Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
From time to time, the Bank (as defined in this document) makes written and/or oral forward-looking statements, including in this document, in other filings with Canadian regulators or the United States (U.S.) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and in other communications. In addition, representatives of the Bank may make forward-looking statements orally to analysts, investors, the media, and others. All such statements are made pursuant to the “safe harbour” provisions of, and are intended to be forward-looking statements under, applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements made in this document, the Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“2023 MD&A”) in the Bank’s 2023 Annual Report under the heading “Economic Summary and Outlook”, under the headings “Key Priorities for 2024” and “Operating Environment and Outlook” for the Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, U.S. Retail, Wealth Management and Insurance, and Wholesale Banking segments, and under the heading “2023 Accomplishments and Focus for 2024” for the Corporate segment, and in other statements regarding the Bank’s objectives and priorities for 2024 and beyond and strategies to achieve them, the regulatory environment in which the Bank operates, and the Bank’s anticipated financial performance. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “could”, “estimate”, “expect”, “forecast”, “goal”, “intend”, “may”, “outlook”, “plan”, “possible”, “potential”, “predict”, “project”, “should”, “target”, “will”, and “would” and similar expressions or variations thereof, or the negative thereof, but these terms are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements.
By their very nature, these forward-looking statements require the Bank to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, general and specific. Especially in light of the uncertainty related to the physical, financial, economic, political, and regulatory environments, such risks and uncertainties – many of which are beyond the Bank’s control and the effects of which can be difficult to predict – may cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements. Risk factors that could cause, individually or in the aggregate, such differences include: strategic, credit, market (including equity, commodity, foreign exchange, interest rate, and credit spreads), operational (including technology, cyber security, and infrastructure), model, insurance, liquidity, capital adequacy, legal, regulatory compliance and conduct, reputational, environmental and social, and other risks. Examples of such risk factors include general business and economic conditions in the regions in which the Bank operates; geopolitical risk; inflation, rising rates and recession; regulatory oversight and compliance risk; the ability of the Bank to execute on long-term strategies, shorter-term key strategic priorities, including the successful completion of acquisitions and dispositions and integration of acquisitions, the ability of the Bank to achieve its financial or strategic objectives with respect to its investments, business retention plans, and other strategic plans; technology and cyber security risk (including cyber-attacks, data security breaches or technology failures) on the Bank’s technologies, systems and networks, those of the Bank’s customers (including their own devices), and third parties providing services to the Bank; model risk; fraud activity; insider risk; the failure of third parties to comply with their obligations to the Bank or its affiliates, including relating to the care and control of information, and other risks arising from the Bank’s use of third parties; the impact of new and changes to, or application of, current laws, rules and regulations, including without limitation tax laws, capital
