Governance
Our Approach to Governance
In governance, ensuring a better home for all means responsibly managing the operations of the company and maintaining the standards and practices that make Stewart attractive to do business with and work for. Our board of directors and independent committees bring diverse perspectives with varied and relevant experiences to help us guide decisions and ensure we are transparent with our long-term operations and sustainability efforts.
https://www.stewart.com/en/about-stewart/sustainability/sustainability-q-n-a#elizabeth-giddens
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
Success depends on maintaining a culture of ethical behavior that is at the core of Stewart’s relationships with policyholders, customers, suppliers, competitors and employees. We require our employees to read and acknowledge the Code and company employee policies annually. Our family of companies has a robust policy against corruption of any kind. Most are set forth in the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. The Code also establishes Stewart’s foundational expectations for its employees and board of directors.
We encourage employees to speak up because it is the best way to foster trust in our culture. 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 24/7 hotline (telephone and web-based) to report violations of the Code, company policies and laws, and rules and regulations.
Enterprise Risk Management
Mitigating risks while identifying, and acting upon, opportunities that will support Stewart in achieving its strategic, financial, operational and institutional goals is key to Stewart’s success. Our Privacy Policy defines how we protect the non-public, personal information of our clients and partners. Stewart also recognizes the importance of protecting our clients’ and partners’ confidentiality and data integrity. We are committed to cybersecurity education and training across our entire organization, including our employees, partners and customers, and continuously evaluate and monitor third-party risk relating to the protection of sensitive data. Our program focuses on a broad area of security domains, including, but not limited to:
- Risk management
- Data protection
- Security event monitoring
- Identity and access management
- Thread and vulnerability management
- Disaster recovery
- Business resiliency
- Continuity
Business Continuity
As part of our emergency response management, Stewart has an enterprise-wide business continuity program (BCP) and disaster recovery (DR) plan to ensure continued operations of critical services in the event of a disruption to regular operations. Our board of directors review the BCP.
Anti-Corruption
Our policies and guidelines provide information, support and resources to ensure that we act ethically and in compliance with the laws and regulations that affect our business. Adherence is vital for Stewart to continue as a leader in our industry and to preserve the company’s reputation for integrity and strong ethical standards. Employees have access to training materials on all related topics. For example, each year, affected employees complete training and certification for FCPA compliance purposes.
Occupational Health and Safety
To ensure our employees and clients’ health and safety, Stewart continues to align and adapt our management response guidance, workplace guidelines and education to reflect the current environment, and CDC, OSHA, state and local guidelines, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and during our Return to Workplace efforts in 2022. Highlights of our Occupational Health and Safety program 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
Political Activity
Stewart does not have a political action committee, nor do we use any of our funds to contribute to any political campaign. Employees may participate in any lawful political activities of their choice on an individual basis with their own money or resources and on their own time. Employees may not use their work time in any political campaign, offer the use of Stewart facilities, equipment or personnel, contribute on behalf of Stewart or direct any payment or expenditure of company funds for any political campaign contributions or purposes, or in conjunction with any election or primary, within the United States or internationally, without advance approval from Stewart’s chief compliance officer.
