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The Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, announced the 131 companies spanning 21 countries who have been named to the 2016 World’s Most Ethical Companies^® list marking the tenth anniversary of the designation.

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Since Ethisphere's launch in 2007, the world has undergone a dramatic expansion in political and regulatory complexity, and a perceived and real 'shrinking' across markets. Companies and their executives are taking the leadership role around standards of behavior, and issues like corporate citizenship, transparency, diversity, governance, and measurable values-based-leadership have become the foundation of the sustainable enterprise. Companies will be increasingly rewarded financially for their efforts to attract and retain the best employees, and to operate with integrity and clarity of purpose. Ethisphere will continue to focus on creating the standards that correlate business integrity with performance.

“In each of the last ten years, the Ethisphere Institute has measured companies who demonstrate leadership in areas like citizenship, integrity and transparency as the World’s Most Ethical Companies,” announced Ethisphere CEO, Timothy Erblich. “It is both thrilling and humbling to see the results of our joint efforts to advance the standards of corporate behavior, and the ways that this behavior influences and improves the human condition. Congratulations.”

"Transparency and sustainability are no longer mere buzzwords for corporations. As a Board member, my role is not only one of oversight, but one of stewardship, that is, ensuring that these corporations are both valuable and worth preserving," said Sherry Barrat, board member, NextEra Energy, Inc. , a four-time World's Most Ethical Company, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. , a six-time honoree, and Prudential Insurance Funds, an operating division of Prudential Financial, Inc. , a two-time honoree. "Companies that understand that corporate integrity is a key driver and provides a performance advantage are those that will continually lead their industries and be considered both trustworthy and successful."

“PepsiCo’s longstanding commitment to transparency, engagement and the highest ethical conduct has always propelled our business forward. These qualities are embodied by Performance with Purpose, our belief that profitable companies of the 21st century will be those that align the needs of their business with the needs of the world around them,” said PepsiCo Chairman and CEO, Indra Nooyi. “This honor reflects the hard work of men and women across PepsiCo whose integrity enables our success, and I want to thank Ethisphere for once again recognizing their achievements.”

“We are honored that holding ourselves and our partners to the highest standards of integrity has resulted in Intel being recognized as a World's Most Ethical Company for the sixth time,” said Intel CEO, Brian Krzanich.

“We are honored to be recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies,” said USAA CEO, Stuart Parker. “Everything we do at USAA is driven by our core values of Honesty, Integrity, Loyalty and Service. USAA employees come to work every day with a passion to do the right thing to facilitate the financial security of our members, their families and each other. This award reflects that commitment.”

“We are pleased to be named as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the seventh time in recognition of our long-standing initiatives,” said Ricoh Company, Ltd President and CEO, Zenji Miura. “All of our employees commit to act with integrity and honesty in all situations, in accordance with the principles of the RICOH Way. We will continue driving sustainability and striving to satisfy our stakeholders such as our customers and society, creating unique value beyond their expectations.”

“With accelerating momentum, all stakeholder groups – customers, employees, investors, legislators, etc. – are increasingly making decisions that are critical to businesses based on how they view those businesses from an ethical perspective,” said Voya Financial Chairman and CEO, Rodney O. Martin, Jr. “With 13 million Voya customers across the country, we know that each day, Americans are placing their trust in Voya to help them plan, invest and protect their savings. We are honored to earn that trust – to help Americans get ready to retire better – and we are proud to foster a corporate culture that has enabled Voya to be selected as a World's Most Ethical Company for the third consecutive year.”

“Oshkosh Corporation is honored to be recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies,” said Oshkosh Corporation President and CEO, Wilson R. Jones. “Our employees around the world are the ones who have made this possible; with ethical business practices and a commitment to our core values of citizenship, honesty, accountability, integrity and respect. At Oshkosh, doing things the right way isn’t just part of our culture, it’s the only way we do business.”

"Investors and financial markets are proving that companies that operate with transparency and integrity are better performing over the long term," Mr. Erblich added. “We fully expect the ‘integrity premium’ to grow with import as investors, employees, customers and even regulators value companies through the lens of enhanced standards of behavior.”

Honorees

The full list of the 2016 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at http://worldsmostethicalcompanies.ethisphere.com/honorees/ .

Methodology & Scoring

The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient ™ (EQ) framework developed over years of research and vetted and refined by the expert advice from Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Company Methodology Advisory Panel . The EQ offers a quantitative way to assess a company’s performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies, rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics.

Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35%), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20%), culture of ethics (20%), governance (15%) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10%) and provided to all companies who participate in the process.

About the Ethisphere Institute

The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies^® recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with the publication of Ethisphere magazine. More information about Ethisphere can be found at: http://ethisphere.com .

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Contact:

The Ethisphere Institute
Media
Clea Nabozny, 480-397-2658
Clea.Nabozny@ethisphere.com

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