Ms Francesca McDonagh:

We have not provided our shareholders and the market with guidance in terms of NPE reduction beyond the end of 2019. We stated that we would seek to get closer to 5% by the end of 2019. We will look to continue reducing this.

Across Europe, banks on average have a 3% to 3.4 % NPE level. That would be considered normal but it can vary. Regulators obviously would encourage banks to minimise as much as possible their NPEs during a benign period of a credit cycle, meaning that as one goes through a cyclical change, one is starting from a lower base. After reaching 5%, I do not have a hard number that we will pursue. It goes back to optimisation of our capital. We will work with customers. In cases where customers are willing to work with us on a forbearance solution, we will find a solution in nine out of ten cases. In turn, in nine out of ten of those cases, the forbearance solutions will hold. That has always been our preferred option.

We will certainly explore other ways to be more optimal in terms of how we manage our capital in that this would be capital which we can lend to more of our customers and improve service. There is a clear incentive in terms of the intensity of capital attached to those NPEs increasing. A definition of what is a NPE is also evolving.