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Environment

 

 
Filed with: Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia, Canadian Imperial Bank of
Commerce, Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank Financial Group

Social and Environmental Risk Disclosure


Be It Resolved That the Board of Directors issue a report (at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information) to shareholders by October 1 2003 to include: a discussion of the direct and indirect social, environmental, and ethical risks and opportunities that may significantly affect the company's short and long term value and how they might impact on the business; a description of the company's policies and procedures for managing direct and indirect risks to short term and long term value arising from social, environmental, and ethical risks; and information about the extent to which the company has complied with its policies and procedures for managing direct and indirect risks arising from social, environmental, and ethical matters.

Supporting Statement: Banks generate value by managing financial risk. But recent experience shows that banks do not always have the existing policies, staff expertise, training or incentive systems to correctly price risks of a social, environmental or ethical nature. The Goldman Sachs-led PetroChina IPO, for instance, raised only US$2.7 billion of the expected US$10 billion in 2000 following poor institutional uptake - motivated in part by human rights considerations. By signing the United Nations Environmental Program's 1992 Statement by Financial Institutions on the Environment and Sustainable Development, the Toronto Dominion Bank has acknowledged that sustainable development is a fundamental aspect of sound business management and that identifying and quantifying environmental risks should be part of the normal process of risks assessment and management. By signing this voluntary instrument the Toronto Dominion Bank also promised to integrate environmental considerations into its operations, asset management, and other business decisions, and to 'periodically report on the steps…taken to promote integration of environmental considerations into…[its]…operations.' The government currently requires that the Toronto Dominion Bank issue an annual Public Accountability Statement, but this report covers only consumer and community impacts. Greater disclosure is required for shareholders to accurately assess Management's capacity to avoid risks and generate value through adequately addressing social, environmental, and ethical matters.


 


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