Anti-Bribery And Corruption Policy

1. Introduction

Hong Leong Bank Group (“HLBG” or the “Bank”) has established an ABC Policy which sets out a strong ‘tone from the top’ stance against all corrupt practices and the responsibilities of the Associated Person (see Section 3 below) in regards to observing and upholding HLBG’s zero-tolerance position on corruption and bribery.

The ABC Policy makes references to the Bank’s Code of Conduct and Ethics, Gifts and Entertainment Policy, Board Policy on Donation and Whistleblowing. The requirements of these policies are incorporated in the document hereunder.

2. Scope

This ABC Policy is applicable at HLBG entity level and our Malaysian subsidiaries. HLBG’s overseas subsidiaries have their own Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy which is aligned and consistent with this HLBG’s ABC Policy.

The ABC Policy applies to all directors, employees (whether temporary, fixed-term, or permanent), trainees, seconded staff, casual workers, agency staff, volunteers, interns, agents of HLBG (including the HLBG’s overseas subsidiaries and branches).  

The Bank also expects its partners, contractors, sub-contractors, vendors, suppliers, service providers, consultants, representatives and others performing work or services for or on behalf of the Bank, or any other person associated with HLBG, to comply with the ABC Policy when performing such work or services.

3. Definitions

“Associated Person” means all directors, employees (whether temporary, fixed-term, or permanent), trainees, seconded staff, casual workers, agency staff, volunteers, interns, and agents of HLBG, and partners, contractors, sub-contractors, vendors, suppliers, service providers, consultants, representatives and all others performing work or services for and/or on behalf of HLBG.

“Bribery” refers to the act of corruptly authorising, giving, agreeing to give, promising, offering, soliciting, receiving, or agreeing to receive any gratification.

“Company” means each company in HLBG.

“Corruption” means an act of giving or receiving of any gratification or reward in the form of cash or in kind of high value for performing task in relation to his/her job description.

“Gratification” means:

(a) money, donation, gift, loan, fee, reward, valuable security, property or interest in property being property of any description whether movable or immovable, financial benefit, or any other similar advantage;

(b) any office, dignity, employment, contract of employment or services, and agreement to give employment or render services in any capacity;

(c) any payment, release, discharge or liquidation of any loan, obligation or other liability, whether in whole or in part;

(d) any valuable consideration of any kind, any discount, commission, rebate, bonus, deduction or percentage;

(e) any forbearance to demand any money or money’s worth or valuable thing;

(f) any other service or favour of any description, including protection from any penalty or disability incurred or apprehended or from any action or proceedings of a disciplinary, civil or criminal nature, whether or not already instituted, and including the exercise or the forbearance from the exercise of any right or any official power or duty; and

(g) any offer, undertaking or promise, whether conditional or unconditional, of any gratification within the meaning of any of the preceding paragraphs (a) to (f).

“HLBG” means Hong Leong Bank Berhad and all its subsidiaries and branches.

4. Policy Statement

HLBG has a zero-tolerance position for bribery and corrupt activities.

HLBG is committed to acting professionally, fairly and with integrity in all its business dealings and relationships, and is committed to implementing and enforcing systems that ensure corruption and bribery is prevented.

In particular, the Board of Directors and Senior Management of HLBG do not condone or consent to any Associated Person:

(a) corruptly soliciting, receiving or agreeing to receive any gratification whether for him/herself or for any other person; or

(b) corruptly giving, agreeing to give, promising or offering to any person any gratification whether for the benefit of him/herself or of another person, including with intent to obtain or retain business or any advantage in the conduct of business for the Bank.

The Bank will uphold all laws and regulatory requirements relating to anti-bribery and corruption in all the jurisdictions in which it operates.

The Bank treats any violation of the ABC Policy seriously and will undertake necessary actions including but not limited to, review of employment or appointment, disciplinary actions, dismissal, stop third party contractors/service providers from further business dealing etc., as well as report to the relevant authorities any wrongdoings, consistent with the requirements of the relevant laws and regulations.

5. Gifts and Entertainment

The receipt and giving of gifts and entertainment shall be governed by the Bank’s Code of Conduct & Ethics and Gifts & Entertainment Policy, where specific approval(s) is/are required even before incurring specific types or amounts of spend when it comes to giving of gifts and entertainment, as well as receiving of gifts and entertainment.

All employees shall exercise good judgment and ensure that the acceptance of the gift or entertainment will not result in a conflict of interest.

All employees are strictly prohibited from accepting or offering the following types of gifts and entertainment:

(a) any form of gifts and/or entertainment which is, or which appears to be, inappropriate, frequent or excessive, taking into account all relevant facts and circumstances;

(b) any amount of cash or cash equivalent (gift cards, vouchers etc);

(c) any form of gifts and/or entertainment in exchange for an act by the Bank or an act for the benefit of the Bank; and

(d) any other forms of gifts and/or entertainment for purposes which are prohibited under the laws of Malaysia, eg. bribery and corruption.

Without prejudice to the above, all employees must promptly declare any gift or entertainment above RM100 which they give or receive.

Gifts or entertainment received that are not approved by the relevant authority within the HLBG, must be returned or refunded back to the person who provided the said gift or entertainment.

6. Donation and Sponsorship

All donations and sponsorships undertaken by the Bank which are charitable in nature (“Donations”) shall be governed by the Bank’s Board Policy on Donation and Board Policy on Expenditures Approval Request which provides, inter alia:

(a) No political donations are permitted.

(b) Due diligence must be conducted on recipients of donations to ascertain that they are of reputable standing.

(c) All donation requests must be reviewed by the Marketing and Communication Division and approved by the right authority per the Board Policy on Donation.  

7. Facilitation Payments

The Bank shall not make facilitation payments.

8. Responsibilities and Commitments

(i) Bank’s Board of Directors and its respective Committees

• Provide oversight and establish “tone-from-the-top” for maintaining highest level of corporate integrity and ethics, compliance with applicable laws and regulatory requirements on anti-bribery and corruption;
• Manage key corruption/bribery risks and whistleblowing cases of the Bank; and
• Receive and review reports on the implementation and ongoing effectiveness of the ABC Policy.

(ii) Bank’s Senior Management

• Promote a culture of integrity within the Bank;
• Ensure high level of integrity and ethics and full compliance with all applicable laws and regulatory requirements on anti-bribery and corruption;
• Effectively manage corruption/bribery risks of the Bank;
• Ensure that adequate and clear policies, procedures and control systems are in place to minimise and mitigate opportunities for corruption and bribery in the Bank and to respond to suspected or confirmed corruption and bribery incidences in the Bank;
• Encourage the use of whistleblowing and other appropriate channels in relation to any suspected or real corruption incidences;
• Develop a communication plan and training program based on the Bank’s policies and commitments towards anti-bribery corruption for relevant internal and external parties;
• Act upon and report to the Board the results of any audit, reviews of risk assessment, control measures and performance in relation to the anti-bribery and corruption compliance program.

(iii) Bank’s Compliance Department

The appointed Ethics and Integrity Officer (EIO) in the Bank’s Compliance Department shall attend to all anti-bribery and corruption matters including the provision of advice and guidance to personnel and business associates in relation to the anti-bribery and corruption compliance program, as well as the coordination and monitoring of the implementation of the ABC Policy, taking into consideration the Bank’s risk assessment in relation to corruption/bribery.

EIO in the Bank’s Compliance Department can be reached at EIO@hlbb.hongleong.com.my.

(iv) Associated Person

• Observe and uphold HLBG’s zero-tolerance position on corruption and bribery;
• Observe the ABC Policy;
• Raise concerns about improper conduct or wrongful act at the earliest opportunity through various communication channels including as set out in the Bank’s Whistleblowing Policy where that is the preferred channel to raise issues.

9. Risk Assessment

The Bank shall undertake a corruption/bribery risk assessment of the overall Bank’s operations at least once in two (2) years and as and when necessary (including when there is a change in law, changes in the Bank’s business(es) or there are circumstances whereby a risk assessment is warranted) to identify, analyse, assess and prioritise actions needed to mitigate internal and external corruption/bribery risks identified.

Senior Management shall review the Bank’s risk assessment report and consider improvements on the Bank’s policies and procedures in combating corruption/bribery. The Bank’s risk assessment report will be presented to the Bank’s Board for review.

10. Due Diligence

To ensure that Associated Person share the HLBG’s zero tolerance stance against bribery and corruption, the Bank shall undertake due diligence to assess the integrity of the Associated Person, which shall include background checks and/or document verification and/or conducting interviews, prior to entering into any formalised relationship with them and periodically thereafter.

11. Conflict of Interest

The Bank seeks to ensure that a conflict of interest does not affect the interests of the Bank, its shareholders, clients and other stakeholders through identification, prevention and management of the conflict of interest.

All Associated Person shall declare any personal interest he/she or persons connected to the Associated Person may have in any Bank’s decision or matter he/she is involved in.

12. Reporting Channel and Whistleblowing Policy

Internal and external parties are encouraged to raise concerns in relation to real or suspected corruption/bribery incidents or inadequacies of the HLBG’s anti-bribery and corruption compliance program at the earliest opportunity.

Please refer to the Bank’s Whistleblowing Policy for details on how such concerns may be raised to the Board and/or raised anonymously. 

The Bank’s Whistleblowing Policy protects the identity of the whistleblower, as well as protects the whistleblower from retaliation and adverse employment action, provided the disclosure was made in good faith.

Where relevant, the Bank shall report details of the corruption and bribery incidents to the relevant authorities.

13. Other Control Measures

(a) Financial Controls – all capital and operating expenditure shall be governed by the Bank’s pre-approval limit in accordance with capital and operating expenditure approval request (CER/EAR) policies and procedures whilst all payments and staff claims shall be governed by payment authority limits in accordance with payments and staff claims policy.

(b) Procurement – all procurement activities shall be governed by the Bank’s Board Policy on Procurement and Board Policy on Tender; and

(c) Record Keeping – the Bank has established policies and procedures with regard to record keeping for managing documentation related to the Guidelines on Adequate Procedures; these shall be strictly followed.

14. Review, Monitoring and Enforcement

(i) Review

Internal audit shall review the Bank’s anti-bribery and corruption compliance program and measures to assess its compliance, performance, efficiency and effectiveness. The audit report shall be presented by Internal Audit to the Bank’s Board Audit Committee for review and report to the Board subsequently for full Board deliberation/review.

Compliance Department shall undertake periodic reviews on the Bank’s implementation of and adherence to the ABC Policy. The reports shall be presented by Compliance Department to the Banks’s Board Risk Management Committee for review and report to the Board.

(ii) Monitor

All Heads of Departments shall monitor the performance of their personnel in relation to this Policy and report any non-compliance. The non-compliance report shall be presented by Compliance Department to the Bank’s Board Risk Management Committee / Board for review.

(iii) Enforcement

The Bank shall take appropriate disciplinary action as appropriate against Associated Person found to be non-compliant with the ABC Policy.

When a weakness or gap is detected during a breach, a process review exercise, or where there is new development in the industry, laws or regulations, improvements on the Bank’s policies and procedures shall be considered and/or rectified promptly.

15. Training and Communication

The Bank has appropriate training programs and communication plans on the Bank’s policies and commitments on anti-bribery and corruption for all relevant parties.