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Corporate Compliance

At Stewart, corporate compliance is more than a regulatory requirement; it is a fundamental pillar of our culture that ensures we operate with the highest standards of integrity and ethics. By integrating rigorous compliance practices into our sustainability framework, we reinforce the trust our stakeholders place in us and safeguard the long-term resilience of our business. This unwavering commitment to doing things the right way is essential to our mission of building a transparent, accountable, and thriving future for the communities we serve.

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics 

Our success depends on maintaining a culture of ethical behavior that is at the core of the company’s relationships with employees, policyholders, customers, suppliers, competitors and shareholders.

The company’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (the “Code”) plays a critical part in Stewart’s leadership role in the real estate industry by preserving our reputation for honesty and strong ethical standards. Understanding its importance, we began the creation of a new interactive tool to enable easier and more effective interactions for our employees with the code. This version will be fully launched in 2026.

Stewart continually brings awareness of the Code, our core values, and methods of reporting ethical concerns to our employees through annual essential learning activities and the onboarding process by requiring all employees to read and acknowledge the Code.

Among other things, the Code

  • Establishes in clear terms Stewart’s core values
  • Applies to all employees, officers and directors
  • Clarifies conduct expectations on a wide range of issues, including social media
  • Provides a framework for the handling of conflicts of interest
  • Protects proprietary business interests, assets and information
  • Creates an atmosphere of compliance from the top with applicable laws, and governmental rules and regulations, including but not limited to: Antitrust, Securities Trading, Anti-Money Laundering, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption laws
  • Encourages full, accurate and timely disclosures
  • Prohibits retaliation
  • Provides guidelines to encourage whistleblowers
  • Prohibits contributions from the company’s funds to political campaigns

Compliance Committee

Stewart has a Compliance Committee established by charter and approved by the board of directors. This committee is comprised of compliance liaisons from across the enterprise and is chaired by Stewart’s Chief Compliance and Regulatory Officer. The committee meets quarterly to discuss emerging topics in compliance and ethics and to coordinate efforts and activities across the enterprise.

Compliance Hotline

We offer employees multiple channels to report ethical concerns and periodically remind them of these channels through various employee communications. We maintain a compliance hotline so employees and other stakeholders can anonymously report any suspected impropriety, including financial impropriety, without fear of reprisals or recrimination. Employees can use the hotline (telephone and web-based) to report violations of the Code, company policies and laws, and rules and regulations. An industry-leading vendor manages the hotline, which is available toll-free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Reporting to the hotline is confidential.

The company has a management committee that meets regularly to address all complaints submitted through the hotline and identify any enhanced learning, awareness and prevention measures. The audit committee periodically receives reports on our program. In addition to the hotline, employees can communicate ethical concerns to their manager, any member of management, Stewart Human Resources, or a compliance officer.

Supplier/Vendor Code of Conduct

Stewart is committed to conducting business according to the highest ethical, legal, environmental, human rights, labor and socially responsible standards. The company holds its vendors to the same standards. To this end, Stewart has set forth these expectations in a Supplier/Vendor Code of Conduct. While Stewart recognizes that there may be different legal and cultural environments applicable to its suppliers, it does establish minimum requirements to do business with Stewart. Stewart maintains a robust onboarding process for entering into new relationships and consistently monitors existing ones.

Privacy

Stewart is committed to protecting the customer and employee data that has been entrusted to us, which is why our policies and procedures aim to prioritize data protection throughout the data lifecycle. Stewart has implemented technical and organizational measures to protect our customers’ and employees’ personal information.

Stewart’s Privacy Program is based on evolving data security laws and regulations, industry standards and best practices which require that data processing is appropriate based on the business purposes and legal obligations which are applicable to us. The Stewart Privacy Program governs how we handle personal information from collection, use, disclosure, storage, through to disposal.

Our Privacy Program includes Stewart’s Notice of Privacy Practices which are provided to customers at the time of collection; the Stewart Privacy Policy and other policies and procedures that address how we handle, protect and securely dispose of personal information; a dedicated privacy request response team committed to ensuring that we address our customers’ and employees’ privacy questions and rights requests; and other policies and procedures which address business continuity in the event of a privacy incident.

Stewart’s privacy team is committed to evolving and proactively addressing data protection and privacy, building trust and confidence with our customers and employees, innovating responsibly, and protecting our brand. For more information about how Stewart processes personal information, please visit our Stewart Privacy Policy online.

Occupational Health and Safety

The health and safety of our employees and clients are top priorities for us. Our program helps ensure both. Highlights include:

  • Posting and communicating workers’ compensation guidelines and claims-reporting process
  • Establishment and communication of workplace safety guidelines and procedures
  • Providing training and equipment to support employee well-being in various areas, such as ergonomics

We continued to align and adapt our management response guidance, workplace guidelines and education to reflect the current environment, and CDC, OSHA, state and local guidelines.