Ethics
Contents Foreword Management report Corporate governance Consolidated Financial Statements Company Financial Statements Pillar 3
Sustainability
Rabobank acknowledges the increasingly relevant role that
sustainable development plays in our modern society. We wish
to contribute to these developments and have set out our
sustainability ambitions in the SST memorandum. SST outlines
14 ambitious KPIs belonging to five overarching themes
selected in 2014, with the year 2020 as ultimate deadline.
We are currently halfway through this trajectory and are satisfied
with the progress of the implementation of our ambitions.
When, in four years' time, Rabobank delivers on the promises
it made in 2014, we will have an impact on sustainability
within society. We see our concrete sustainability activities and
products, the publication of SST and our progress in reporting
in the Annual Report as contributions to strengthening - or
indeed restoring - society's trust in financial institutions.
For a detailed breakdown of the KPIs described in SST, please
refer to Appendix 2.
Restoring trust in the financial sector is a process consisting of
many steps. Each small step brings us closer to our ultimate
goal, and many steps present ethical queries which we must
handle carefully. Since 1998 Rabobank has had an Ethics
Committee. At the start, this Committee was specifically
meant to reflect on dilemmas arising from doing international
business. Over time the Committee's scope has expanded to
include every case and theme relating to ethics that confronts
the bank. Every employee of the Rabobank organisation can
submit an (often practical) ethical case to the Ethics Committee.
Ethical themes are often abstract, but arise from developments
that Rabobank anticipates. By discussing these cases and
themes methodically, the Ethics Committee can make decisions
that are careful, explainable and tenable, and which are guided
by the moral compass that is the Rabobank Code of Conduct1.
The Ethics Committee's main aim is to make fair decisions for
the relevant stakeholders.
When it was initially formed, the Ethics Committee took
a reactive approach to ethical conflicts, responding as they
arose. Today we try to be more proactive so as, to meet the
demands of a rapidly changing world. In 18 years, the Ethics
Committee has dealt with nearly 500 cases and a wide range
of themes. In 2016, the Ethics Committee met five times and
addressed 25 different subjects.
1 Please find the latest version of the Code of Conduct and other key
documents on https://www.rabobank.com/nl/about-rabobank/
profile/organisation/key-documents/index.html
In one case, a client was engaged in the training and export of
dogs. Some were search and rescue dogs, others were for the
patrol and security purposes of, for instance, the Israeli army
against Palestinian militants. The clients' website presented the
dogs as effective weapons. The Ethics Committee considered
this case problematic and decided it should be discussed with
the client, who was expected to provide the required assurances
about not violating human rights or else find another bank.
Two other cases the Ethics Committee considered related
to ethical issues pertaining to refugees and to LGBT rights.
Following a discussion about whether Rabobank should
facilitate entrepreneurs seeking to profit unfairly from
developing housing for refugees, the Ethics Committee offered
to assist COA, the national agency responsible for the reception,
supervision and departure of asylum seekers in the Netherlands,
in the commercial aspects of its housing projects. The Ethics
Committee also took steps towards recognising the importance
of LGBT rights, ranging from travel security for LGBT employees
to how to deal with countries that violate LGBT rights.
Specific themes that the Ethics Committee discussed in 2016
included Artificial Intelligence (AI) and lobby and ethics. AI can
be a very helpful tool that serves the interests of the bank and
the client. But it remains questionable whether independently
thinking AI will be able to act ethically and in accordance with
the Code of Conduct. Furthermore, massive use of AI will have
a huge impact on the work force. Any future borderline cases
in which these interests diverge will be addressed in the Ethics
Committee. Rabobank has also expressed its support of a Dutch
parliamentary initiative to increase transparency in the lobbying
process and has agreed to share knowledge on specific topics.
These contacts benefit not just Rabobank, but also society
at large.
Rabobank took some important general steps in 2016 towards
intensifying ethical cooperation among banks. Restoring trust
in the financial sector is in the common interest of all banks.
Careful, explainable and tenable decision-making helps keep
the horse in front of the cart. Rabobank cooperates in this
field with ABN AMRO, ING and SNS through the Dutch Banks
Association. Our cooperation is intended to stimulate our
banks' individual programmes of ethics, culture and conduct.
In October 2016, the CEOs of these banks had an offsite during
which they explored how to encourage dialogue about ethical
issues within and between their organisations. Fiscal ethics was
an important theme during these discussions (to read more on
the Ethics Committee's views on fiscal ethics see here).
63 Our output and impact: restoring trust
