46 Governance und compliance The RZB Group places great value on responsible and transparent business management, to strengthen and maintain the understanding and trust of its stakeholders. This is a prerequisite for the performance of our banking group. The traditional Raiffeisen values are the foundation for this (see page 12) as is the group-wide Code of Conduct (CoC). Long-term added value is our primary strategic objective. Corporate governance Corporate governance (CG) refers to the framework of rules and practices for managing and monitoring a company, and is determined by legislators and owners – in short, the principles of leading a company. The specific structure is the responsibility of the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board. Management and control that is aware of responsibility, qualified, transparent and oriented to a long-term increase in value are the goals of good corporate governance. Trust-based, efficient cooperation between the various company bodies, protection of shareholder interests as well as open and transparent communication are central guidelines for us in the implementation of modern corporate governance. As a publicly listed company, RBI AG is committed to the principles of good and responsible company management as laid out in the Austrian Corporate Governance Codex (in the version of January 2015) and has pledged to comply with these principles. The compliance evaluation of the Corporate Governance Report according to § 243b of the Austrian Commercial Code (UGB) was carried out by KPMG Austria GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft for RBI AG. In their conclusive report, they noted no cause for objections. (The report is available to the public at www.rbinternational.com under Investor Relations/Corporate Governance/External Evaluation of the CG-Code.) With regard to the composition of the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board, including its committees, please refer to the annual reports of the RBI Group and the RZB Group. Openness and transparency in communication with shareholders and interested members of the public is of great importance to RBI AG. Extensive information is available on the internet and is regularly updated: Annual reports and interim reports, company presentations, telephone conferences via webcasts, ad-hoc communications, press releases, investor relations releases, share price information and data on shares, information for foreign investors, the financial calendar with a large time lead for important dates, information on securities transactions by the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board (directors’ dealings), the articles of association of RBI AG, the Corporate Governance Report, estimates of analysts, an ordering service for written information as well as a sign-up option for automatic delivery of the “Investor Relations News” by email. Code of Conduct Our Code of Conduct (CoC) forms the basis for our practices, enshrining, among other points, the avoidance of fraud, corruption, bribery, market abuses, markets and money laundering and financing terrorism as well as the avoidance of any conflicts of interest, upholding financial sanctions and securities regulations as well as compliance with data protection standards and other sensitive issues (see “Compliance”, starting on page 46). As a main component of our corporate responsibility, it consciously goes beyond formal and legally ordained conduct and describes how we deal with customers, business partners and employees. It ensures compliance with the highest possible standards, which are based on moral concepts, customer focus, professionalism, quality, mutual respect, initiative, teamwork and integrity. Each of our business partners is also required to honor the CoC within the framework of their bilateral business relationship with us. The business model of the RZB Group places people at its core. The Code of Conduct is a binding regulatory framework which is applicable group-wide for all employees and can be found in the respective national language
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