Culture, compliance and ethics

 

 

The purpose of the compliance function is to ensure compliance with the regulations and deontology applicable to banking and financial activities by the Group’s entities, the Group’s managers and all employees and to contribute to the implementation of the Group’s voluntary commitments. Especially compliance ensure that any situation of non-compliance risk is prevented within any Group entity. 

As a reminder, the "risk of non-compliance" is defined as the risk of judicial, administrative or disciplinary sanction, significant financial loss, or reputational harm arising from non-compliance with provision specific to banking and financial activities regulations, whether of a legislative or regulatory nature, or professional and ethical standards, or instructions from the executive body.

Within the Credit Agricole Group, the Group Compliance's department defines and implements the Group's policy on prevention of non-compliance risk based on procedures, tools and training actions. It also ensures the implementation of the ownership program in order to acculturate employees to ethics and compliance in innovative ways. All these devices help to reduce the reputational risk.

Beyond respecting all legislatives, regulatory and professionals’ rules that govern the Group's various activities, the Group promotes ethical conduct that is part of its desire to do even more to best serve its customers, which have been the very reason for its existence since its inception. This is reflected in the adoption in 2019 of our raison d’être, "Working every day in the interests of our customers and society", which is fully part of this process.

So Ethics and Compliance:

• Are an opportunity to convey a positive image of responsible entities concerned the interest of their customers.
• Contribute to maintain the confidence of stakeholders ( customers, employees, investors, regulators, suppliers, companies) with regard to the bank

The Credit Agricole Group undertakes and has therefore chosen an internal system of reference texts, which, together with the legal and regulatory requirements, is based on three normative floors:

• The Group Ethical Charter, which affirms our commitments, our identity and our values;
• Codes of conduct specific to  entities which reflect the principles of the Ethics Charter;
• The FIDES Corpus, Group Procedures Notes applicable to all entities available locally by each entity.

Group Ethics Charter

Ethical Charter, common to the entire group, made public in 2017, aims in particular to make the rules to respect more visible and to spread an ethical culture. It serves as a basis for the ethical and professional conduct to be followed by all.

Charter is reference document that:

• affirms our values of proximity, responsibility and solidarity
• indicates our commitments in use as a loyal, multi-channel open bank that allows everyone to be accompanied over time
• implements our principles of actions and behaviors to be observed in our daily lives with our customers,  employees, suppliers, society and all our stakeholders

All the other charters, codes of conduct and internal rules at all the Group's entities and businesses will be implemented or adjusted on the basis of this document.

The content of the Charter is presented in these four videos

 

 

Codes of Conduct of Group entities

The Ethical Charter is operationally adapted through a Code of Conduct specific to each entity. It is a real daily guide in the adoption of ethical conduct and it applies to everyone.

The implementation of codes of conduct in all Group entities is part of the process of control non-compliance risks. It strengthens our ethical behavior towards all the Group’s stakeholders.

The Crédit Agricole S.A. corporate entity has thus adopted a general Code of Conduct, which also includes a specific "anti-corruption" section in application of the obligations from Sapin II, relating to the prevention of corruption and influence peddling.

View Crédit Agricole S.A.'s Code of Conduct (updated in August 2021) click here:

The Fides Corpus

This corpus consists of procedural notes (i) identifying the rules to which the Group’s, managers and employees are subject, and (ii) reflecting regulatory compliance developments.
Each entity of the Group must, at its level, adapt this corpus of rules according to its own organization and in accordance with the applicable regulations, including for entities located in countries with less restrictive regulations.

Mobilizing around the risk prevention: the training and information of employees

The Compliance Division of Crédit Agricole S.A. has created training and awareness-raising modules for its employees based on the general principles and adapted to the Group’s primary businesses. 

The system consists of general trainings*, extensive trainings for certain target populations and specific trainings or professional capacities required by the regulations to carry out certain activities.
In addition, "expert" trainings are provided to the employees of the Compliance Business Line.

In addition, the members of the Board of Directors also benefit from a training in the regulatory challenges.
Furthermore, the Compliance's intranet, updated in 2021 and accessible to all  Group employees, has been enhanced with information on training topics, reference documentation and training planning for business line experts.
*Five "e-learnings" that cover the following topics: daily compliance, combating the money laundering and financing of terrorism (LCB-FT), international sanctions, the  insurance cover of external fraud and the fight against corruption.