Royal Bank Of Canada - 40-F annual report

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 40-F

[Check one]

OR

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

200 Bay Street

Royal Bank Plaza

Toronto, Ontario

Canada M5J 2J5

Attention: Karen E. McCarthy

Vice-President, Associate General Counsel & Secretary

(416) 974-5151

(Address and telephone number of Registrant’s principal executive offices)

Royal Bank of Canada

3 World Financial Center

200 Vesey Street

New York, New York 10281-8098

Attention: Daniel L. Torbenson

Chief Counsel, U.S. Regulatory and Corporate Services

(212) 437-9264

(Name, address (including zip code) and telephone number (including area code)

of agent for service in the United States)

copies of all correspondence should be sent to:

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act.

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act.

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act.

For annual reports, indicate by check mark the information filed with this Form:

x  Annual information form        x  Audited annual financial statements

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report.

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes  x                                                      No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit and post such files).

Yes  ¨                                                     No  ¨

Not applicable

2

CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Information about disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting can be found under “Controls and procedures” on page 99 of our Management’s Discussion and Analysis set forth in Exhibit 2, and in “Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting” which can be found on page 110 of our Financial Review set forth in Exhibit 2, which sections are incorporated by reference.

AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERTS

The Registrant’s board of directors has determined that it has six audit committee financial experts serving on its audit committee. David F. Denison, Timothy J. Hearn, Alice D. Laberge, J. Pedro Reinhard, Thomas A. Renyi and Victor L. Young have been determined to be such audit committee financial experts and are independent, as that term is defined by the New York Stock Exchange’s listing standards applicable to the Registrant. The SEC has indicated that the designation of David F. Denison, Timothy J. Hearn, Alice D. Laberge, J. Pedro Reinhard, Thomas A. Renyi and Victor L. Young as audit committee financial experts does not make any of them an “expert” for any purpose, impose any duties, obligations or liability on David F. Denison, Timothy J. Hearn, Alice D. Laberge, J. Pedro Reinhard, Thomas A. Renyi and Victor L. Young that are greater than those imposed on members of the audit committee and board of directors who do not carry this designation or affect the duties, obligations or liability of any other member of the audit committee.

CODE OF ETHICS

The Registrant has adopted a code of ethics (the “Code of Conduct”) that applies to all employees, contract workers and members of the board of directors, including its principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer. The full text of the Code of Conduct is set forth in Exhibit 4 and is also available on our website at rbc.com. In 2014, the Registrant adopted a revised Code of Conduct, which is more explicitly aligned to the Registrant’s core values, in particular the value of integrity.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

Information about principal accountant fees and services and a brief description of our pre-approval policies and procedures can be found under “Audit Committee” beginning on page 21 of our Annual Information Form set forth in Exhibit 1, which section is incorporated by reference. A copy of our pre-approval policies and procedures can be found in Appendix D of our Annual Information Form, which section is incorporated by reference.

OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

Information about off-balance sheet arrangements can be found under “Off-balance sheet arrangements” beginning on page 43 of our Management’s Discussion and Analysis set forth in Exhibit 2, which section is incorporated by reference.

TABULAR DISCLOSURE OF CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS

Tabular disclosure of contractual obligations can be found under “Risk management – Liquidity and funding risk” beginning on page 68 of our Management’s Discussion and Analysis set forth in Exhibit 2, which section is incorporated by reference.

3

IDENTIFICATION OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE

The Registrant has a separately-designated standing audit committee. Information about identification of the audit committee can be found under “Audit Committee” beginning on page 21 of our Annual Information Form set forth in Exhibit 1, which section is incorporated by reference.

UNDERTAKING

The Registrant undertakes to make available, in person or by telephone, representatives to respond to inquiries made by the Commission staff, and to furnish promptly, when requested to do so by the Commission staff, information relating to: the securities in relation to which the obligation to file an annual report on Form 40-F arises; or transactions in said securities.

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES FROM NYSE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE RULES

A summary of significant ways corporate governance practices followed by Royal Bank of Canada differ from corporate governance practices required to be followed by U.S. Domestic Companies under the New York Stock Exchange’s listing standards (disclosure required by section 303A.11 of the NYSE Listed Company Manual) is available on the Registrant’s corporate governance website at rbc.com/governance.

DISCLOSURE PURSUANT TO SECTION 13(r) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

In accordance with section 13(r) of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, we are required to disclose certain Iran-related activities. We maintain a robust economic sanctions compliance program which monitors compliance with economic sanctions requirements in the jurisdictions in which we operate and we believe we have been in compliance with relevant economic sanctions legislation throughout fiscal 2014.

We currently maintain certain non-U.S. dollar denominated accounts for the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Canada (the “Iranian Embassy”). The funds in these accounts are used solely for the maintenance of the property of the Iranian Embassy as permitted by Canadian law.

In fiscal 2014, these accounts generated less than $7,000 in gross revenue and less than $3,000 in net income.

Certain of these accounts are frozen by Ontario court order in connection with civil litigation. Subject to any obligations under the court order, we are considering options for discontinuing the accounts.

4

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Exchange Act, the Registrant certifies that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form 40-F and has duly caused this annual report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereto duly authorized.

5

EXHIBITS

INDEX TO EXHIBITS