Resurs’s commitments on issues concerning accessibility, responsibility for the supply chain and customer communication, as well as customer privacy and anti-corruption are all gathered under the concept of Ethical and responsible business.
Taking responsibility for the supply chain in a bank is largely a matter of ensuring suppliers’ quality of supply and continuity, cost efficiency, risk control, regulatory compliance and information security.
In 2022 Resurs continued to improve and clarify its purchasing process in relation to all these purposes, as well as continuing to ensure support throughout the organisation. In addition, the company has worked to ensure compliance with the new Norwegian Transparency Act, which concerns fundamental human rights and decent working conditions. Resurs also became a signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Banking in 2022, to ensure long-term efforts to reach the UN climate targets. A new and updated materiality analysis was also conducted during the year.
Privacy
Large amounts of personal data are processed every day, primarily relating to customer transactions. This requires Resurs to maintain strong protection for its customers, from the standpoint of both security and privacy. Resurs continually engages in training, provides instructions to employees and processors, and performs reviews to guarantee the standard that customers have the right to expect.
Risk and incident management
Resurs engages in proactive risk and incident management in order to ensure the proper level of protection of information and personal data throughout the operation. Resurs also employs comprehensive control systems that flag abnormal transactions and cash flows, along with internal authorisation levels for managing information and performing services.
Zero tolerance for all forms of corruption
Corruption undermines democracy, warps competition, makes a level playing field for business more difficult and benefits organised crime. Corruption results in serious legal and reputational risks. Like the industry as a whole, Resurs’s operation is exposed to corruption through fraud, money laundering and financing of terrorism as well as bribery. The risks in the four countries are similar in nature.
Therefore Resurs has a long-term systematic prevention program to combat all forms of corruption. The bank has a special unit, Financial Crime Prevention, which is intended to strengthen AML and combat financial crime.
For Resurs, proper conduct from a business ethics standpoint throughout the operation is also required to deserve continued trust.
Code of conduct
The Group’s CEO and management bear overall responsibility for preventive efforts and for ensuring that resources, processes, and control systems are in place. Resurs’s position is laid down in its Code of Conduct, which applies to all employees and Board members. All employees have access via the intranet to the Code of Conduct, which is available in Swedish, Finnish and English, and its associated policies and guidelines.
Resurs uses the three lines of defence principle to manage the risk of money laundering and other corruption risks and ensure that the Group is doing business and entering business relationships based on ethically proper grounds.
Anonymous channel for whistle-blowers
Employees and other people who are otherwise in a work-related situation can report on serious irregularities via the whistle-blower function. Informants may choose to remain anonymous and can thus never be traced. After an initial assessment as to whether the case meets the criteria for a whistle-blower case or not, the case is investigated.