29 September 2020

Speaking at Bank of America's European Financials CEO conference, Jean Pierre Mustier says UniCredit is well-positioned to capture opportunities as the economy recovers

2:00 Min

CEO Jean Pierre Mustier spoke to investors and analysts at last week’s Bank of America European Financials CEO conference. The initiative, held virtually for the first time, brought together prominent European financial institutions to share their views on the current state of the economy and financial markets in these challenging times.

During a live broadcasted ‘fireside chat’ with Alberto Cordara, Managing Director, Equity Research at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Jean Pierre talked about impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on banking transformation, how the bank is managed for the future, and why UniCredit values sustainable outcomes over short term solutions.

 

Jean Pierre said “Having a strong capital position is extremely important. It allows us to weather the current situation from a position of strength while continuing to support our clients and communities and return capital to shareholders.”

“We will continue to manage the bank in a conservative and disciplined way. This means maintaining our focus on controlling costs and strict underwriting discipline, but also strengthening our client franchise.”

He continued by praising our employees stating that “UniCredit’s employees have done a fantastic job in the past months, embracing remote working without compromising on performance and always keeping the highest service levels for our clients. The pandemic has accelerated clients’ adoption of remote banking which has also provided an opportunity for us to accelerate our digitalisation and transformation, to redesign processes and re-prioritise investment.”

Commenting on the banks approach to sustainability, Jean Pierre added that: “At UniCredit our approach to sustainability is fully embedded in how we run the bank and is a key component of our business model. Ethics and Respect are two of our core values, which are summed up in our guiding principle to Do the Right Thing! in all interactions with our stakeholders: investors, customers, colleagues and communities.”