U.S. Bank Named as a 2015 World's Most Ethical Company by the Ethisphere Institute

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

U.S. Bank, announced today that it has been recognized by the Ethisphere Institute, the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as a 2015 World's Most Ethical Company^®. The World's Most Ethical Companies designation recognizes those organizations that have had a material impact on the way business is conducted by fostering a culture of ethics and transparency at every level of the company.

"We are thrilled to be honored as a World's Most Ethical Company^®, which is a distinct recognition for a large U.S.-based banking company," said Richard Davis, chairman, president and chief executive officer for U.S. Bank. "A strong financial performance and a strong commitment to ethical leadership and corporate behavior are the cornerstone of the U.S. Bank culture and purpose. We are proud to be bankers and to have the privilege to be trusted partners for our customers, communities and shareholders."

Being an honoree underscores U.S. Bank's commitment to leading ethical business standards and practices ensuring long-term value creation for key stakeholders, including customers, employees, suppliers, regulators and investors. U.S. Bank is the fifth largest commercial bank in the U.S. and the largest U.S.-based bank being honored by the Ethisphere Institute this year.

"Our commitment to high ethical standards guides everything we do," said Jennie Carlson, executive vice president, Human Resources. "This commitment defines who we are today and drives how we're managing, investing and innovating for the future. It drives the core values that shape our culture and brand. This is truly a privilege and honor for all 67,000 U.S. Bank employees around the globe."

"The World's Most Ethical Companies embrace the correlation between ethical business practice and improved company performance. These companies use ethics as a means to further define their industry leadership and understand that creating an ethical culture and earning the World's Most Ethical Companies recognition involves more than just an outward facing message or a handful of senior executives saying the right thing," said Ethisphere's Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Erblich. "Earning this recognition involves the collective action of a global workforce from the top down. We congratulate everyone at U.S. Bank for this extraordinary achievement."

The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute's Ethics Quotient™ (EQ) framework developed over years of research to provide a means to assess an organization'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. The EQ framework and methodology is determined, vetted and refined by the expert advice and insights gleaned from Ethisphere's network of thought leaders and from the World's Most Ethical Company Methodology Advisory Panel.

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%).

The full list of the 2015 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at http://ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/wme-honorees/.

Senior executives of honorees contribute high-level insights and best practices to the well-regarded World's Most Ethical Companies Executive Briefing (download Volume 2 here). Additional insights gleaned from the World's Most Ethical Companies will be released in a series of whitepapers and infographics over the coming months (download the 2014 Insights). Organizations interested in how they compare to the World's Most Ethical Companies are invited to learn more about benchmarking services.

About U.S. Bancorp
U.S. Bancorp USB, with $403 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2014, is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, the fifth largest commercial bank in the United States. The company operates 3,176 banking offices in 25 states and 5,022 ATMs and provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions. Visit U.S. Bancorp on the web at www.usbank.com.

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 and The World's Most Ethical Companies Executive Briefing. Ethisphere is also the leading provider of independent verification of corporate ethics and compliance programs. More information about Ethisphere can be found at: http://ethisphere.com.