ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR RESPONSIBLE LENDING

As a responsible lender, Nedbank Group follows rigorous policies and procedures in all its lending or financing activies. This responsible lending approach is informed by:

HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE UN GLOBAL COMPACT

Respecting human rights in all its business activities is fundamental to the way Nedbank Group operates. It achieves this largely through compliance with South Africa’s Bill of Rights in the Constitution and labour legislation. The bank participated in the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Human Rights working group, which specifically promotes the importance of human rights within the financial sector.

The group continues to support the 10 principles of the UN Global Compact (UNGC) in respect of human rights, labour rights, environmental protection and anticorruption. We are proud to be a signatory to this global compact and strive to advance the principles of the compact.

The past few years have seen Nedbank Group working with the SA Human Rights Commission and the African Institute of Corporate Citizenship (AICC) to develop a customised human rights compliance assessment tool for South Africa. The Human Rights Compliance Assessment was implemented in 2009, with no adverse findings.

Nedbank Group is a platinum partner with, and sponsor of, the AICC on the Human Rights and Business Project South Africa – supporting the implementation of the UNGC 10 Principles.

During 2009 the Nedbank Ethics Officer was asked to serve on the UNGC Advisory Committee for South Africa – which provides support and strategic guidance to the activities of the National Business Initiative (NBI) in its capacity as the regional UNGC focal point.

Nedbank Group hosted the AICC Human Rights as well as the NBI Human Rights round-table meetings during 2009, and was the main sponsor for the Human Rights in Business Project through the AICC. The Nedbank Ethics Officer assisted the AICC and Aim for Human Rights (Netherlands) to implement the same project in Tanzania.

The Human Rights and Business Project South Africa focuses on the development of a basic human rights and business approach for companies. The project, which was initiated by Aim for Human Rights, aims to enhance the capacity of selected civil society and business organisations in South Africa to use and promote the human rights and business tools, as well as to raise awareness about human rights and business. Since its inception in 2007 the project has been driven solely through donor funding. From January 2009 the project has been driven through a combination of private sector support and donor funding. The secretariat for the project, the AICC, approached Nedbank to become one of the key private sector supporters of the project by taking up platinum sponsorship.

THE CODE OF BANKING PRACTICE

Nedbank Group subscribes to the Code of Banking Practice of The Banking Association South Africa, which governs relationships with authorities, clients, competitors, employees, shareholders, local communities and other primary stakeholders. Appropriate procedures and mechanisms are in place to ensure full adherence to the code, and the group works with the Banking Ombudsman’s Office to ensure that client complaints are resolved appropriately and timeously.

POLICY REGARDING POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS

While Nedbank Group fully supports the SA democratic system, it does not contribute to or sponsor the activities of individual political parties. It may, however, periodically enter into banking transactions with various political parties in the ordinary course of business or assist with worthy causes initiated by civic organisations, but any such involvement is governed strictly by the bank’s responsible-lending philosophy. So, while it is possible that these initiatives may sometimes involve political figures, Nedbank’s involvement in no way represents an endorsement of their political views or financial support of any political activities.

OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH REGULATORS

The group is committed to conducting its relationships with regulators in a transparent manner and consults with the SARB and the regulators of jurisdictions within which the group operates. A dedicated unit within the Nedbank Group Finance Division takes responsibility for the relationship with our primary regulator, the SARB. Nedbank Group also complies with JSE Limited Listings Requirements.

The group also interacts with various government departments and submits employment-related information to the Department of Labour, while participation in The Banking Association South Africa working groups and projects is considered imperative.

Nedbank fully supports responsible lending through regulatory compliance, robust risk management and tackling financial crime.

Further details of our initiatives supporting responsible lending are included here, here and here.

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