Ethical Management
Ethical Corporate Management
KTB values ethical management as the foundation for corporate management. In order to implement ethical management and anti corruption, KTB has designated the Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee as a dedicated unit responsible for ethical management to incorporate ethics and moral values into the business strategy of KTB. It also adopts appropriate prevention measures against corruption and malfeasance in accordance with the laws and regulations. Moreover, every year, the Administration Management Department performs an unethical conduct risk assessment on all operating sites and identifies major unethical conduct risks. The Department then reports the unethical conduct risk assessment results, "ethical management policy and the results of supervision" to the Board of Directors. According to the risk evaluation in 2022, no significant risk of dishonesty has been identified in the Company, nor has any director or employee involved in ethical conduct.
All KTB directors, senior managerial officers, and employees have signed the "Ethical Conduct Statement" and disclosed their "Ethical Corporate Management, Anti-Corruption, and Anti-Bribery Policy and Commitment" on the official website of King's Town Bank to exhibit KTB's zero-tolerance attitude and action against corruption and bribery. The Company also links employee ethics with their performance and remuneration, and has established an explicit reward and punishment system. For implementing ethical corporate management, KTB has formulated the "Ethical Corporate Management Best Practice Principles", "Procedures for Ethical Management and Guidelines for Conduct", "Code of Ethical Conduct", etc. The content summary for each principle is as follows:
Political Contributions
KTB has explicitly stipulated the handling procedures for political contributions and charitable donations or sponsorships in the "Procedures for Ethical Management and Guidelines for Conduct" that donations or public sponsorships shall comply with national laws and regulations for the ethical corporate management, Codes of Ethical Conduct and Political Donations Act. The Company's donations involving political/policy influence in the most recent three years are shown in the table below:
Whistleblowing System and Whistleblower Protection Measures
To establish an ethical and transparent corporate culture, and to promote robust business, KTB has formulated the "Regulations Governing the Implementation of the Whistleblower System", after review and approval from the Board of Directors. The Regulations stipulate that the "Compliance Department" is the designated unit for KTB's whistleblowing system. The head of the Compliance Department of the headquarters is responsible for the acceptance, allocation, reply, follow-up, improvement, records, and keeping of reports, etc. KTB has also established written, email and hotline to receive whistleblowing cases and has disclosed them on the Company's official website "Stakeholders Communication Channels" and the Intranet for internal colleagues and external personnel. Anonymous reporting is enabled to actively prevent unethical conduct, fraud and criminal behavior.
Whistleblower Protection Measures
Whistleblower Protection Measures
✔ KTB shall keep the process of the whistleblowing cases confidential. The personnel involved in the handling and investigation of a case shall declare in writing to keep the identity of the informant and the content of the report confidential, and related documents shall be kept in the confidential files for at least five years. Where the whistleblower is an internal personnel, KTB undertakes measures to protect the internal whistleblower from improper treatment or dismissal, discharge, demotion, reduction in salary, impairment of their rights under the law, contract, or custom, or other adverse action as a result of the whistleblowing.
Number of Cases Received in 2022 and Description of Handling
✔ The Company has received a total of 0 case through the whistleblowing channel. In case of receiving a case through the whistleblowing channel, we will find whether it has evidence for violation or not and make it reported. During the process of handling, we pay attention to confidentiality to safeguard the rights and interests of the whistleblowers.
