Danske Bank is generally managed in accordance with Danish law and management practices. Within this framework, Danske Bank wishes to work purposefully to ensure good relations with all of its stakeholders.
Work on stakeholder interests is a logical extension of the Group's core values, and it lays the foundation for the Group's ongoing opportunities to attract investors, customers and staff.
The Group considers good relations with stakeholders a condition for long-term development and value creation. Its units outside of Denmark have an obligation to comply with local rules as well as Danish ones.
Important stakeholder groups consist primarily of investors, customers, staff and public authorities. The Group has established certain general objectives regarding these groups and monitors its status in relation to these objectives in periodic studies and reports. The reporting applies to the Group as a whole, but it is broken down for the various business and resource areas as needed in order to take into account the specific factors involved in each case.
The Group has formulated its ambitions regarding the various stakeholder groups, as shown below. The objectives regarding each group must be understood in context. Other things being equal, improved relations with one group will make it easier to collaborate with and attract other stakeholder groups. For example, if the Group has good relations with the public authorities and society at large, it will be better able to recruit qualified staff and to attract customers and investors.
Investors
Competitive return
Danske Bank attends to investors' interests primarily by delivering a competitive return and by sound risk and capital management.
Corporate governance standards
For a number of years, the Danske Bank Group has worked on its management structure in order to live up to international corporate governance requirements. Sound principles of corporate governance are of fundamental importance in maintaining the confidence of the Bank's investors and other stakeholders, avoiding losses and realising our financial objectives.
Openness and transparency
Openness and transparency are important factors in creating and maintaining good relations with investors. For this reason, the Board of Directors has adopted an investor relations policy and a communications policy for the Bank. The Group has established extensive Investor Relations and Corporate Governance sections on its Web site and develops this information channel on an ongoing basis.
Customers
Retail customers
In its retail banking operations, Danske Bank offers competitively priced financial products and advisory services that address customers' needs for financial security, financing and a return on capital, among other things. Customers may choose between personal advisory services and advanced self-service solutions. Danske Bank places an emphasis on integrity in providing advice to customers so that customers are as well-informed as possible regardless of the Group's own interest in specific products.
Corporate customers
In corporate banking, Danske Bank offers customised financial solutions and facilities as well as ongoing consultation about the company's financial needs. The Bank also offers advanced IT solutions for cash management and other services.
Measurement of customer satisfaction
The Bank considers it important to monitor customer satisfaction through ongoing surveys and analyses. Its basic attitude towards contact with customers is summed up in the core value Accessibility.
The Group's objective is to achieve a healthy balance between customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and customer profitability. It pursues this goal by product development, by efficient distribution and by taking advantage of economies of scale.
Staff
Expertise and commitment
Danske Bank wishes to attract and retain the most highly qualified and best-performing employees whose integrity leads them to give customers the best available solutions.
The Group therefore aims to be an attractive workplace and maintains a targeted recruiting and employee retention policy that includes focusing on working environment issues. It also believes that by attending to the interests of all stakeholders it increases the staff's loyalty to the Group.
The Group considers it important to undertake regular surveys and analyses to monitor whether the employees' motivation and competency levels are developing satisfactorily. The objective is to achieve a healthy balance between employee satisfaction, employee loyalty and staff costs.
Educational and training opportunities
Employees are offered the educational and training opportunities necessary so that they maintain and develop their professional abilities. It is the responsibility of the local management to give the staff the necessary consultation and motivation on the basis of the individual's competencies, needs and desires.
Management training
The Group's managers are given support from centrally developed programmes and policies. The Group offers managers a broad internal management development programme and individual support. A small number of managers are also given the opportunity to study at an international business school.
Competency profiles
The employees' competencies are developed according to the requirements of their working duties. Having visible requirements for all the positions in the Group also gives the opportunity for employees to agree with their managers upon a course of development directed at new challenges.
The Group places an emphasis on having a good overview of employee competencies so that the best-qualified people always perform the tasks at hand.
Public authorities and society as a whole
Social responsibility
Danske Bank is aware of the social responsibility incumbent upon it as a leading financial organisation. The Bank performs its social duties both independently and in co-operation with others, such as industry and interest organisations. These activities involve environmental, ethical and social issues, among others.
Relations with public authorities
Danske Bank's activities involve - often in co-operation with relevant industry organisations - contact with a large number of public authorities that perform supervisory or similar functions in the various areas in which legislation and regulations empower them. In all such relations, the Group aims to contribute to an effective, constructive dialogue in order to seek optimal solutions that respect the authority of the public agencies.
Integrity and environmental conditions
The Group has adopted core values that urge all employees to conduct themselves properly and with integrity. The Group also has a series of policies concerning sound advisory services, measures to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and so on.
Regarding the environment, the Group has signed the UN's UNEPFI declaration acknowledging that it recognises a number of environmental considerations. In 2004 Danske Bank's Board of Directors adopted a general environmental policy. The Group also includes environmental factors in its credit assessment of corporate customers. It is a normal requirement for the establishment of a credit facility that the customer declare in writing that it is prepared to obtain any environmental approvals required as well as to comply with the prevailing laws on environmental matters.
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Last updated/revised on August 7, 2008