National Bank of Canada Q3 2020 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Gabriel Dechaine - National Bank Financial, Inc., Research Division - Analyst : My first question is for Bill. You commented -- it's in the slide there, the PCL, the impaired PCLs reflect government -- the benefits of the government programs. So what I understand from that is that perhaps some loans that would have gone impaired didn't because there was some government program that prevented that outcome. Is that correct? And is there any way to quantify that because a lot of people wonder what happens after some of these things end?

Question: Gabriel Dechaine - National Bank Financial, Inc., Research Division - Analyst : It does. Yes. And I do have a second, and it's for you and/or Lucie, I guess you both input on it. It's on the deferrals and some of the trends in the numbers within your book, but also relative to peers. Within your book, big drop in the number of -- value of mortgages deferring payment, but much bigger than what we've seen from the other banks. Is that a geographic thing? How are you managing it? And then versus the nonretail portfolio, big drop in retail, not so big -- well, it's flat in nonretail. I just want to know what's going on there. Are these 6-month deferral programs? Are we going to have the rubber meets the road in October kind of thing? Or something else going on?

Question: Sohrab Movahedi - BMO Capital Markets Equity Research - Analyst : Louis, I just thought maybe I can go to you. When you finished your remarks, you said you were satisfied with the quarter's results. What would have made you ecstatic?

Question: Sohrab Movahedi - BMO Capital Markets Equity Research - Analyst : So when -- so 6 months into a global pandemic, your EPS back to pre-pandemic levels, your ROE back to pre-pandemic levels. And so away from the wording that we used to describe it, I mean how can things get better from here?

Question: Sohrab Movahedi - BMO Capital Markets Equity Research - Analyst : I apologize. I just wanted to find out how can things get better from here, regardless of the words we used to characterize the quarter?

Question: Sohrab Movahedi - BMO Capital Markets Equity Research - Analyst : Yes, that's very helpful. Maybe just to kind of tie it back into one direction. And if the direction arrow, given everything you said about the uniqueness and the nature of the business and the composition of the activities and what have you, is your ROEs heading higher, staying flat or heading lower for the year?

Question: Gabriel Dechaine - National Bank Financial, Inc., Research Division - Analyst : I didn't think I'll get to follow-up. But anyway, just wanted to circle back with Laurent on the VAR and market risk RWA issue. And it sounds to me like that might be something that could reverse. Volatility levels are back down. And if they continue on that trajectory, could we see some of the that RWA inflation come back in Q4 or Q1 next year, all else equal? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. AUGUST 26, 2020 / 5:00PM, NA.TO - Q3 2020 National Bank of Canada Earnings Call And then on Credigy, just wondering if your outlook for growth there has changed. I'm sure it's still a good one, but with the Fed and buying everything out there and liquidity ample, to say the least. Maybe the distressed opportunities are just aren't -- aren't as big as maybe they looked like a few months ago?