Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank all of the witnesses for taking the time out to be here today.
I'd like to comment on Mr. McKay's.... When he was speaking, he said that “Canada should take pride”. I agree with that. Certainly, we should take pride in our banking system. Because of the strong banking system in Canada, we survived in 2007; we avoided that meltdown. Even in this difficult time of COVID, we have gone through that because banks have played a key role in it.
I agree with him that when we are transitioning from one side to another, we need to have long-term investments, and we also have to make tough decisions. I just wanted to comment on that.
Thank you for your role in our economy and keeping Canada's banking system strong.
Mr. Masrani, in 2021, TD Bank committed to the Net-Zero Banking Alliance and acknowledged the material financial risk that the climate transition presented to its shareholders. Since 2021, TD has had the dubious distinction of having the largest increase of investments in companies that are not aligned with net zero.
I would refer to a recent report that found that TD's ratio of financing for clean energy versus financing for companies not aligned with net zero is the lowest among Canada's largest banks.
In response to your investors resolution calling for increased transparency, you have claimed that TD is largely meeting transparency requirements, but this statement ignores the more substantive transition plans developed by its Canadian and international peers.
I just want to ask you this: Would you commit to developing more substantive transparency requirements, or is it necessary for regulators to step in to ensure that this is happening?