TORONTO, March 12, 2013 /CNW/ - RBC has released its 2012 Corporate Responsibility Report and Public Accountability Statement, outlining the bank's economic, environmental and social commitments
and their impact.
"A growing number of organizations are looking at ways to contribute to
social and environmental success while driving financial performance,"
said Gordon Nixon, president and chief executive officer, RBC. "At RBC,
we work hard to strike a balance between our business interests and
broader social and environmental interests. We believe that this
balance is critical to our long-term success."
RBC focuses on six priority areas where we have an impact as a financial
services company: corporate integrity, economic impact, marketplace,
workplace, environment and community. RBC's commitments in each of
these priority areas comprise our overall corporate responsibility
strategy. We track and report our performance against these commitments
every year.
RBC performance highlights from 2012 include:
Corporate Integrity: Financial services companies depend on a foundation of trust and on
effective risk management for their long-term success. We maintain
trust by acting with integrity in everything we do.
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Promoting transparency: Received the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants' 2012 Award of
Excellence in Corporate Governance Disclosure.
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Managing risk effectively: Updated our Anti-Money Laundering Framework and related policies to
promote integrity and ensure continued compliance with applicable
regulatory requirements.
Economic impact: Like all businesses, RBC strives to generate profits, while also having
a positive impact on the economies of the communities and countries in
which we do business.
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Supporting small businesses: Served more than 543,000 small business clients in Canada and the
Caribbean.
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Purchasing goods and services responsibly: Purchased goods and services totaling $5.9 billion from suppliers of
all sizes as part of our Responsible Procurement Policy.
Marketplace: RBC's vision is to "always earn the right to be our clients' first
choice." Our practices and performance in the marketplace, including
products, services and the expertise of employees are essential to
helping us meet this goal.
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Promoting financial literacy: Added a debt-reduction planner and debt-consolidation calculator to our
online offerings to help clients, prospective clients and the public at
large.
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Improving access to basic banking: Added 27 branches and 431 ATMs to the Canadian network, bringing the
bank's national total to 1,239 branches and 4,724 ATMs.
Workplace: At RBC, our employees are our greatest asset. We depend on the
expertise, professionalism and integrity of our 80,000 person strong
workforce worldwide to create and deliver products and services to meet
our clients' needs.
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Building a diverse organization: 36 per cent of executives are women, as are 47 per cent of middle
management and above.
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Setting our employees up for success: Invested $151.2 million in formal training and career development initiatives to
help employees build successful careers.
Environment: Environmental sustainability matters to our clients, shareholders and
employees. We are committed to reducing our environmental footprint,
lending responsibly, providing green products and services to our
clients, and promoting environmental sustainability.
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Reducing our footprint: Canadian ATM and digital display networks powered with over 13,900 MWh
of renewable energy, enough electricity to power more than 1150
Canadian homes for a year.
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Supporting sustainable businesses: $2.1 billion in renewable energy lending.
Community: We strongly believe in supporting the communities in which we live and
work. This is not only a long-standing core value of RBC, but also an
important component of our brand, driving our reputation and enhancing
client and employee loyalty.
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Maintaining a strong social fabric in the communities: More than $95 million given in donations and sponsorships worldwide to
support community activities and organizations.
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Supporting a broad range of causes: 9,000 donations made to charities worldwide in support of health and
wellness, education, human services, arts and culture, the environment
and civic and sport.
A short summary of the report, the Corporate Responsibility Review, is available in a carbon-neutral print version in RBC branches, and
the full report is available as a PDF on rbc.com. RBC has produced an annual Corporate
Responsibility Reports since 1999.
About RBC Community & Sustainability
Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) and its subsidiaries operate
under the master brand name RBC. We employ approximately 80,000 full-
and part-time employees who serve more than 15 million personal,
business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in
Canada, the U.S. and 49 other countries. RBC is recognized among the
world's financial, social and environmental leaders and is listed on
the 2012 - 2013 Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, the DJSI North
American Index, the Jantzi Social Index and the FTSE4Good Index. RBC is
one of Canada's Greenest Employers, one of Canada's 50 Most Socially
Responsible Corporations and among the Global 100 Most Sustainable
Corporations in the World.
RBC supports a broad range of community initiatives through donations,
sponsorships and employee volunteer activities. In 2012, we contributed
more than $95 million to causes worldwide, including donations and community
investments of more than $64 million and $31 million in sponsorships.
SOURCE: RBC
