensation. The wording of this resolution is also set out in the management proxy circular you have received. May I have a motion to adopt this resolution.

My name is Susan Cohen. I move that the nonbinding advisory resolution contain the bank's approach to executive of compensation for which the wording is regarding the Circular B approval.

Thank you. Can I have a seconder?

I second this motion.

So I understand now Mr. Daniel that your question related to this issue or this motion. And I understand, I'll respond to it now, if that's acceptable. As you no doubt understand, the President and CEO of our organization is the most critical spot that we have in our organization. We hired a compensation consultant as well as a search consultant, put a small committee of the Board together and took this very seriously in terms of bringing in our new CEO. We had both internal and external candidates that we reviewed quite diligently. And most importantly, the compensation required to be the President and CEO of an organization as large and complex as Laurentian Bank, it's very critical to get correct. We are completely comfortable that the entire Board and specifically its HR and Governance Committee, that the right process was followed and the right compensation system is in place. Are there any other questions, Ms. Fox?

Mr. Chair, we have received no further questions at this time.

Thank you. I now invite shareholders and proxy holders to submit their vote on this item if they have not already done so. [Voting]

The next items to be put before the meeting are the shareholder proposals. The bank received 7 proposals from MEDAC, the proposals and supporting statements as well as the bank's responses were included in Schedule A to its management information circular. Following discussion with representatives of MEDAC. MEDAC has agreed that proposals 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 will not be put to a vote. I now invite Mr. Willie Gagnon to address the meeting regarding MEDAC proposals. Mr. Gagnon?

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Mr. Chair, do you hear me well? Can you hear me? Hello, I am Willie Gagnon , and I'm on behalf of the MEDAC, and we are -- at our 20th anniversary this year, and we sent 7 proposals to the 7 main Canadian banks, and you are part of this group. So we've sent you our 7 proposals. To the overall Canadian banks, the objective is trying to have some influence on the practices of the banking industry. So these were not proposals targeting only you. The only 2 proposals that will go -- that will be voted today are at Page 63 and Page 69 of the document. One proposal is about the reason of being Board of Directors and why this bank exists. So when members of the Board have to do the follow-up of the policies. So we have, of course, seen that the bank has a purpose. So this is about the purpose. And which is a benefit, purely profit and benefit, that is the purpose of the bank. And so in our discussions, we seen that you did not want to inscribe to enter in the governance statement of the bank to ensure a follow-up of that question about the purpose. So we want to think at least that you've inscribed this responsibility at the Board level. But in fact, the Board is responsible of all of this. And it would be better -- it would be an advantage if you would inscribed on top of this first inscription, something at the governance level, something that was not possible for you, but this was possible for the majority of the other banks to which we have made this proposal. We did not vote on this elsewhere, in other banks. So we would like you to inscribed this responsibility at the level of the Governance Committee in the future. And of course, we Invite all of the shareholders to vote in favor of this proposal. And I think that we could agree on this. The proposal 6 is about the question of the circular economy is proposed that the bank will draft a report about what was consented in the past about the support of the circular economy in support of the environment, something which is not well developed, such as GHG emissions. And this proposal that we also sent to all of the Canadian banks. We've accepted not to vote on this with the National Bank and the Bank of Montreal on that proposal because both of them have signed the responsible banking initiative. This is under fee United Nations dealing with financial issues. So we invite the bank to adhere to these principles and then we would be able, in the future, not to send such proposals, if you agree. So these principles are principles that have been agreed upon by other banks. So I reiterate my request, please adhere to these principles. And of course, we invite all of the shareholders to vote in favor of this proposal as well. We've sent you as well 5 other proposals very, very quickly. I'm going to give a glimpse of these. We sent a proposal about the organization of virtual meetings, and we've agreed with the bank about the fact that these assemblies should be organized in order to gather as many people as possible in person. We've also agreed with the bank that it will be possible to have verbal interactions, which we are doing right now. We hope that for every shareholders, it would be possible to intervene verbally, just like it was possible with the TD Bank last week or last month. We hope that it will be able in the next year and that these assemblies will be similar to in-person assemblies. So we sent a proposal to the Human Resources Committee, and you've inscribed in the mandate of the human resources just like the National Bank. The responsibility of ensuring the follow-up of the health and well-being of employees, and we've also sent a proposal about the fair share of the ratification funds, this is an FOI about the COVID situation. We've got the information that we've requested in the answer, which is printed in the notification. We've also sent another proposal about the climate change issues. We're happy that you consider that you've adhere to this proposal. And we've also set another proposal about the discretionary power of the Remuneration Committee in relation to the remuneration level. So we are generally happy about the discussions we've had with the bank so far this year. We are happy. It is unfortunate that we were not able to agree on this purpose issue at the governance level, but we still have hope that it will be possible in the future, and that we can reach to an agreement in the future about the purpose of the bank at the government level. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Gagnon for your comments. I remind all attendees that only proposal 1 purpose and commitment and Proposal 6 circular economy will be put to a vote at this meeting. The text of these proposals and the reasons that your Board is recommending against them are set out in Schedule A to the management information circular. In the interest of time, we will not revisit the Board's reasons for its positions during this meeting, nor will we comment on the statements made on behalf of MEDAC. Ms. Fox, have we received any questions or comments relating to the MEDAC proposal.

Mr. Chair, we have received no comments or questions on proposals.

Thank you. I now invite shareholders and proxy holders to submit their vote on this item, if they have not already done so. Please note that your Board recommends voting against these proposals. Once the final vote for this matter has taken place, we will close the polls and there will be no further voting. The polls will close in approximately 30 seconds. [Voting]

The polls will close in approximately 30 seconds. The polls are now closed. While our scrutineers tally and confirm, we can open the meeting to any further previously unanswered or unaddressed questions from shareholders and duly authorized proxy holders. [Operator Instructions] I will either respond to your questions directly or have them addressed by our President and CEO or another member of the bank's executive team.

I understand that the first question comes from Ms. Anna Delapi. I will ask Ms. Fox to read the question.

My question is from Ms. Llewellyn. What can you tell us about what you've learned about Laurentian Bank now that you've been CEO for just over 5 months. What gives you confidence that you can move the bank forward in a positive direction?

Thank you for your question. I'm absolutely honored and privileged to lead such an esteemed institution, 175 year institution with deep roots in Quebec. So I've spent -- I've been with the organization for the last 5 months, spent a lot of time with roundtables with employees, customers, investors and shareholders. And so some of the things that I wanted to share with everybody today in terms of -- we have a very strong commercial franchise with deep expertise, specializing in inventory, financing, equipment financing, real estate financing. We have a clear value proposition, which really differentiates us in the market with deep, long-standing relationships with our customers, and we have a very diverse portfolio with healthy margins and really strong credit quality. Over the last 5 months, I would say, we've made some significant progress, good progress, and we started putting our strategy into action. We started by renewing our senior leadership team. We've had 4 external hires and 2 internal promotions that we've activated. We reorganized the personal and commercial bank so that we can continue to focus on those 2 distinct divisions. And we started focusing on cost discipline and reviewing a deep strategic review as well as looking at a number of additional end-to-end mortgage reviews and other reviews as well. I would say in terms of one of the great things that I've also come across in my last 5 months is the deep talent that we have within Laurentian Bank. We have really talented individuals who are knowledgeable, passionate and overly committed to the future success of the organization, and they're really craving the direction and focus and priorities that the new leadership team will be providing over the months to come. And together, we will chart the path forward towards renewal and growth. I strongly believe we're building on a solid foundation. We have a strong credit quality. We have healthy capital and liquidity, and we have diversified operations. Number two, we're working diligently on establishing new strategy and direction. So as I mentioned, we're doing a deep dive on our strategic review. While we're focused initially on cost discipline, we're quickly pivoting to cost optimization. And as I've mentioned, we reorganized the Personal and Commercial division. And I would say number 3 is our renewal and growth agenda, which is really centered on 3 strategic pillars. Number one, cultivating a customer-first culture. So putting the customer at the center of everything that we do. Number two, driving an agile and innovative mindset, so leveraging the size of our organization and the talent that we have to be agile and nimble and move faster. And number 3 is engaging and empowering our employees to work as 1 team to unlock the power of Laurentian collectively as 1 bank. Thank you.

Thank you, Rania. Ms. Fox, do we have any other questions?

Mr. Chair, we have received no further questions or comments at this time.

Thank you. I understand that the votes on today's meeting items have been counted and the preliminary report of the scrutineers have been delivered to the bank. I accept the scrutineer's report. Based on the report, I now declare the motions for the appointment of the auditor and auditor compensation and the approval of the nonbinding advisory resolution concerning the bank's approach to executive officers' compensation duly adopted. I also declare the following persons elected as directors. Sonia Baxendale, Andrea Bolger, Michael Boychuk, Suzanne Gouin, Rania Llewellyn, David Morris, David Mowat, Michael Mueller, Michelle Savoy, Susan Wolburgh Jenah and Nicholas Zelenczuk. I also declare that proposal 1, purpose and commitment and Proposal 6, circular economy, were not adopted as they did not receive the majority of votes cast at this meeting. And I hereby request that the final report of the scrutineers be attached to the minutes of this meeting. Ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to conclude the meeting. I would like to thank once again all shareholders and proxy holders who attended, Board members for their important contributions to the bank's success and the executives and team members for their dedication to the performance of the bank and the execution of its strategic plan, particularly in light of recent unprecedented challenges beginning in 2020 to the present, and stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. As there are no other matters to come before the meeting, I hereby declare this meeting terminated. I would like to wish all the best to you and your families, and hope that you remain well and healthy. May I have a motion to terminate the meeting.

Mr. Chair. I move to terminate this meeting.

Thank you. Can I have a seconder?

I second this motion.

Thank you. The meeting is terminated and we are adjourned. [Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted] were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]