On 2 April 2020, in view of the ECB’s recommendation in which it asked European banks to refrain from paying dividends with a charge to results from financial years 2019 and 2020, the board decided to cancel the payment of the 2019 final dividend and suspend the dividend policy for 2020. As a result, it withdrew the proposal for the distribution of 2019 results from the agenda of the General Shareholders’ Meeting held on 3 April 2020 and confirmed this would be reviewed at the AGM to be held in October 2020. On 27 July, the ECB extended its recommendation until 1 January 2021.

The board approved to submit to the General Shareholders' Meeting held on 27 October 2020 the proposal to make a fullypaid capital increase to enable the distribution of new shares equivalent to EUR 0.10 per share, as a complementary payment from 2019 to be paid this year. As a result, the equivalent total payment corresponding to 2019 would be equivalent to EUR 0.20 per share.

Furthermore, the board is also asking shareholders to approve a cash payment of EUR 0.10 per share, to be paid in 2021, with a resulting charge to share premium reserves and subject to the European Central Bank (ECB) guidance and approval. It is also conditional upon the Group’s CET1 ratio remaining within or above its target range of 11-12% and the total amount to be paid not exceeding 50% of the Bank’s 2020 consolidated underlying profit. The Bank had already accrued 6 bps of CET1 capital and added a further 13 bps in the third quarter, together with the aforementioned payment proposal to the General Shareholders' Meeting held on 27 October 2020.