Ethisphere Institute names U.S. Bank as a 'World’s Most Ethical Company' in 2017

U.S. Bank, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States, has been recognised by the Ethisphere Institute, the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as a 2017 'World's Most Ethical Company®'.

This marks the third consecutive year that U.S. Bank has earned this recognition.

"It is truly an honour to be named a World's Most Ethical Company for the third consecutive year," said Richard Davis, chair and chief executive officer of U.S. Bank. "As a financial institution, we understand the importance of building and maintaining trust with our customers, communities, and shareholders. And, we are very proud of how the U.S. Bank team strives to be the most trusted choice and how their efforts impact the lives of our customers. I congratulate all of our employees and thank them for their commitment to the highest level of ethics and integrity."

The World's Most Ethical Companies designation recognises those organisations that understand their role in society to influence and drive positive change, consider the impact of their actions on their employees, investors, customers and other key stakeholders, and use their values and culture as an underpinning to the decisions they make every day.

"We help customers build financially secure futures every day — and those relationships are built on trust," said Andy Cecere, president and chief operating officer for U.S. Bank. "We know we are successful in earning that trust when we collaborate, act responsibly, do the right thing and treat everyone with respect and dignity. We are proud to be on Ethisphere's list, because it validates our employees' commitment to our customers and our communities."

U.S. Bank is once again the largest US-based bank being honoured by the Ethisphere Institute this year. Being an honoree underscores U.S. Bank's commitment to leading ethical business standards and practices ensuring long-term value creation for key stakeholders, including customers, employees, suppliers, regulators and investors.

The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute's Ethics Quotient® (EQ) framework, which offers a quantitative way to assess a company's performance in an objective, consistent and standardised way. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies, rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics.

Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35%), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20%), culture of ethics (20%), governance (15%) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10%) and provided to all companies who participate in the process.

"Over the last 11 years we have seen the shift in societal expectations, constant redefinition of laws and regulations and the geo-political climate," said Ethisphere's Chief Executive Officer Timothy Erblich. "We have also seen how companies honoured as the World's Most Ethical respond to these challenges. They invest in their local communities, embrace strategies of diversity and inclusion, and implement sustainable business practices. Congratulations to U.S. Bank for its third consecutive recognition as a World's Most Ethical Company."

The full list of the 2017 World's Most Ethical Companies is available on Ethisphere’s website. Best practices and insights from the 2017 honourees will be released in a series of infographics and research throughout the year. Organisations interested in how they compare to the World’s Most Ethical Companies are invited to participate in the Ethics Quotient.