OBJECTIVE

The Bank is committed to achieve the highest possible service and ethical standards in all its practices. To achieve these ends, employees and third parties (including interns, contractors, consultants and service providers) are encouraged to report any serious misconduct, malpractice, illegal acts and / or omissions within the bank through the normal reporting channels (i.e. immediate / next level manager).

The Whistleblowing Guidelines & Procedures (the Guidelines) are intended to provide a means to all employees and third parties who have discovered malpractice or impropriety and feel unable or uncomfortable to raise the concern through the normal reporting channels, to report the concern directly to the Designated Officer and protect the employee from retaliation or reprisals as a result of their whistleblowing.

The Guidelines offer protection to an employee or a third party who reports a concern in good faith, who provides the information, who causes information to be provided or who otherwise assists in an investigation and who respects the confidentiality of the matter.

SCOPE

The Guidelines applies to all employees (whether permanent or on contract) / third parties and directors and should be used if you have a concern (suspected or actual) about serious misconduct or malpractice within the Bank that would be in the Bank’s interest to have raised as it could negatively affect the Bank’s integrity and reputation, other employees and / or customers.

All employees / third parties have a responsibility to report concerns. The Guidelines deal with reporting one or more wrongdoing / concerns relating to the following areas:

• Improprieties in matters of financial reporting (e.g. falsification or destruction of business / financial records; misrepresentation / suppression of financial information; non-adherence to internal financial reporting policy / controls including management overrides; and auditor independence concerns).
• Suspected fraudulent activity (e.g. theft; defalcation; unlawful or improper payments).
• Conduct of activity which breaches any law or regulatory obligation.
• Breaches of the Bank’s policies, procedures, practices or other rules of conduct (e.g. corrupt practice of giving or receiving bribes or improper benefits; abuse of authority; 2 breach of client’s confidentiality or privacy; conflict of interest concerns; other violations of governing laws and regulations; and non-adherence to internal compliance policies).
• Deliberate concealment of information tending to show the malpractices or misconducts in any of the above.
• Retaliation or reprisal against an employee / third party who reports a concern (e.g. statements, conduct or actions involving discharging, demoting, suspending, harassing or discriminating against an individual reporting a concern in good faith in accordance with the Guidelines).

The scope of the Guidelines does not include:

• Complaints in relation to normal work-related issues for which specific procedures have been established;
• Grievances (i.e. disputes over your own employment position) dealt with under the Human Resources’ discipline and grievance procedures.

The above scope is not exhaustive and the Designated Officer may determine any misbehavior, misconduct or malpractice to be within the scope of the Guidelines.

CONFIDENTIALITY

A whistleblower is encouraged to report and provide new and / or additional details of the concern to the Designated Officer / alternative channel of reporting only.

The whistleblower and / or any other employee who provides information, who causes information to be provided or who otherwise assists in an investigation is not allowed to discuss the details of the reported concern or related investigation with anyone other than the Designated Officer, unless specifically requested to do so by the Designated Officer or required by law and / or regulation (i.e. in a regulatory investigation or court hearing). In such case, the whistleblower’s rights and protection under the Guidelines are not affected.

PROTECTION FROM RETALIATION OR REPRISAL

The Bank protects from retaliation any employee/ third party who raises issues or concerns in good faith and in accordance with the methods described in the Guidelines.

The Bank will not tolerate harassment, retaliation or reprisal against an employee / third party who raises issues or concerns in good faith. Any harassment, retaliation or reprisal 3 will be treated as a serious disciplinary offence to be dealt with under the Bank’s disciplinary procedures.

REPORTING & INVESTIGATION PROCESS

The Designated Officer is the point of contact for employees / third parties who encounter, experience or witness a serious misconduct or malpractice under the provisions of the Guidelines to report his concerns.

Designated Officers

The Chair and independent directors of the Board Audit Committee (AC) have been nominated and approved by the Board of Directors as the Designated Officers.

Reporting Process and Channels of Communication

The whistleblower is requested to:

• Provide information at hand and details of the reported concern, such as:
  1. Date of the event(s)
  2. Nature / description of the event(s)
  3. Name of person(s) involved in the event(s)
  4. Witnesses to the event(s), if available
  5. Evidence of the event(s) e.g. reference to relevant documents or policies, meetings and correspondence that have taken place, etc).
• Meet any reasonable request to clarify any facts and / or circumstances.
• Provide all relevant and additional information (a lack of information may result in the decision not to proceed with an investigation and / or to conclude that the reported concern has no factual basis)
• Be available to and cooperate with the Designated Officer for an investigation.
• Respect confidentiality.

The channels of communication include the following:

* Upon receipt of the report, the Chief Internal Auditor shall escalate the case to the AC Chair within 2 days.

CONSEQUENCES OF BREACHES

Any employee / third party who breaches the provisions of the Guidelines:

• May be subjected to disciplinary action, criminal prosecution and / or civil liability.

A whistleblower who has not acted in good faith by reporting an alleged concern under the Guidelines or who does not respect the confidentiality provisions of the Guidelines:

• May lose the rights and protections provided under the Guidelines; and
• May be subjected to disciplinary action, criminal prosecution and / or civil liability.

OTHER AVENUES FOR WHISTLEBLOWING

Other avenues for whistleblowing to regulators or law enforcement agencies include Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Royal Malaysia Police.