Aussie Banking Giants ‘Most Ethical’
3 April 2013 at 9:14 am
Two of Australia’s top four banking giants have topped a list of the world’s most ethical companies.
The Westpac Group has been listed on the 2013 World’s Most Ethical (WME) Companies list; it’s sixth year in a row.
This year 145 companies made the list, 43 headquartered outside the United States.
Joining the Westpac Group in representing Australia on the list was the National Australia bank (NAB), for the third year in a row.
Head of Sustainability at the Westpac Group Alison Ewings said they were proud to be recognised on the WME list once again and that it was a terrific endorsement of their sustainability strategy.
“The strategy focuses on making a meaningful difference on emerging societal issues including demographic and cultural change, environmental challenges, and sustainable wealth creation,” she said.
“It is this long-term view that is central to building a strong bank to help customers, communities and our people prosper."
The WME Companies list states that it acknowledges companies that “truly go beyond making statements about doing business "ethically" and translate those words into action”.
“WME honorees not only promote ethical business standards and practices internally, they exceed legal compliance minimums and shape future industry standards by introducing best practices today.”
The WME Advisory Panel assess companies on the following criteria and weighting to determine their score:
- Ethics and Compliance Program (25%)
- Reputation, Leadership and Innovation (20%)
- Governance (10%)
- Corporate Citizenship and Responsibility (25%)
- Culture of Ethics (20%)
