Thank you.
The question includes different elements. Let me respond first to the general question regarding procurement, legal services and technical services.
Let’s start with legal services. When an investment goes through our investment process and we’re coming to the start of the negotiation phase, legal drafting and due diligence for the project, that’s when we determine if we need to call upon our internal expertise. Within the CIB, a team of half a dozen lawyers works in partnership with the investment team to structure projects. However, for a major project, for example $1.7 billion in this case, we simply do not have the staff required to manage the project within the CIB. We therefore need to call on external expertise.
Now let’s talk about procurement. We have a procurement policy and, as per our commitment to transparency, this policy can be consulted on our website.
As for legal fees, we have a tendering process. On average, we retain the services of three to five law firms, first to gain an understanding of the expertise required for a project and hourly rates, and then to make sure there is no conflict of interest regarding the spending of public funds.