2005 marks the sixth consecutive year that RBC has published a Corporate Responsibility Report. Over the years, more and more companies around the world have started to do the same. This is no surprise, given the increasing awareness of the impact social and environmental issues can have on a company’s bottom line. Hardly a week goes by without someone – researchers, investment analysts, advocacy groups and clients – contacting us for information about our policies, products, services and programs in areas that fall under the “corporate responsibility” umbrella. We are regularly asked to sign voluntary codes, implement internal policies, create new products and adopt specific reporting standards to address the interests of our many stakeholders.
It’s not always easy to balance competing expectations. But we believe that companies that are considerate about balancing the needs of their stakeholders will outperform their competitors and provide the best return to investors.
Cynics think that corporate responsibility is a fad. But at RBC, corporate responsibility is not a program. It is not managed by a single department. It is not about a single policy.
Rather, it is about behaving with integrity, and sustaining our company’s long-term viability while contributing to the present and future well-being of our stakeholders. It is about behaving with integrity, every day, in every transaction, in every part of our business. We take this so seriously that, in 1980, we built our commitment right into our Code of Conduct.
We are proud to be recognized for our leadership in corporate responsibility. In 2005, RBC was named “Canada’s Most Respected Corporation” for the third straight year, one of the world’s “Top 100 Sustainable Companies,” and one of the Carbon Disclosure Project’s top 60 companies worldwide in addressing climate change. But we know that corporate responsibility is a journey, not a destination, so we continue to look at ways to improve our performance as a good corporate citizen while producing strong financial results.
RBC’s 2005 Corporate Responsibility Report is an account of how we are striving to make a positive economic, social and environmental impact. We acknowledge that this report may have too much detail for some readers, and far too little for others; in fact, our stakeholders have a wide range of expectations on what companies should disclose. As such, RBC produces information about our corporate responsibility performance in a number of places – including this report, our Annual Report, and on our website. In each, we strive to include an appropriate level of detail on issues that are relevant to our key stakeholders. This is still an evolving area, and we support the work of the Global Reporting Initiative in its efforts to provide a common language for transparent reporting.
I invite you to read our 2005 Corporate Responsibility Report, or to browse through the areas you’re interested in. Please visit our website for more information and to let us know what you think.
Gordon M. Nixon
President and Chief Executive Officer
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