Corporate Social Responsibility Policy

A Message from RapidRatings’ CEO

“Rapid Ratings International Inc. (“RapidRatings”) and all its subsidiaries aim to support and allow organizations to grow efficiently in this ever increasing legalized and regulatory world through assisting organizations in managing their risks. In providing its Financial Health Reports RapidRatings values the importance of being socially responsible.

For RapidRatings, fulfilling corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) means embodying our corporate philosophy: “Trustworthiness, Transparency, Dedication and Creativity.” We seek to contribute to the sustainable development of society by responding to the trust that society places in us, and creating new value that exceeds expectations.

We are constantly trying to increase CSR awareness amongst our internal and external stakeholders. We believe in starting on the right foot both in being commercially viable and ensuring that our approach to business is socially responsible. We are of the view that CSR can be carried out by all business whether small, medium or large and every positive step taken brings forward the importance of CSR within business to the forefront. It is for this reason senior management of RapidRatings regularly try to increase awareness whether through publishing whitepapers, articles sponsoring events etc. Education is one key tool that we believe in being socially responsible.

We are also working to increase CSR awareness amongst each and every employee through our CSR policy, and RapidRatings’ Code of Conduct, which guides our behavior in daily business activities. Given the international nature of our business we support the UN Global Compact and support its Ten Principles regarding human rights, labor, the environment, and anti-corruption. We also take account of related international codes and regulations in the pursuit of business activities.

Within RapidRatings we care not only about our internal and external stakeholders but also about the physical environment and the social environment in which we operate. That is why RapidRatings aims to dedicate time and resources to addressing our environmental impact. We harness positive enthusiasm to take the lead in finding ways to mitigate our environmental impact and reduce the consumption of natural resources. It is for this reason why we are attempting to implement a paper free workplace and enforce the three R’s of being a green business (i.e. Reduce, Recycle and Reuse). We have made a commitment to reducing consumption of natural resources, wastage and CO2 emissions and take even better care of our employees through learning and development. This is not a short term exercise for us and we will continue to inspire our internal and external stakeholders to make our industry more sustainable.

We hope you join us in making the world a better place.”

James H. Gellert,
CEO of RapidRatings

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Introduction

RapidRatings is committed to being a socially and ethically responsible employer and member of the corporate community in all jurisdictions in which we have offices. We give serious consideration to the impact our activities may have on our clients, our employees, our suppliers and the local community in general.

This policy is not meant to cover, all possible situations that may occur. It is designed to provide a set of guidelines against which to measure any activities. Employees should seek guidance when they are in doubt about the proper course of action in a given situation, as it is the ultimate responsibility of each employee to “do the right thing”, a responsibility that cannot be delegated.

Employees should always be guided by the following basic principles: 1) avoid any conduct that could damage or risk RapidRatings or its reputation; 2) act legally and honestly; 3) put RapidRatings’ interests ahead of personal or other interests.

Fair Employment Practices

When setting our corporate standards, we attach great importance to the significance of social and ethical issues. This is an area in which we differentiate and take pride in our approach. RapidRatings recognizes and respects regional and local legal differences in employment, privacy, and other applicable laws.

We abide by our own internal Code of Conduct that has been set at internationally approved standards and this is practiced by all of our employees throughout our offices. The following core values are essential to RapidRatings and RapidRatings’ business:

Transparency
Integrity
Mutual Respect
Teamwork
Communication
Innovation
Client Satisfaction
Quality
Fairness
Compliance
Ethics

RapidRatings (i) observes applicable laws and regulations governing wages and hours, recruitment and employment contracts; (ii) allows workers to choose freely whether to organize or join associations of their own choosing for the purpose of collective bargaining as provided by local law or regulation; (iii) prohibits discrimination, harassment and retaliation; (iv) not utilize fraudulent or misleading recruitment practices; (v) not hold or destroy a worker’s identity or immigration documents; and (vi) provide workers with terms and conditions of employment in a language the worker understands.

Clients

We strive to provide high quality services and products and to adapt quickly to our clients’ needs. We aim to act openly, fairly, independently and with integrity in our dealings with clients and their advisers. RapidRatings invests heavily within our product and service development team in order to satisfy our diverse client portfolio.

We ensure that our communications with clients are transparent, whilst we endeavor to provide products and services that meet the varied needs of our clients.

Products & Services

We pride ourselves on our ability to innovate and design new services in response to market needs, frequently servicing niche markets.

Health & Safety

At RapidRatings we pride ourselves in looking after our employees and therefore take best efforts in ensuring that our employees have fair working arrangements in order to reduce stress for our employees. We believe that happy and healthy employees are the most productive. RapidRatings complies with applicable environmental, health and safety (EHS) laws and regulations and provides workers a safe and healthy workplace. As part of our employee wellbeing program we provide the following benefits:

Work from home arrangements
Flexible working hours
Health Insurance
Safe & Secure work environment
Training & Development

Human Rights

RapidRatings respects human rights of our employees and others in our business operations. RapidRatings does not employ workers younger than sixteen (16) years of age or below the applicable minimum age, whichever is higher and does not use forced, prison or indentured labor, or workers subject to any form of physical, sexual or psychological compulsion, exploitation or coercion, or engage in or abet trafficking in persons.

Combating Slavery and Human Trafficking

RapidRatings is committed to the zero-tolerance policies adopted by the U.S. and other governments to combat slavery or the trafficking of persons for any purpose. RapidRatings prohibits trafficking-related activities and we expect our suppliers and contractors to uphold these important principles, as well.

Suppliers

We prefer dealing with local suppliers and advertising in local publications and/or establishments in order to support the economies in which we operate. In some jurisdictions we are a major contributor, both in terms of taxes and through our purchasing power. As well as providing employment, we help to increase the general prosperity of the areas in which we operate – which benefits the whole community.

Our reputation is very important to us and to help protect this, we won’t knowingly do business with any organisation that doesn’t share our commitment to dealing with stakeholders fairly and ethically. Our approach to procurement is based on the principles of competitive tendering and dealing with suppliers in a fair and open manner.

Diversity and inclusion is a business imperative at RapidRatings. On a continuous basis we are committed to spending, directly and indirectly, in goods and services with diverse suppliers – minority, women, veteran, service-disabled veteran, LGBT, and disability owned businesses.

We are committed to promoting and including diverse businesses in our supply chain and believe that diverse businesses provide us with the greatest opportunity to offer innovative, high quality, and cost-effective business solutions for our clients.

The Environment

At RapidRatings we push and work towards being a paperless office where possible. This helps us reduce unncessary printing of documents and ties in with our data protection and confidentiality approach.

Additionally, we are committed to reducing waste and support local and office recycling initiatives where this is practical.

Anti-Bribery & Corruption

RapidRatings is committed to maintaining the highest levels of legal and ethical standards in the conduct of its business and to operating in an honest and transparent way, without bribery or corruption being used to obtain any unfair advantage. RapidRatings trains all its employees on its anti-bribery and corruption policy in a further attempt to educate our employees regarding the RapidRatings way of work.

RapidRatings maintains and enforces policies requiring adherence to lawful business practices, including (i) prohibitions against bribery of government officials, (ii) offers to provide, directly or indirectly, anything of value, including cash, bribes, gifts, entertainment or kickbacks, including offers of employment, or participation in a contest, game or promotion, to any government official in connection with transaction or business dealing. RapidRatings does not engage in any collusive conduct with any third party.

Commitment to Diversity

At RapidRatings’ we’re committed to diversity and inclusion. Our mission is to foster an environment where employees feel recognized for their contributions, appreciated for their individuality, and challenged to do their best. We’ve found that bringing together employees with different perspectives and experiences sparks innovation, promotes better decision making and yields the creative problem solving that’s critical to our long-term success. In short, the diversity of our workforce makes us a stronger company.

The Environment

Protection of the environment in which we live and operate is part of RapidRatings business practice. Care for the environment we believe is one of our key responsibilities and an important part of the way in which we do business.

At RapidRatings we push and work towards being a paperless office where possible. This helps us reduce unnecessary printing of documents and ties in with our data protection and confidentiality approach.

Additionally, we are committed to reducing waste and support local and office recycling initiatives where this is practical.

Social Good

At RapidRatings, we strive to leverage our company’s unique assets for social good. From philanthropy to employee volunteerism, to the use of our technology, we are always working to embody our mission of creating a world where transparency and fairness is at the forefront. RapidRatings empowers employees to volunteer in their local communities.

Anti-Bribery & Corruption

Combating Insider Trading

RapidRatings has adopted securities law compliance policies applicable to all employees and Board members. Pursuant to these policies, employees and Board members are prohibited from buying and selling securities while in possession of material, nonpublic information about the issuer of that security, whether the issuer is RapidRatings or another company.

Passing such information on to someone who may buy or sell securities, commonly known as “tipping”, is also prohibited. Our securities law compliance policies also provide that employees and senior management must pre-clear certain transactions to RapidRatings securities by reaching out to authorized representatives of the Legal Department of RapidRatings. In addition, all employees of RapidRatings are subject to regular quarterly blackout periods during which they may not purchase or sell securities.

We, in RapidRatings take the issue of insider trading seriously and as a result we have obtained outside counsel input both in the U.S. and within the EU to better structure our insider trading policy.

Data Protection & Confidentiality

As part of RapidRatings commitment to its internal and external stakeholders we take data protection and confidentiality seriously. RapidRatings has certified to the EU-US Privacy Shield and is currently working towards obtaining the ISO 27007 information security certification to further heighten and show our commitment to data protection and confidentiality. All of RapidRatings employees regardless of their status are required to complete our carefully drafted data protection and confidentiality training. As with all our training we require 100% compliance to this course.

Additionally, RapidRatings understands and values objective and reputable views from subject matter experts in the area of data protection and confidentiality. This is why on a yearly basis we obtain outside expert views on our data protection and confidentiality policies and procedures.

RapidRatings encourages everyone to review our Privacy Policy, which is located at rapidratings.com/privacy-policy.

RapidRatings respects the intellectual and other property rights of third parties, including all patents, trademarks, and copyrights.

Protecting Whistleblowers

RapidRatings is committed to maintaining the highest standards of honesty, transparency and accountability and this is why we operate “An Open-Door Policy” for all our employees. While not all countries have laws in place to legally protect employees who disclosure corporate wrongdoing at RapidRatings has taken a stance to protect any and all individuals when it comes to disclosing corporate wrongdoings.

Our employees will usually be the first to know when someone inside or connected with an organization is doing something illegal, dishonest or improper, but may feel apprehensive about voicing their concerns. RapidRatings does not believe that it is in anyone’s interests for employees with knowledge of wrongdoing to remain silent and as a result sets out a detailed whistleblowing policy and procedure by which employees can report their concerns and be sure they are both acted upon and protected from an adverse reaction to their disclosure. The whistleblowing policy is intended to act as a deterrent to fraud or other corruption or serious malpractice.

Working with our Community and Stakeholders

Our people drive our social agenda, which encourages positive interaction with the local communities in which we work. We support them by providing facilities and time for internal and external fundraising activities, as well as “top-up funding” for their charitable efforts and sporting, cultural and social events.

We also contribute directly to a number of community-based organizations and charities, providing them not only with necessary sponsorship but also with volunteers to assist in the preparation and organization of their fundraising events.

At RapidRatings we go further by empowering and actively encouraging employees to take their annual allocated leave for volunteering activities. This is why we have a implemented our Volunteer Time Off Policy. All employees can avail of three paid working volunteer days to give back to whether communities or stakeholders of either their chosen or a shortlisted community/stakeholder initiative by RapidRatings.

We have decided to go with this volunteer volunteer leave for a number of reasons including:

fill a need
saves expense
allows resources to be applied to purpose
manpower
expertise
improve operations

Policy Review

This Policy will be reviewed and updated annually as appropriate.