RBS 2011 Annual Report Download - page 6

4RBS Group 2011
We have three over-riding goals:
•to serve customers well;
•to restore RBS to a sustainable and conservative risk profile; and
•to rebuild sustainable value for all shareholders.
There are important inter-dependencies between these goals. We cannot serve customers well if the
Group is not safer and more resilient. We cannot be sustainable without rebuilding shareholder value.
And we cannot rebuild shareholder value if we do not serve customers well. So while each of these goals
is important on its own, we will succeed only if we consistently achieve them together.
Serving customers well
Serving our customers well is the
cornerstone of our strategy. We
have embedded it in our
operational objectives, our
Customer Charters and in our
‘How we do business’ framework,
which we describe on these
pages. Because serving
customers well matters to us,
we measure how we are doing.
We are encouraged that in most
of our core franchises we made
gains on a variety of measures in
2011. But we are not complacent.
Our customers’ needs change
over time and good service today
does not guarantee good service
tomorrow. We face strong
competitors in all of our markets.
So, we work hard to improve the
service we give our customers.
Restoring RBS
to a sustainable and
conservative risk profile
Restoring RBS to a sustainable
and conservative risk profile is
crucial. In 2011, we made our
capital and liquidity positions
stronger.
In addition:
•we continued to improve how
we manage risk;
•the Group Board agreed the
Group’s risk appetites;
•we catalogued and measured
the risks we face and
assessed how they might
relate to each other; and
•we enhanced our risk control
frameworks.
Rebuilding sustainable
value for all shareholders
It will take some time to rebuild
sustainable value for all
shareholders. Our Core
businesses provide a strong
foundation for the Group,
generating a 10.5% return on
equity in 2011. We are confident
that our core businesses will
generate strong value in their own
right and as a cohesive whole.
We outline how they are each
performing against their own
targets, and together to deliver
our Strategic Plan, on pages
13 to 15.
How we do business
We deliver products and services
to millions of customers around
the world. So it is important that
we are consistent in the way
we do business – from how we
manage our risks, to how we
treat our customers and our
employees. To achieve this, we
have made six statements about
how we aspire to do business.
We do not always match our
aspirations but these are the
standards we set ourselves.
These relate to: our customers,
our people, our reputation, the
security of our environment, the
risks we take, and our finances.
Essential reading
Our approach to business