Changes in the 2012 Questionnaire

Updated Criteria for CSR Index
As part of its efforts to continue pushing Israeli business toward greater corporate environmental and social responsibility, Maala is upgrading the criteria by which is evaluates Israeli companies’ performance on CSR.

Starting next year, the entire process will be overhauled, beginning with a revision of the questionnaire distributed to participating companies. Major changes include:

• Greater emphasis on business ethics and preventing corruption

• Reorganization of the chapter on working conditions, including greater emphasis on diversity in the workplace

• Stricter and more advanced environmental criteria, focusing on areas such as climate change, water, waste & recycling

• More weight given to Board of Directors’ independence, expanded section on risk management

The new questionnaire was put together by a public committee, with topical subcommittees, and will for now on undergo a biannual process of revision and updating. The 2012 questionnaire was published for public comment, and was unveiled in its new format on 5 June 2011.

The process of updating the criteria was based on, among other things, a survey of similar rankings in other countries, such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, various forms of input reflecting changes in the public agenda and discourse and an updated assessment of recent progress, as well as room for improvement, in different areas of CSR.

Maala’s CSR Index is a vehicle for ethical investment in publicly-traded companies on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. It is based on the Maala Ranking, which includes privately-owned companies as well.