Assurance report of the independent
auditor
Assurance report on the Sustainability
Statements 2016
Contents Foreword Management report Corporate governance Consolidated Financial Statements Company Financial Statements Pillar 3
To: the general members' council of Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A.
Our conclusion
Based on our review, nothing has come to our attention that
causes us to believe that the Sustainability Statements included
in the Annual Report 2016 of Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A.
does not present, in all material respects, a reliable and
adequate view of:
the policy and business operations with regard to
sustainability; and
the events and achievements related thereto for the year
ended 31 December 2016;
in accordance with the sustainability reporting Guidelines
version G4 of GRI and the internally applied reporting criteria
as described in Appendix 1: 'About this report' and Appendix 2:
'Sustainably Successful Together'.
Our opinion
In our opinion, the fourteen sustainability key performance
indicators in the tables on the pages 125 - 128 and
Appendix 3 on the pages 129 - 134 in the Annual Report
2016, are prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with
the sustainability reporting criteria as described in 'Appendix 1:
About this report'.
What we are assuring
The Sustainability Information contains a representation
of the policy and business operations of the Coöperatieve
Rabobank U.A. (hereinafter 'Rabobank' or 'the Bank') and
its subsidiaries, regarding sustainability and the events and
achievements related thereto for 2016. We have reviewed the
Sustainability Statements for the year ended 31 December
2016, as included in the following sections in the Annual Report
for the year ended 31 December 2016 (herein: 'Sustainability
Statements') of Rabobank:
Engaging with stakeholders pages 73 - 77
Working with clients on sustainability
risks and opportunities pages 78 - 82
Stimulating sustainable agriculture pages 83 - 86
Supporting the vitality of communities pages 87 - 92
Promoting a circular economy pages 93 - 97
Developing talent and competencies pages 98 - 101
Encouraging diversity and equality pages 102 - 103
Appendix 1: About this report
Appendix 2: Sustainably Successful Together
Appendix 4: Dialogue with social welfare organizations and
dialogue with clients
Appendix 5: Global Reporting Initiative
Additionally, we have audited the fourteen sustainability key
performance indicators in the tables on the pages 125 - 128
and Appendix 3 on the pages 129 - 134.
The Sustainability Statements contains several links to external
sources or websites, which are not part of the Sustainability
Statements. Therefore, we do not provide assurance over
information outside of the Sustainability Statements.
The basis for our conclusion and opinion
We conducted our assurance engagement in accordance
with Dutch law, including Dutch Standard 3810N 'Assurance-
opdrachten inzake maatschappelijke verslagen' (Assurance
engagements on corporate social responsibility reports).
This engagement is aimed to obtain a combination of
limited and reasonable assurance. Our responsibilities
under this standard are further described in the section
'Our responsibilities for the assurance engagement of the
Sustainability Statements' of this Assurance report.
Independence and quality control
We are independent of Rabobank in accordance with the
'Verordening inzake de onafhankelijkheid van accountants bij
assurance-opdrachten' (ViO, the Dutch auditor independence
regulations for assurance engagements) and other relevant
independence requirements in the Netherlands. Furthermore
we have complied with the 'Verordening gedrags- en
beroepsregels accountants' (VGBA, the Dutch Code of Ethics for
Professional Accountants and regulation with respect to Rules
of Professional Conduct).
119 Assurance report of the independent auditor
