Bribery and corruption risks can arise in our daily operations. Bribery means improperly offering, promising, giving, authorizing, soliciting, agreeing to receive or accepting anything of value to or from another person or entity. Corruption means any activity that involves the abuse of position or power for an improper personal or business advantage, whether in the public or private sector.
Deutsche Bank takes a zero-tolerance approach to bribery and corruption, in line with its Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, values and beliefs, and international law, including the UK Bribery Act 2010, the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977, the German Criminal Code, and the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.
Reflecting our commitment to comply with applicable law and regulations, as well as best practice standards, our Anti-Fraud, Bribery and Corruption (AFBC) unit is responsible for:
- monitoring and advising on compliance related to bribery and corruption laws, regulations, and international standards;
- the ongoing design and development of appropriate measures to mitigate bribery and corruption risk; and
- administering controls and safeguards to mitigate bribery and corruption risk.
The ABC Policy sets out the minimum standards of behavior expected by all employees and third parties associated with Deutsche Bank (incl. partners, suppliers, service providers, and third parties, to the extent they perform services for the Group, subject to contractual agreements).
Staff reliability checks are conducted for all new hires. An updated reliability check process for existing employees was rolled out during 2017.
Every employee is responsible for the prevention, detection, and reporting of bribery and other forms of corruption in connection with our business. Bribery and corruption have serious consequences for employees and the bank. An employee who gives, receives or agrees to give or receive a bribe violates the ABC Policy, the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and is committing a criminal and/or regulatory offence potentially exposing us to corporate criminal and/or regulatory liability and civil lawsuits locally and globally. The employee may also be subjected to civil or criminal fines and penalties and/or imprisonment. Senior management can be prosecuted and may be personally liable if they become aware that an act of bribery has taken place, or will take place, and do not take appropriate action to prevent it. Equally, we may terminate relationships with any third party found to be in breach of the principles and rules set out in the ABC Policy or applicable bribery and corruption laws and regulations.
To deliver the policy, regional teams are responsible for analyzing risk, developing and monitoring controls, training, and awareness.