Human Capital

Ethics and Human Rights

Within the scope of ethical rights, which is one of the principles of the Human Rights Policy, the Bank declares its ethical rights through policies that are inclusive of all employees and that also address the products and services offered.
“Conflict of Interest Policy,” “Regulation on Combating Laundering Proceeds of Crime and Financing of Terrorism,” and “Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy” are examples of these practices. The Ethics Commission, established in 2021 for the purpose of ethics management, consists of the General Manager, the Executive Vice President in charge of Finance and Strategy, the Chair of the Board of Internal Auditors, the Head of the Human Resources Department, and the Internal Control and Compliance Unit Manager.

The formation of the Ethics Committee by the Senior Management and experts in their fields provides a series of advantages by reinforcing TKYB’s ethical way of doing business. Variables such as respect for human rights, compliance with ethical values, risk mitigation from unethical risks, transparency, and competitive advantage strengthen TKYB’s sustainability and social reputation.

Purpose of the Ethics Committee:

Establishing and developing an ethical culture with the aim of creating an ethical framework that will ensure that the Bank’s values, corporate goals, and personnel comply with ethical standards.

Establishing a guideline for staff on how to act when faced with ethical dilemmas in relation to issues they face regarding the principles of ethical behavior.

Regularly checking the compliance of the Bank’s policies and procedures with ethical standards and updating them when necessary.

The Bank’s annual training plan includes the topic of “Principles of Ethical Behavior” in Public Administration” to provide regular ethics training and raise ethical awareness.

Coordinating ethical awareness-raising activities and organizing awareness campaigns and events to encourage compliance with ethical standards.

Taking the necessary actions for the applications directed by the General Manager as a result of his/her evaluation and those made through the Ethics Line.

Principles of ethical behavior include honesty, integrity, transparency, dignity and trust, compliance with the law, confidentiality of bank information, use of the Bank’s assets and resources, conflict of interest, human rights and equality, bribery, and corruption, receiving and entertaining gifts, environment, health, and safety, etc. The Ethics Committee, which works to take the necessary steps to report and resolve practices and misconduct by the Bank’s employees that violate the aforementioned “Code of Ethical Conduct,” carries out the process of reporting practices and misconduct that violate the “Code of Ethical Conduct.”

Throughout the process, a bank employee or any relevant external stakeholder can use the Ethics Hotline to report an ethics violation or misconduct. As part of the Formal Employment Creation Project, the Bank complies with the Grievance Redress Mechanism requirements for projects financed by international financial institutions. In line with these notifications received through the grievance mechanism and human rights and working conditions requirements, TKYB has an internal employee grievance mechanism and procedure for its employees.

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On TKYB’s intranet page, employees can submit their reports on ethical issues as well as suspicious transactions, complaints, and suggestions. Each notification is evaluated individually, and in case of ethical complaints, they are processed according to the internal employee grievance procedure.

Complaints related to the whistleblowing procedure are directed to the Board of Internal Auditors; suspicious transactions related to other complaints are directed to the Compliance Officer (Head of Internal Control and Compliance), and other suggestions are directed to human resources. The General Manager evaluates the reported matter and refers the matter to the Ethics Committee for appropriate action.

The Ethics Committee evaluates the situation and takes the necessary actions. This includes initiating an investigation, determining appropriate steps, and revising policies and procedures to correct the violation and prevent recurrence.

This process is seen as part of the bank’s effort to ensure compliance with ethical standards and prevent misconduct. The Bank has adopted to act with a professional and honest approach, to act with a sense of social responsibility, and to ensure corporate ethical rules.

In order to ensure compliance of the Bank’s policies, procedures, and control methods with national and international regulations and generally accepted banking principles, to maintain safe banking activities, to protect the Bank’s reputation and customer quality, to prevent the Bank from being used for laundering proceeds of crime and financing terrorism, and to ensure that the Bank and its employees are aware of their legal and administrative obligations, in this context, employees were provided with 323 hours of MASAK (Financial Crimes Investigation Board) Training on ethics and corruption, Laundering Proceeds of Crime and Combating the Financing of Terrorism in 2022.