EthicsPoint Honors 2009 Best Ethics and Compliance Portals

The 10 client portal pages selected as the EthicsPoint 2009 Best Ethics and Compliance Portals are:
-   AkzoNobel
-   AstraZeneca
-   Catholic Healthcare Partners
-   The Coca-Cola Company
-   Diocese of Cleveland
-   FMC Technologies Inc.
-   Integrys Energy Group
-   Staples
-   Toyota Financial Services
-   The University of California system

"These winning portals illustrate the outstanding job these organizations have done to foster a business culture of trust and transparency," said Tom O'Keefe, executive vice president, EthicsPoint. "By customizing their portals to reflect their organization's unique branding, these clients have created a seamless experience to market their ethics and compliance programs and create greater employee awareness."

Winning Perspectives on a Sustainable Compliance Environment
AstraZeneca: "At AstraZeneca, we believe that compliance programmes should do more than offer a reporting mechanism," said Steve Mohr, global compliance officer. "The AZethics portal is an important part of our communication strategy which supports our aim to embed a culture of ethics and integrity through our commitment to a clear set of principles defined in our Code of Conduct and supporting Global Policies. All employees worldwide are educated in these principles and are encouraged to take an active role in making our corporate culture of ethics and integrity a reality."

The Coca-Cola Company: "At The Coca-Cola Company, we understand that our reputation is our most valued asset. Through our Company values and initiatives like the EthicsLine, we are committed to being a leader in corporate responsibility and maintaining world-class standards of integrity and fair treatment of all Company associates and other stakeholders," said Sharon Zealey, chief ethics & compliance officer. "In the 200+ countries where we operate, we offer EthicsLine as an on-line resource available 24/7 with language translations, and as a toll-free hotline."

FMC Technologies Inc.: "FMC possesses a culture of integrity based on a spirit of ethics, trust and cooperation - principles that we expect our employees to live every day, and that every employee can always expect from FMC," said Jeff Carr, vice president, general counsel and secretary. "We live in an increasingly complex and interconnected world; we respect and are committed to complying with the laws, customs and cultures of the communities in which we operate. We are pleased that EthicsPoint has recognized our ethics portal as noteworthy."

The University of California system: "UC's core values are integrity, excellence, accountability and respect, which are essential to fulfilling our mission of instruction, research and public service," said Sheryl Vacca, senior vice president, ethics, compliance & audit services and chief compliance & audit officer. "Our partnership with EthicsPoint strengthens our ability to institutionalize these vales in our daily work, and in doing so helps us to fulfill the university's mission."

Front Line of Employee and Stakeholder Communications:
Customized portals form an important part of a company's overall GRC efforts. They serve as a resource for employees, partners, customers, shareholders, suppliers and other stakeholders seeking information about the organization's code of conduct.

With the economic downturn driving many organizations to look for ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their compliance programs, businesses are emphasizing cooperation and communication among stakeholders. By making ethics and compliance everyone's business, organizations can derive stronger business value from their GRC efforts.

To view the 2009 winning portals and learn more about best practices for integrating a portal into a broader corporate reporting program, visit ethicspoint.com/hotline/service/customer-portals.aspx.

About EthicsPoint:
EthicsPoint enables organizations to foster a business culture of integrity and compliance. We help our clients protect their culture and reputation by automating business processes, from the reporting and identification of issues and events of behavior that may be inconsistent with their code of conduct, to the subsequent investigation and resolution of these cases. Over 2,000 organizations use our telephone hotline, web-based reporting and case management services as a critical component of their overall governance, risk and compliance efforts.

For more information, visit ethicspoint.com.

Copyright 2009 EthicsPoint, Inc. EthicsPoint and the EthicsPoint logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of EthicsPoint, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.