Christian Sewing. Much more graceful entrance. Well, you know, I learned how to not do it. Yeah. Sorry for that. No, no problem. Okay, so Christian is a member of the bank's management board since 2015. He's been the CEO since April of 2018. Long distinguished career in the bank, you know, working across Frankfurt, London, Singapore, Tokyo, and Toronto. And sustainability has been a big focus for you at Deutsche Bank, and so we're gonna have a conversation just a little bit about how you think about making your business more sustainable. And so I'll dig right in because we've got a limited time. Global security issues, the Ukraine, Israel, as well as the macroeconomic environment that we're wrestling with, inflation, supply chain, have reduced the focus on sustainability a little bit. Against this backdrop, how can we all continue to ensure a successful transformation into a more sustainable economy and society? Well, first of all, David, thank you very much for the invite. And you know, before we come into the deep content, I really do believe that with conferences like this, we can ensure that the topic remains on the top of everybody's mind. And at the end of the day, you said something very important, that you are actually quite optimistic about what is coming. And you know, if you think about what has happened in the world over the last two years, with the awful war in the Ukraine, we had an inflation, which we all haven't seen for the last 30 years. Against that backdrop, actually, there is still a high focus on sustainability, and that makes me optimistic that we are going into the right direction. But there, in my view, are four or five items, which we need to really press on in order to further foster this topic. Number one, it's all about, and as much of a line framework, we have to achieve globally as we can. Because I think the framework and, the policies around sustainability, which we have for the time being, are not that aligned, and that brings a lot of uncertainty, in particular with consumers, but also with corporates, but at the end of the day, also with us banks. Number two, transition financing. I think it was a mistake how we have built the taxonomy. The taxonomy which we have built didn't start with transition finance. Now everybody is more and more focused on that. But we need to have a clear transition finance taxonomy in order to actually advise our clients how to get from here to there. That is the most important, and we should put focus on that one. Number three, it's a question of capacity, in particular in Europe. If I think about the amounts involved which we need in order to get the Green Deal done. We simply can't do it with public finances. Look at my home country, what kind of discussion we have for the time being in Germany with the EUR 60 billion budget issue. We also simply can't do it by providing the balance sheet only coming from the banks. We need the European capital markets. The European Capital Markets Union is a prerequisite to get the Green Deal done, and hence it's another foundation to really focus and foster sustainability. And number four, in my view, is the leadership. And the leadership is coming from people like you, obviously, the politicians, and it must come from the industry. And therefore, again, if I look at the conference, I just said it to Chris, the lineup of speakers you have, in particular from the corporate world, is first class. If we together work on this item, then I do think, we will see that there will be even far more focus on that topic going forward, despite all the events we see in this world. Sure. You know, let's, if we dig in a little bit just on this issue of capital and the availability of capital, we need more risk capital developed into new sustaining technologies. Can you talk a little bit about where you think the capital can come from, how important it is for government to work with the private sector? How do we really get, you know, acceleration of risk capital, you know, focused on trying to drive more sustainable solutions? Well, it's in my view, it must come from these three sides. Number one, there must be always obviously the involvement of the public sector, because you also have industries, you have technologies where you see the positive impact in 10, 15, or 20 years. And you and I know that this is very hard for us to finance it from a, simply from a risk point of view. Secondly, if I look actually at the private capital which is available, then I do think that there is sufficient, capital available. The problem is in what kind of framework, can it be provided, for instance, in Europe? And therefore, I'm always saying we need one Capital Markets Union in Europe, that we have one regulation for capital markets in Europe, so that we have, so to say, one liquidity pool, one framework, one set of rules, and I would say this would make a big difference. Number three, we need to think about innovative, items. We are working with the World Bank. We are working with KfW in Germany. We are working with the European with the EIB in order to provide pools of credits, pools of new products to our clients, to give a diversity of financing to our clients. To give you one example, we are working with the EIB on a EUR 400 million or EUR 500 million program to actually support small-sized and medium-sized enterprises in Germany to get the green transformation done. For that, we need obviously, leverage from the bank. We need credit from the bank, but we also need, certain guarantees which can be provided by the EIB to get- Sure ...this transformation done. And therefore, I think it's these three parts: bank balance sheets, European capital markets, public debt, and private partnerships and public partnerships. So let's talk about partnerships. You're a founding member of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance. Talk a little bit about how this partnership and other partnerships with institutions, governments, and organizations are driving impact. Huge impact for two reasons. Number one, it's for me a little bit all about self-regulation, in particular when it comes to the topic which I referred to at the start, and that is transition finance. I do believe if we have-- I think in that forum, we have now 40% of the most important banks involved, or even more of the most important banks, but 40% of the global banking system. If we can agree on transition finance, on the framework, that obviously brings the world a far, a big step ahead. Secondly, I, I do believe the chance to actually exchange views and, and exchange expertise on that level brings us again ahead when it comes to sustainability frameworks, policy frameworks, and to build a common understanding how we are actually getting this transformation done. So from a Deutsche Bank point of view, we are a, a big fan actually of the Net-Zero Alliance, and I do believe the more banks we get into this forum, I think we have a chance actually in particular, to focus on transition finance. You know, there are very different approaches across the Atlantic when we get toward talking about this, this issue in depth. You're a global bank, you're running a big bank. How, how are you dealing with those, those differences as we deal on both sides of the ocean? It is difficult. I think in this regard, actually, it is a little bit easier and less complex in Europe because you have one taxonomy. I'm not saying that this is now the dream of taxonomy one would wish for, but at least you have a kind of a common understanding. If you come to the U.S., you know better than I do, that you have also different attitudes, so to say, from state to state. On the other hand, in the U.S., you have, with the Inflation Reduction Act, a huge initiative actually to get investors into the country. When I see what and how many German corporates and European corporates have actually switched investments from Europe to the U.S., it is for us, as Deutsche Bank, also a great opportunity, obviously, to advise these clients to finance these clients. The problem, again, is that we are, and I think this fills the uncertainties with investors, but also with our corporate clients, that you have these different standards, that you have different frameworks, and that even then in the U.S., you have states with a kind of a different attitude to ESG and sustainability. Now, on the one hand, this is a threat and this is a concern or a challenge. On the other hand, I think it's a big opportunity for global banks like we are, to actually advise our clients. In my view, ESG and sustainability is one reason for the return of real bank relationship management and advisory to our clients, because we can actually guide our clients through all these different taxonomies and frameworks, and that's what our role is. Yeah. Talk a little bit, just, you know, when you think about your own strategy, how is your strategy, or how is sustainability really anchored in your broad strategy? Elaborate a little bit on how as an individual institution, you're thinking about it. Look, when I took over in 2018 or 2019, it didn't... I would lie if I would say it started with sustainability, but it started with something else at Deutsche Bank. We made the mistake that Deutsche Bank actually left, so to say, the direct translation from German to English, is the middle of the society. And I think it was absolutely imperative for this bank in 2019, when we announced our transformation, that the people feel in the private bank, in the corporate bank, but also in the investment bank, that Deutsche Bank is back in the advisory and in the financing and in the investment business for the society. Now, if you define that, what your role in this society is, if you then talk to corporate clients, to private clients, sustainability is one of the top three items which is on their mind. Actually, it started in 2018 with the private wealth management. I could see in every second meeting with our private wealth management clients, in particular with the new generation, that they looked into the portfolio which they got from their parents, that they need to change something. I said, "It's such a big topic, that next to all the other goals which we have, forget about the financial goals for a second, that from a qualitative point of view, that what people really think about, ESG and sustainability is core." And that's what we then centered into the qualitative strategy in 2019 of the bank. We built a central group with a chief sustainability officer, who is with us today, reporting directly to the CEO, because I think, in particular, if you do something new and you put your focus on this, you need to have a direct line, not only into the management board, but in my view, the CEO must drive this. And then we started to work with each of the four businesses on sustainability goals. Be it in the investment business, in the financing business, and actually, we went more and more, not only focusing directly on our clients, but it resulted in a third pillar, and that is that we became a kind of a think tank, also in Germany, on advising, for instance, the government or advising other stakeholders, what else can we do actually, in order to promote Europe in this area as a continent which is hopefully leading the pack? And therefore, Deutsche Bank's, Deutsche Bank's role is not only limited to financing or giving the investment advice to a private wealth management client, but actually I see ourselves as a key ingredient, as a critical ingredient, that Europe can drive in ESG and sustainability on a path where hopefully we are an industry leader. And this is ever more important, in particular, if you think about the competitive landscape which we are dealing with at this point in time. Yeah. You know, shifting gears a little bit, again, that was a, you know, pretty fulsome, you know, answer to how you think about supporting your clients broadly. How do you think about doing business with hard-to-abate industries, such as thermal coal? You know, how do you deal with or how do you think about clients that are particularly high emitting? How are you thinking about that and balancing that? Well, I'm glad you asked this question. And we have had long, long discussions. But again, the Net-Zero Alliance helps us a lot b ecause I think it's all about, David, to get the right transition plans for obviously the high emitting industries, and that's what we have done. We have worked now on seven transition plans for seven industries, pretty detailed, and we are breaking that then down on the clients within these industries. And the most important, again, is-- And therefore, I think this is another reason why banks are so much in the middle and play a key role in the overall transformation to green, because we have the relationships. We know our clients, we know our strengths and their strengths and their weaknesses, and we also know how we can actually finance their, their transition. And that's exactly what, what we are doing. And I have to say that with the vast majority of the clients, by the way, not only with the DAX companies or the CAC 40 companies, with the listed companies, but also if you go into the backbone of the German industry, i.e., the family-owned and midcap clients, the attention for transition finance, the attention, how we get from brown to green, is getting bigger and bigger. And therefore, the response to our initiatives, to our relationship managers talking to us, and we can actually discuss critical items with them, is actually very convincing. And it makes me very confident that the economy will get this turn. Now, to your question, what actually happens with clients who kind of are not moving at all? The item, the ultimate answer is, at some point in time, if there is no response at all, we would exit. This is actually the part of our transition plan, which we have for each industry, but also for each client. What we can see is with the relationship management we have and with the coverage we have, that honestly, this is the absolute rare exception, because people want to go from brown to green, and they need a key advisor. That is the role banks can play, and that is the role why I said in 2019, Deutsche Bank must be at the forefront of this transition relationship management. We must build and train our people, and we can really see the success these days. And so do you, as you look, you know, through the decade, do you see the change, you know, over the next, you know, over the next six or seven years as being really- Right ..material on this front? So if you look at our transition plan, you know, it's obviously from industry to industry a bit different with the reduction plans we have. But overall, you can actually see that our first critical timing point is 2030, so six, seven years from now. And I think we also need to give our clients the time, actually, to go through their own operations and think about how can we come from here to there. And forcing them to do that within two or three years is exactly the wrong way. And this is also something which our politicians need to understand, our regulators need to understand, because, David, I can do a pretty nice job in order to decarbonize my balance sheet. But it doesn't help at all the society, it doesn't help at all- Yeah ... the world, because these clients will find an alternative financing somewhere else. That's what we need to avoid. If we bring quality in the coverage to our clients and help them on their transition, I think this is the best for the clients, and this is the best for the world. Yeah, we have to solve the fundamental problem- Exactly ... for some period of time. Is there... You know, you mentioned just briefly, you know, the, you know, the regulatory environment around that, around all this. How are you seeing as a financial, heavily re-regulated financial institution, how are you seeing the regulatory infrastructure play a role in directing this and framing this? What are you concerned about, you know, in the context of, of the way the regulator is kind of looking at, you know, this issue? Look, on the one hand, I, I think there is actually a good exchange. If I think about, in particular, with my home regulator, with the ECB, the discussions we have on ESG, on sustainability financing, on taxonomy, it's a fair, it's a constructive, and it's a discussion which, in my view, goes into the right direction. If you ask me about the biggest worry, it's exactly that we don't get the time for us, and in particular for our clients, to ensure that we have the time to transition. Yeah. And if I'm not saying that we get it, but if it would result in kind of penalties for us as banks, in whatever shape, whether that be capital add-ons, or even financial penalties, then actually you put a risk to the transition of the world. You put a risk to the transition of our clients. And I think that is where we need to focus on. But I have to say, if you have an educated discussion with the regulators, and I can see that the expertise on the regulator side is actually increasing by the day, I think we have a big, big chance actually to avoid that. And again, I'm also arguing with our regulators, in particular in Europe. It is a huge chance for Europe. There are not so many industries and technologies left anymore where Europe is leading. That is still an industry, despite the Inflation Reduction Act, where Europe actually can compete, and therefore, we shouldn't do the mistake that we put a framework, a policy, a regulation in place which actually is threatening- Sure ... this competitive advantage. Sure, sure. Well, Christian, we appreciate your being here to to kick off the conference. Thank you, thank you for your time. Thank you for your thoughts. Let's all thank Christian Sewing, the CEO of Deutsche Bank. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you. Good to see you.