Sustainability

Bear responsibility – assume responsibility

Companies that operate on the basis of sustainability are continuously more successful than others. The VP Bank Group avows the principle of sustainability.

Today, the principle of sustainability is an integral element of responsible corporate management. VP Bank’s three-pillarmodel, which was developed in the ‘90s, addresses the economic, ecological and social dimensions of sustainability.

Sustainable business activity takes into account the claims of all stakeholders. Solid profits, as well as responsibility vis-à-vis the environment and employees, enhance a company’s reputationand ultimately flow into its share price.

Only economically successful companies are in a position to offer secure jobs and generate attractive dividends for their shareholders. A reasonable level of profitability is the basis on which a company can commit itself to society effectively and over the long run.

Sustainability measures

VP Bank Group wishes to secure the foundation of its sustained economic success. Relations with employees should be marked by respect and responsibility. Through measures aimed at the conservation of resources, VP Bank attempts to uphold its responsibility vis-à-vis the environment. Moreover, owing to its business activities, VP Bank is involved in lively interaction with society and in so doing contributes to the further development and solidity of Liechtenstein as a center of commerce and industry.

Conducting business with foresight and acting with responsibility have always been the foundation of VP Bank Group’s success. By documenting these activities, the Group provides its shareholders with insight into the various dimensions of its corporate citizenship.

Mobility management

In early 2008, a mobility concept was introduced at the parent company in Vaduz. It features financial incentives for using public transportation as well as a graduated fee structure for employee parking spaces.

The concept is self-financing: rental proceeds from the parking spaces are used for bonus payments to employees who waive the use of cars and parking spaces. This concept also motivates employees to form carpools. In addition, VP Bank offers the cost-free use of “Mobility Cars”, an arrangement that has met with an enthusiastic response: measured on the basis of kilometers driven, the use of Mobility Cars has increased by roughly 45 percent between 2008 and 2010.

Over the same time frame, the total number of kilometers driven for business purposes in employees’ own vehicles has declined by 47 percent. The bottom line after the third year is impressive: all goals have been achieved – a reduction of automobile traffic, the fostering of environmental consciousness, the promotion of public transportation, and an elimination of the shortage of parking spaces.

Paper and water consumption

As a general rule, VP Bank sends out client asset statements only once a year; daily and quarterly statements are printed and sent only at the express request of the client. This has led in recent years to a considerable reduction in the use of paper for forms and vouchers.

For example, the number of printed forms has declined steadily from 655,000 in 2005 to 293,900 in 2010, as has the number of envelopes from 1,300,000 to 874,250 over the same time frame. Per-employee paper consumption has also dropped during the past five years from 0.15 to 0.08 tons. Due to the introduction of Avaloq banking software in 2008, paper consumption for that year increased briefly, but the return to normal operations in 2009 led to an immediate decrease and it now stands at 42.6 tons, the lowest reading since 2004.

VP Bank prints its publications on environmentally certified paper. FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification guarantees that the paper originates from wood harvested in exemplary, environmentally friendly forestry operations. Since 2010, payment order forms are also printed on FSC-certified paper. Thanks to the introduction of order cards and referral to documents in electronic form, the number of printed copies of the Bank’s annual and semiannual reports has halved over the past three years.

Since 2010, the electronic communications of VP Bank Group include the footnote “Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail”. As the result of a targeted campaign encouraging the use of e-mail at the Bank’s Vaduz and Zurich locations, the number of electronically transmitted documents has skyrocketed: in 2007, approximately 130,250 documents were sent as attachment to e-mails; in 2010, that number already exceeded 532,700.

Water consumption versus the previous year also declined markedly and now lies below all readings recorded since 2005: per-employee water consumption has dropped from 16.3 m3 in 2005 to 14.0 m3 in 2010.

Energy consumption

Through numerous initiatives, VP Bank Group is keying on the prudent consumption of energy. Those measures extend from the ecologically friendly manner in which the renovation of the Bank’s headquarters in Vaduz and construction of the new service center in Triesen were accomplished, to the use of geothermal energy for heating and cooling, right through to the use of motion-activated lighting in the Bank’s facilities.

Power consumption at VP Bank continues to decline thanks to efficiency-enhancement measures. For more than 15 years now, a photovoltaic power generator has been in operation on the roof of the Bank’s headquarters in Vaduz. It supplies environmentally friendly energy that is fed into the Bank’s powergrid. Owing to a rejuvenation of the control system for this installation, power generation from photovoltaics increased by more than 50% versus the previous year to a total of 5,787 kilo-watt hours.

Because of the unusually cold winter months of 2010, heating oil and gas consumption increased for the year, but overall energy consumption (including electricity) actually recorded as light decline.The differing types of buildings at VP Bank call for an overall concept that brings all of its Liechtenstein facilities up to the same level in terms of power technology. The goal of this concept is to harmonize all of the existing installations, optimize the distribution of power and efficiently exploit any ambient heat loss. To that end, energy flow meters were installed in 2009 in order to record and optimize the flows of energy from heating and cooling.

The evaluation is adjusted to take seasonal fluctuations into account. The results flow into the measures for fine-tuning the Bank’s overall energy supply. Also, the new energy supply project foresees the use of cutting-edge technologies that enable warming on the basis of heat recovery. Plans are for the concept to be implemented over the next several years.

Waste avoidance

Ever since 2004, waste separation has been the order of the day at VP Bank: paper, glass, cardboard, styrofoam, PET bottles and greenery clippings each have their own receptacles.The total amount of waste generated in 2010 stood at 193 tons, roughly 30 tons less than in the previous year and the lowestreading in the past four years.

Also, the per-employee amount of waste declined significantly in 2010 to stand at 0.38 tons versus the prior-year total of 0.43 tons.

Responsibility as an employer

VP Bank evidences its responsibility as an employer by fostering modern and attractive work conditions. Motivation and good health have just as much influence as the actual physical office environment does on the performance of each individual; and that in turn influences the success of the entire company.

VP Bank Group offers its employees a wide range of opportunities for training and continuing education, and also nurtures the compatibility of their business and family life. Special emphasis is placed on training young people in order to simplify their entry into the business world and give them a sense of what the future can hold. The private commitment of employees to public offices, schools of higher education, workgroups and professional organizations is expressly encouraged by VP Bank.

In Liechtenstein, the VP Bank Sports Club organizes numerous activities that are either cost-free or available at sharply reduced prices. On the VP Bank intranet, a wide array of information is available on the topics of “Fitness at the workplace” and “Healthy eating”.

In addition, VP Bank makes available at its facilities in Vaduz the “well.system”, which enables the management of one’s personal health-related behavior.

Social and cultural commitment

VP Bank has a long tradition of financially supporting and sponsoring numerous charitable organizations, initiatives and projects in the areas of social services, disaster relief, health, education, culture, nature conservation and ecology.

The VP Bank Art Foundation was established in 1996 for the purpose of collecting works by international as well as regional artists. Its aim is to foster an understanding of art both within and outside the Bank. The acquired works can be viewed in the offices of the Bank as well as at art exhibitions.

Environmental management

Responsibility for the Bank’s ecological sustainability is borne by the Logistics & Security unit. The head of the unit represents VP Bank in the Swiss Network for Sustainability and Management.

VP Bank is also involved in the municipality of Vaduz’s operational mobility management, where it contributes to a professional exchange of experiences gained in the area of mobility management. The Mobility Management project group of the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce and Industry is another body in which VP Bank actively participates.

VP Bank is also a member of “öbu”, the Swiss network for ecologically conscious corporate management. VP Bank has been participating in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) since 2008. CDP is an international non-profit organization that has the goal of creating more transparency with regard to climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions. On behalf of investors, CDP Switzerland gathers data and information on CO2 emissions, climate risks as well as the reduction goals and strategies of the largest exchange listed Swiss companies.

The findings are published in an annual report. The confirmation this past December of VP Bank’s certification under ISO 14001:2004 (Environmental Management), which was received already in 2009, underscores the viability of VP Bank’s environmental and sustainability policy. In this connection, the areas of “Business Ecology“ and “Social Responsibility“ were integrated into the existing Quality Managementsystem.

This recertification encourages VP Bank in its efforts to reduce the consumption of natural resources, seek alternative solutions and deal with its employees in keeping with the principles of sustainability.

VP Bank and operational sustainability

Acting in a manner that focuses on the long-term creates added value for companies and society as a whole. By taking the approach we do, we enhance our enterprise value and reinforce the trust of our clients, business partners and shareholders.