Finance committee  I would have quite a similar response. I think there are several parties involved. The legislator, the banks and the regulatory organizations all have a role to play in improving the financial knowledge of Canadians. That is certainly a factor we can all work on together.

Finance committee  Of course. In fact, I'll be very frank with you: I don't have the figures you are asking for. This information will however be provided in the course of the examination by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, the FCAC, and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Instit

Finance committee  We did take actions. We first of all carried out a self-evaluation of our own internal practices. In that context, we were very open with upper management and the board. Our management also asked for an independent internal audit of our sales practices. Of course there's always

Finance committee  Our client service representatives do not have sales objectives.

Finance committee  Our employees have several means at their disposal to express any dissatisfaction, complaint, or any breach of ethics they might witness. Of course, first there are the first level managers. At our bank, the managers are very active in the field. In addition, we have an independ

Finance committee  Well, it's the same here. The first thing our clients want, and this is clear from all of our client satisfaction surveys, is that we be relevant, that we anticipate their needs, and that we exceed their expectations. All of that is that the centre of our client-focused approach

Finance committee  In fact, it is crucial to ensure that financial objectives are not overrated or given more importance than the other dimensions. Another fundamental aspect is the fact that the performance management framework is rooted in a corporate ecosystem; it doesn't function in a vacuum.

Finance committee  That's correct. To my knowledge, there were no allegations against the National Bank as such. We took the situation very seriously nevertheless, because this undermines the credibility of our industry, which is important to us. So my answer is no. We also did some work within ou

Finance committee  It is important to put the financial objectives in context and to talk about our performance management framework. It is completely aligned with our corporate priorities. One of the fundamental elements of our corporate culture is to ensure a balance among stakeholders. We know

Finance committee  I will be brief, but it's important to put the financial objectives in perspective. The first component of the performance management framework is client satisfaction. The second is operational quality and risk management. Corporate values constitute the third element. The fo

Finance committee  In fact, according to our client-oriented approach, we work first and foremost in the interest of our client. We explore his or her needs in order to propose the most pertinent solutions. Our clients ask us to be proactive and to anticipate their needs, to be relevant in all of o

Finance committee  Yes, all of the conversations in our call centres are recorded. In certain situations the client can also have access to those recordings at his request.

Finance committee  Yes. We do use the recordings of calls to train our employees and get them to improve the relevance of the conversations. However, we have several internal sectors at the Bank that are independent, such as the internal audit sectors, that report directly to the president and the

Finance committee  Yes, the people on the third line of defence are employees of the National Bank. It is important to note that these sectors are independent. As I said, internal audit reports directly to the board of directors. We also have a client ombudsman and an employee ombudsman. We have bo

Finance committee  As I mentioned in my opening statement, the sound management of risk is an inherent part of our corporate culture, and it is deeply rooted in our organization. We take this very seriously and we work in close cooperation with all of our internal independent sectors to constantly