The Hartford Named One Of The World's Most Ethical Companies

 

Thursday, Apr 16,2009, 1:59:48 PM   Click:

HARTFORD, Conn. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG) announced today that it has been named one of the world € ™ s most ethical companies Ethisphere Institute for the second consecutive year.

â € œThe Hartford is honored to be recognized as one of the world € ™ s Most Ethical Companies for the second consecutive year, â €? said Alan Kreczko, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of The Hartford. â € œFor nearly 200 years, The Hartford has demonstrated a strong commitment to ethics and integrity. At the heart of our business is the promise we make to our employees, customers, investors, business partners, and officials promise to do the right thing in all situation.â €?

Thanks to a rigorous multi-step evaluation process, Ethisphere € ™ s researchers and analysts reviewed over 10,000 companies in order to determine the finalists.

â € œThe Hartford has proved to be a global leader in compliance with high ethical standards, making it a real standout in the industry, especially as the actions unethical business and decisions headlines every day, â €? said Alex Brigham, executive director of Ethisphere Institute. â € œThe competition for this year s world € ™ € ™ s Most Ethical Companies was very strong and we welcome The Hartford to the increase of the page. The Hartford recognizes that ethics is not only the right thing to do, it is also good business practice and leads to more successful and profitable operations.â €?


In recent years, The Hartford has engaged in a companywide, systematic effort to build a stronger, more cohesive ethics and compliance program's 31,000-employee organization. The expansion of the program focuses on the evolution of ethics and standards in the highly regulated financial services industry and focuses on policies and practices to detect and prevent ethics and compliance issues Related. The overall risk-based program improves companya € ™ s ability to understand, assess and address the legal and regulatory risks of each sector and the company as a whole.

The grading method WME includes the review of codes of ethics, litigation and regulatory offenses history, assessment of investment in innovation and sustainable business practices, research activities aimed at improving citizenship of undertaking to consider the nominations of senior executives, industry peers, suppliers and customers, and working with action groups of consumers for feedback. 2009 the world € ™ s Most Ethical Companies methodology committee, composed of prominent lawyers, officials, teachers and leaders of organizations, were consulted early in the process of WME 2009 and had the opportunity consider and comment on the methodology used to assess this year € ™ s candidates. Ethisphere researchers analyzed more information provided by companies through questionnaires.

To view the complete list of 2009 world € ™ s Most Ethical Companies, please visit www.ethisphere.org/wme2009.

About Ethisphere Institute

Research-based Ethisphere Institute is a leading international think-tank dedicated to the creation, promotion and sharing of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, the fight against corruption and sustainability. The Institute € ™ s associate members of the group, the Ethisphere Council, is a forum of business ethics which includes more than 200 large companies, universities and institutions. The Ethisphere Council is dedicated to the development and promotion of individuals on its membership council through increased efficiency, innovation, tools, mentoring, counseling and career opportunities unique. Ethisphere Magazine, which publishes the world recognized world € ™ s Most Ethical Companies Ranking ™, is the quarterly publication of the Institute. More information about the Ethisphere Institute, including the draft classification and the membership can be found at http://www.ethisphere.org.

About The Hartford

The Hartford is one of the largest financial services companies and a leading provider of investment products, life insurance and employee benefits, automobile and homeowners products and business insurance damage. International operations are located in Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil and Ireland. The Hartford is the Internet address www.thehartford.com.


HIG-C

Certain statements in this press release May be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution investors that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results to differ materially May Investors should consider the important risks and uncertainties in May, the actual results to differ. These important risks and uncertainties include those discussed in our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, our 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update this release, which speaks of the issue date.

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The Hartford

Heather Lodin, 860-547-3301

Heather.Lodini @ TheHartford.com

or

Ethisphere Institute

Emily Parker, 212-446-1889

eparker@sloanepr.com

Source: The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.