RBC Financial Group 2005 Corporate Responsibility Report and Public Acountability Statement

A company’s reputation is built in part by what people say about it. We feel privileged to have received these honours, among others, in 2005.

RECOGNITION AND AWARDS
Most respected

• Canada’s Most Respected Corporation (annual KPMG/Ipsos Reid poll appearing in The Globe & Mail). RBC was overall “Most Respected” for the fourth consecutive year, and placed first in six of nine categories, including “Most Admired & Respected,” “Financial Performance” and “Long Term Investment”;

• Number three in Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures
study (Waterstone Human Capital/Canadian Business).

Corporate responsibility/sustainability

• Named to the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World ranking, recognizing global companies that have proven their ability to manage strategic opportunities in new environmental and social markets;

• Canada’s Most Respected Corporation for “Corporate Social Responsibility”
(11th consecutive year in annual KPMG/Ipsos Reid poll);

• Number one in second annual ROB/Jantzi Corporate Social Responsibility Ranking in “Banking” category (Report on Business magazine);

• Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (sixth consecutive year) and Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index recognizing financial, social and environmental leaders;

• Jantzi Social Index, recognizing financial, social and environmental leaders in Canada;

• FTSE4Good Index (fourth consecutive year);

• Ethibel Investment Register and Ethibel Pioneer Index, recognizing financial, social and environmental leaders;

• 2005 ECPI Ethical Index (E. Capital Partners), recognizing the world’s top 300 socially responsible companies;

• One of Canada’s Best 50 Corporate Citizens (Corporate Knights).

Environmental sustainability

• Climate Leadership Index. Based on our 2005 submission to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), RBC was among 60 large companies worldwide recognized as leaders in understanding and addressing a breadth of climate change issues.

Governance

• Canada’s Most Respected Corporation for “Corporate Governance” (KPMG/Ipsos Reid poll);

• Board Games (Report on Business), RBC ranked eighth in corporate governance rankings in Canada;

• Ranked ninth in annual Survey of Corporate Governance (Canadian Business magazine).

Economic development

• North Carolina International Community and Economic Development Award (NC Department of Commerce) to RBC Centura in recognition of community impact, executive leadership and commitment, corporate mission statement and values, and employee participation.

Employment/labour practices

• Canada’s Most Respected Corporation for “Human Resources Management” (KPMG/Ipsos Reid poll);

• Corporation of London Award for “Employer Newcomer of the Year,” presented to RBC Capital Markets in London, U.K.

Diversity

• Ranked first among banks in Canada’s Gender Intelligent Companies survey of women consumers (Thomas Yaccato Report 2005);

• Three RBC executives were named to the 2005 Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 list (Women’s Executive Network).

Community involvement

• Community Contribution Award (Parks and Recreation Ontario) for the company’s support of athletics and education at the community level;

• Sustained Support Award at the 12th annual Mayor’s luncheon for Business and the Arts, an event celebrating the arts, artists and the partnerships forged with business and patrons of the arts in Calgary, Alberta;

• Canadian Sport Award for Corporate Excellence in “Individual Athlete Support,” recognizing RBC’s support of the Canadian Olympic Team, dating back to 1947.

MEMBERSHIPS AND EXTERNAL AFFILIATIONS
RBC is involved with a number of leading organizations around the world to steward corporate responsibility.

• In 1988, we were a founding member of Imagine, a program to encourage philanthropy and volunteering, and remain a member to this day, with a commitment to donate one per cent of our pre-tax profits to charity;

• Since 1997, RBC has been a member of Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, a leading resource in North America providing research and executive education on citizenship topics;

• We are a sustaining member of Canadian Business for Social Responsibility, a membership organization of Canadian companies who have made a commitment to operate in a socially, environmentally and financially responsible manner;

• We are a funder of the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) G3 project, to ensure GRI has a self-sustaining business model. GRI is an independent institution whose mission is to develop and disseminate globally applicable sustainability reporting guidelines. RBC now reports on performance indicators suggested by GRI for our non-financial reporting;

• RBC Asset Management is a member of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance, which promotes best corporate governance practices in companies its members consider for investment;

• RBC is a member of the Conference Board of Canada, and we sit on its Corporate Community Investment Council, Effective Work Environment Research Council, Business Council for Sustainability and Corporate Ethics Management Council;

• In the United States, RBC is a member of the U.S. Conference Board Diversity Council, and the Families and Work Institute;

• RBC works both nationally and internationally to help manage environmental liability in the financial services industry and to reduce the impact of our own operations on the environment. See page 28 for more.