Gdansk, Poland - Today, The Gdansk Institute for Market Economics released its first "Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by Banks, Financial Institutions and Listed Companies in Poland." The survey is part of a wider regional initiative organized by East-West Management Institute's Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program.

The "Survey of Reporting on CSR by Polish Banks, Financial Institutions and Listed Companies" was conducted during the time period August - October 2003. It investigates Polish-language information available in the 2002 annual reports and websites of 31 Polish banks, 32 financial institutions (16 investment fund companies and 16 pension fund companies) and all 201 companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Encompassing corporate governance, environmental policies and social policies, the Polish survey employs the same template used by the PFS Program in its Survey of Reporting on CSR by the Largest Listed Companies in Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia, published in September 2003. In addition, similar country studies of listed companies have been completed in the Czech Republic and Hungary, and will be published in early January 2004. As a result, the group of surveys should enable for the first time benchmarking of reporting on CSR in these countries against other countries in the European Union (EU) and elsewhere.

Survey findings include the following:

- 74% of Polish listed companies provide information on management board structure and 62% on supervisory board structure.
- 100% of the banks surveyed provide information on management board structure and 93% provide information on supervisory board structure.
- 80% of the investment fund companies and 100% of the pension fund companies surveyed provide information about their management board structure.
- In the environmental policy sphere, 20% of Polish listed companies state whether they comply with industry, national and/or international regulations regarding environmental standards.
- In the social policy sphere, 18% of listed companies disclose employee development/employee benefit policies and 16% disclose information
regarding community patronage/sponsorship programs.

Starting today, the survey is available online in English and Polish at:
http://www.ewmi.hu/capitalmarkets_research.php and http://www.ibngr.edu.pl.

About The Gdansk Institute for Market Economics (GIME)
The Gdansk Institute for Market Economics is a non-governmental independent scientific research institute that conducts studies on state policies and the economy. The GIME Institute was founded in 1989 by a group of professionals who actively participated in the transformation of Poland's political system and economy in the 1980s. The GIME is one of the most prestigious think-tanks in Poland. It deals with economic and development issues at the national and international levels combined with a regional perspective. Our approach to development and economics policies is marked by:
Integrity: among other considerations, we understand the importance of social and cultural conditions;
Independence: we do not represent any (sector, regional or other) group of interests ; and
A long-term horizon: we are not influenced by the current political situation and we do not have to think in terms of the next election.
Our research focuses mainly on: analyses and prognoses of various sectors of the economy; corporate governance; Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); consequences of Poland's accession to the European Union; financial markets and the banking sector; Lisbon Strategy; regional effects of globalisation and information society; social policy and the labour market; and venture capital. Analyses and recommendations are mainly addressed to the Polish government; governmental agencies, members of Parliament, local governments and economics entities, non-governmental organisations, the European Commission, other domestic/international institutions and organisations, and public
opinion.

About the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program
The Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program, established in December 1999, is a cooperative program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and East-West Management Institute (EWMI), a New York-based non-profit organization. Active in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, the PFS Program is mandated to fill remaining gaps in the institutional development of the financial sector through regional integration and cooperation, selective technical assistance programs and the practical application of lessons learned in neighboring countries. The substantive areas covered under the PFS Program are: accounting, auditing, banking, capital markets, insurance and pension reform. More information can be found by visiting http://www.ewmi.hu/activities_pfs.html.

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