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GENERAL MEETING DRAFT - Bankier.pl

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Dear Shareholders,<br />

During the past year, we have made an intensive effort to transform and adapt our business to the<br />

com<strong>pl</strong>ex and rapidly changing market. An in-depth assessment of who we are and what we do was the<br />

first step in a process to improve the way we relate to our clients. Today, we are focused on building our<br />

business around our customers.<br />

Although the global economy is in a recovery phase, market volatility remains high as a result of the<br />

significant uncertainty that persists.<br />

It is therefore important that we maintain our focus in managing our business in these unsettled times.<br />

Interest rates are being kept exceptionally low, as central banks continue to support liquidity. They are,<br />

however, beginning to design their exit strategies, the timing and manner of which will be crucial to the<br />

economic recovery and the profitability of a banking system that is under pressure due to the deterioration<br />

of assets and the high cost of capital.<br />

The emerging regulatory framework, which is still a point of discussion among regulators and financial<br />

institutions, will be an important tool in reinstilling public trust in the financial system and the banking<br />

industry.<br />

Nevertheless, stability, transparency and sustainability must be at the top of the agenda for banks and<br />

financial institutions if they are to regain credibility and their good reputations.<br />

These are the facts. And we proactively decided to reassess our priorities, reaffirm our purpose, and<br />

rethink what it means to be one of the most important banking groups in Europe. The result is our new<br />

Group mission statement. It sets forth our common effort on how we relate to clients in order to maintain<br />

their trust and generate sustainable value.<br />

To us, customer centricity can be described in two words: proximity and sim<strong>pl</strong>icity. Being close to our<br />

clients allows us to be attentive to their core needs and to modify our divisional business model in a way<br />

that better serves them, making it as easy as possible for customers to do business with us.<br />

This must be true for all of our clients in every country in which we operate, because we take pride in<br />

being a European bank, with European roots and a European frame of mind.<br />

The “One4C” (“One for Clients”) initiative was our most important effort of 2009 to promote a change in<br />

our corporate culture. It was designed to channel all of our efforts to move closer to both our internal and<br />

external clients, as well as to the communities in which we operate. We will achieve these goals by<br />

investing in increased specialization and improved processes.<br />

In addition, we will strengthen the roles of the peo<strong>pl</strong>e who daily interact with our clients, and continue to<br />

invest in their professional development.<br />

Being closer to our customers also means assisting them when circumstances prove challenging. For this<br />

reason, in 2009, we undertook initiatives in support of families and companies in difficulty.<br />

2009 CONSOLIDATED REPORT AND ACCOUNTS<br />

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