The Royal
Bank of Canada (in French, Banque Royale du Canada, and
commonly RBC in either language) is the largest financial
institution in Canada by measured deposits, revenues, and market
capitalization. The bank serves seventeen million clients and has 80,000
employees worldwide. The bank was founded in 1864
in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
ownership
listed on NYSE Euronext, SIX Swiss Exchange, Toronto Stock Exchange
publicly listed
headquarters
200 Bay Street, P.O. Box 1, Royal Bank Plaza
ON M5J 2J5 Toronto
Canada
position top 1000 the Banker
In million US$. Ranking according to Tier 1 capital, as per definition Bank of International Settlements (BIS)
The CDP impels organisations to record their carbon footprint in daily activities. Encouraging enterprises to calculate and disclose their carbon impact, this initiative highlights the challenge for financial institutions to determine exactly how much carbon output can be attributed to financing.
Voluntary framework to guide the finance sector in tackling the challenge of climate change. They address the management of operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and provide direction on managing climate change in research activities; asset management; retail banking; insurance & re-insurance; corporate banking; investment banking & markets; project finance.
The EPs are a set of guidelines, based upon the Performance Standards and guidelines from the IFC, the World Bank's private sector lending arm for private banks to asesses and mitigate risks in project finance. Banks use the Principles to guide internal operating procedures for transaction for specific projects. Although the EPs are an important step to raise overall standards of financiers and projects in the developing world, they currently fall short on transparency and governance requirements.
The verification and full publication of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas and mining is supported by the EITI. Financial institutions can participate and encourage resource-rich countries to support the initiative that aims to defeat poverty, corruption and conflict caused by weak transparency and accountability.
As the name suggests, the GRI aims to standardise good practice in transparency. GRI provides companies with guidelines to organise their annual report with reporting indices and standards addressing environmental, social and economic issues that business ought to address when telling the world about its performance.
The UN Global Compact is a set of ten principles that companies may sign voluntarily. Signatories promise to avoid complicity in human rights violations, adhere to labour standards, protect the environment and avoid corruption. The G8 countries urge companies to participate in this initiative, and with over 2900 companies signing up, the Global Compact has momentum. A voluntary and network based framework, the Global Compact actively promotes peer review and stakeholder participation.
UNEP is the 'voice of the environment' for the United Nations system, promoting international cooperation in the field of the environment. Issues concerning the financial community are addressed by the UNEP Finance Initiative which promotes investment in clean and renewable energy by financial institutions and other investors. Financial insititutions wishing to join must sign one of two Statements (for financial institutions and a separate one for the insurance industry).
UNPRI is a set of six principles direct institutional investors may adopt to consider environmental, social and corporate governance issues when investing. Voluntary and aspirational in nature, UNPRI has since its inception in 2006 attracted 200 signatories, representing US$8 trillion worth of investments.
Since the turn of the century a group of twelve banks known as the Wolfsberg Group have collaborated to improve ethical standards. The principles provide guidance on money laundering, corruption and the financing of terrorism. They have been produced to address deficiencies in areas 'yet to be fully articulated by lawmakers or regulators'.
In the Canadian Boreal forest just downstream of the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains are the Canadian tar sands. The region contains some 2 trillion barrels of oil,…
Cluster munitions pose a serious threat to civilian populations during and after a conflict. Cluster munitions are designed to blanket a large area containing one or more…
The Enbridge Pipelines involve two pipelines from Bruderheim Alberta (near Edmonton), to a new marine terminal in Kitimat, British Columbia. The East pipeline is to import…
TransCanada is proposing a 36-inch, 1,700 mile pipeline, that would carry 900,000 barrels of Tar Sands oil from Hardisy, Alberta to Port Arthur, Texas. The pipeline system,…
The Grasberg mine, located in the indonesian province of Papua, on the island New Guinea, just north of Australia, is being run by the mining company Freeport McMoran. The…
Canadian mining junior Gabriel Resources wishes to develop Europe’s largest open-cast cyanide-leach gold mine at Rosia Montana. If ever developed, the mine would result…
Toka Tindung is about 35 km north east of Manado, the capital of the Indonesian Province of North Sulawesi. The project entails the development of six open-pit gold mines…
BankTrack has identified controversial issues
with the companies listed below that require attention from Royal Bank of Canada.
Coal India
Coal India Limited (Coal India) is the biggest coal producer worldwide, owned by the government of India (see paragraph 3.9). At the end of March 2010, Coal India operated…
RBC Awarded Most Environmentally Irresponsible Company
Jan 31, 2010 - The 2010 Public Eye Award named RBC the year's most environmentally and socially irresponsible company. RANs Brant Olson is accepting the award for RBC as the banks representatives declined to attend the ceremony.
headquarters
200 Bay Street, P.O. Box 1, Royal Bank Plaza
ON M5J 2J5 Toronto
Canada
position top 1000 the Banker
In million US$. Ranking according to Tier 1 capital, as per definition Bank of International Settlements (BIS)
A online carbon calculator focused on Canadian banks that enables bank customers to calculate the carbon footprint of their personal checking and savings accounts.
