『This Code of Conduct for Employees』(hereinafter referred to as “Code of Conduct”) is based on the Shinhan Financial Group’s Code of Ethics that clarifies the Group’s ethical management philosophy and aims to provide employees with the standards of ethical decision-making or actions in the specific situations related to their daily lives or duties.
This Code of Conduct shall be applicable to all employees (including contract workers) of Shinhan Financial Group (hereinafter referred to as “the Company”) and in principle shall be also applicable to the other related parties including dispatched workers. In addition, the Company shall strongly encourage its partner companies to operate this Code of Conduct or its equivalent code of ethics.
If there are no clear standards for ethically problematic situations, the employees may ask the following questions by themselves and consider them as the standards for their decision-making and actions.
Compliance with laws and regulations shall be the most basic attitudes and postures in all the business areas and activities of the Company. In any cases, the employees should not violate the laws and regulations. The employees shall first consider whether their decisions or actions are against the relevant laws and bylaws prior to the ethical judgment.
Each employee’s decisions and actions that come out under ethically problematic situations shall create the Company’s reputation. The ethical reputations obtained by desirable decision-making and actions according to ethical values shall serve as the Company’s core assets. The employees shall have prides and self-esteem as a member of the Company and comply with the Code of Ethics in order to maintain and enhance the Company’s reputation. In addition, even in the situations unrelated to duties, the employees shall carefully consider the impact that their decisions or actions may have on society and the environment.
Integrity and honesty shall be the core of ethical organizational culture that the employees are to hold. The ethical organizational culture shall function as the essential assets for the Company’s sustainable growth over the trust of customers. The employees shall comply with the following duties to make ethical organizational cultures which can be trusted by customers.
The employees shall clearly recognize their own rights and duties, they shall not provide goods and services to customers without qualifications or authorities, and they shall communicate honestly in performing their duties.
The employees shall abstain from undermining sound market orders in making transactions with false names or borrowed names or expediently proceeding for excessive performance. The employees shall prepare and manage the materials to be submitted to the regulatory agencies and external auditors or to be announced or disclosed externally through stock exchange markets and the Internet in a timely, correct, transparent, and fair manner in accordance with relevant laws and bylaws.
The employees shall keep in mind that bribery or corruption goes against their duties for integrity and honesty and undermines the fairness of the business, they shall not give to or receive from customers or interested parties any gift or entertainment, and they shall not request or receive promises for themselves or third parties by taking advantage of their internal positions or titles.
The employees shall not receive gifts or treats from their customers or interested parties. In particular, if the given situations which third parties can consider such gifts or treats may have affected the transactional judgments and decisions of the employees, the employees shall not accept any gifts and treats. However, an exception shall be made for the following cases where it is unlikely to cause conflicts of interest and can be accepted by the social norms.
Providing gifts or treats to customers or interested parties shall be prohibited in cases where a third party can consider it as bribes or requests for special consideration related to duties.
However, an exception shall be made in cases where it can be accepted by the social norms, but it shall not violate the other party’s bylaws or ethical rules in this case. In addition, providing gifts or treats to the employees one another shall be prohibited in principle, but an exception shall be made in case of expenditures for congratulations and condolences of mutual assistance if it does not go beyond the excessive level for the purpose of simple friendship.
Conflicts of interest arise where employee’s personal interests may be considered more than the Company’s interest while they are doing their jobs. All the employees shall not place their own interests over the Company’s interests in these cases.
The employees shall not receive gifts or treats from their customers or interested parties. In particular, the employees shall not receive any gifts or treats under the circumstances where a third party can believe that such gifts or treats may have affected the transactional judgments and decisions made by the employees. However, exceptions shall be made for the following cases where it is unlikely to cause conflicts of interest and can be accepted by the social norms.
The employees shall not use for their own benefits or cause a third party to use the Company’s business opportunities that they have acquired by using their positions or internal information while performing their duties.
The Company’s assets shall be used for its businesses and shall not be used for private benefits of the employees.
The Company’s significant information requiring external confidentiality (for example, intrinsic information related to the Company’s business and information of the Company’s research and development) shall be strictly protected and managed under the relevant laws, bylaws, and agreement conditions, and it shall not be used for private purposes or disclosed to a third party.
The employees shall have required basic manners towards one another in the workplace lives, they listen to the other party’s opinions, and they shall not use insulting or violent words or actions to the other party.
The employees shall sincerely perform their duties with commitments and shall not unfairly pass their own duties to other employees.
The employees shall not engage in sexual harassment in the workplaces or aid and abet such sexual harassment, and shall not take disadvantageous actions against those who have raised such issues.
The employees shall not engage in unfair discriminatory activities on the ground of blood ties, school ties, geographical ties, age, gender, religion, marriage status, disability and political tendency.
The employees shall not engage in cash loan, guarantees or security regardless of all the payment such as interest.
The employees shall make efforts to improve job performance and to develop themselves in order to enhance their competitiveness in response to changes and challenges, and they shall also pursue the quality of balanced lives by allocating adequate time and resources with respect to their homes, health, leisure and hobbies.
The employees shall consider the community as the foundation which makes the Company’s sustainable growth possible, and shall actively participate in contributory activities to heighten the values of the community and its members in order to fulfill their duties as members of the Company and the community.
The employees shall recognize that the global environment is a value asset to be shared with the future generations and to enable basic survival and well-being of humanity. In addition, the employees shall minimize environmental risks, comply with the relevant laws and regulations, and actively participate in domestic and overseas environmental protection activities in all the fields of activities.
When the employees have difficulty in making decisions in ethically problematic situations by themselves or have questions about the application and interpretation of 『the Code of Conduct』, they may ask questions to the following authorized people. When the employees have reasonable grounds to suspect a violation of 『the Code of Conduct』 or have come to know a violation, they shall notify an authorized person without delay:
If the employees have violated 『the Code of Conduct』, they may be subject to investigation under the relevant bylaws, and may be subject to disadvantageous actions as a result of the violation.