RBC recognizes that our ongoing commitment to sustaining an ethical and open corporate governance culture is integral to our long-term success.

Governance and ethical conduct
For RBC, good governance has always been the application of ethical and appropriate practices, standards and processes, expressed in the professional conduct of our people. We are committed to fulfilling that promise every day.

A notable strength of RBC’s governance is the active role of our independent chairman in leading a board composed of well-informed directors. RBC directors represent shareholders and are shareholders themselves. They work with management to ensure that standards exist to promote ethical behaviour throughout the organization, and seek continuous improvement in governance practices.

In the past year, the chairman continued the long-established practice of chairing sessions of non-management directors following board meetings and initiated the practice of holding sessions involving only independent directors.

Despite the satisfaction of seeing many observers recognize our activities as best practices, we routinely refine and review our governance standards in order to vigorously reinforce a culture of responsibility and accountability.

Our Web site includes comprehensive disclosure with respect to governance, including:

• the Charter of the Board of Directors and all the committees;
• RBC’s Code of Conduct;
• position descriptions for the Chairman of the Board of Directors and President & CEO;
• corporate governance disclosure against the TSX Guidelines.

For more information, visit rbc.com/governance

RBC Financial Group named to Dow Jones Sustainability Index
Corporate sustainability is a business approach to creating long-term shareholder value by taking on opportunities and managing risks stemming from economic, environmental and social developments.

For the third consecutive year, RBC Financial Group was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, recognizing financial, social and environmental leaders.

The index includes over 300 companies from 22 countries that are recognized as being the top 10 per cent in corporate sustainability in their industry. Inclusion in the index is based on a comprehensive sustainability assessment of environmental, social and economic performance. RBC was selected for the third consecutive year because of its commitment to environmental and social standards and strong financial results.

Leadership and Recognition
RBC Financial Group’s governance practices were well recognized and applauded in 2003.