Business ethics

In all our activities we comply with all relevant rules and regulations and with corporate policies and guidelines that ensure ethical business. Some examples:

• The Code of Conduct for KBC Group Employees contains our key business ethics guidelines. It's a uniform set of rules for all KBC employees governing their professional conduct towards their employer, clients and suppliers, colleagues, society, competitors and the media.The Code of Conduct states that we put our clients’ interests first, that we are fair and correct, that we show and take responsibility and that we place great importance on discretion. We also pay special attention to the Code of Conduct when training employees. 
• We have groupwide policies on integrity, fraud prevention and anti-corruption. We also have a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of corruption and continue to refine our systems and procedures for investigating, detecting and reporting any such behaviour. Our anti-corruption programme includes a fully implemented due diligence system for third parties, counterparties and suppliers –  all of whom must comply with the principles of the programme. Moreover, it includes details on how to deal with gifts, entertainment and sponsorship. Finally, we engagewith the Belgian chapter of Transparency International,  the leading global organisation in the fight against corruption.
• KBC fully respects human rights principles in all its activities: see KBC Group Policy on Human Rights.
• We have specific restrictions to limit trading in securities by staff with access to price-sensitive information.
• We have had a Policy for the Protection of Whistleblowers in place since 2006. If you want to report unethical behavior, click here. 
• KBC acts as a responsible taxpayer and has recently reviewed and updated its tax strategy.

Central and group-wide Fraud Competence Centre: In response to the increasing number of external fraud attempts in the area of cybercrime, identity theft and invoice fraud, we constantly raise awareness and implement fraud risk management tools, in close cooperation with our business entities.

All policies are reviewed on a regular basis and updated, where necessary. This is how we are meeting the needs and expectations of our changing environment and complying with all relevant requirements and regulations.

Senior management in KBC group entities bears primary responsibility for implementing these principles and organising and safeguarding the entity’s integrity and reputation. It is assisted by the Compliance Department of KBC Group, which closely monitors how KBC’s corporate policies and guidelines are implemented. The department also takes proactive actions to keep them in line with updated regulatory requirements.

More specifically, Group Compliance Department is responsible for:

• combating money laundering, including the prevention of tax fraud (FATCA, CRS, etc.) and terrorist financing;
• the implementation and compliance of our guidelines on consumer and investor protection, financial markets, data protection, corruption and fraud risk management;
• consumer protection, including protecting the interests of borrowers in consumer and mortgage loans, as well as non-discrimination of, information on and protection of investors in the banking and insurance sector;
• data protection, including banking secrecy and the duty of confidentiality;
• implementation of an ethics and integrity framework. Information, awareness and prevention campaigns are organised in these areas. The integrity and compliance principles are developed at group level and the corporate compliance department coordinates their roll-out throughout the group;
• ethics and fraud risk management.