Business ethics and governance

Good business ethics and sound corporate governance are basic prerequisites for TF Bank’s values and trust from customers, employees and the market, and also contribute to public trust in the financial sector.

Anti-corruption, AML and prevention of terror financing

Corruption primarily refers to the giving or accepting of a bribe or undue benefit, and inappropriate conduct in conflicts of interest. Conducting operations in a way that ensures corruptive practices cannot gain a foothold is a fundamental prerequisite for the continued trust of our customers, staff and the market. The Bank’s anti-corruption work is based on the Bank’s code of conduct, which encompasses all employees. The code of conduct is reviewed and updated every year, and the updated code is shared with the Bank’s employees. In 2022, a special educational effort on the code of conduct was carried out. Furthermore, anti-corruption training is carried out regularly to give employees guidance on how to act in the best way if they experience uncertainty in a relationship or business relationship. All in all, this contributes to an awareness among all employees that the work with anti-corruption is an ongoing process.

We work proactively to prevent TF Bank from being used for money laundering or terrorist financing both to counteract this societal problem and to protect our customers. The work takes place within the framework of the risk assessment and KYC process carried out on each new customer in the Bank. Thereafter, transactions and activities are continuously monitored. Suspected cases of money laundering or terrorist financing are investigated and reported to the relevant supervisory authorities in each market.

TF Bank has an internal whistle-blower function where suspected cases of deviations from the code of conduct, breaches of internal or external regulations as well as money laundering and terrorist financing can be reported anonymously by employees. If possible, the report should be made to the employee’s immediate manager, but in case it is not appropriate or possible, the report is directed to the Bank’s Chief Compliance Officer. An employee who makes a report to the whistle-blower function and who chooses not to be anonymous is considered to act loyally with his or her employer and is guaranteed to not suffer any damage from a labour law perspective.

TF Bank has also adopted a code of conduct for suppliers. The document is distributed to suppliers who then will approve our code of conduct for suppliers or demonstrate that they have an internal equivalent code of conduct. The Bank’s compliance function ensures that annual follow-ups of suppliers in relation to the code of conduct are conducted.

Data security and customer integrity

TF Bank works preventively with systematic information security. We continuously adapt the security measures based on the Organisation’s needs and risks in accordance with regulatory requirements, good practice and ethical standards.

We also require that persons who process personal data undertake confidentiality through written agreements and strict information security measures. This also applies to our suppliers, which is established in our code of conduct for suppliers.

It is TF Bank’s obligation that the personal data we process is correct, complete and up to date. Personal data is protected by bank secrecy, which means that TF Bank may not disclose personal data to unauthorised persons. The Bank also has extensive routines for processing personal data in accordance with GDPR.

Sound corporate governance and efficient risk management

TF Bank follows the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance and uses a well-proven model for corporate governance with clear responsibilities, guidelines and policies in all significant areas.

The Company’s risk management is based on three lines of defence that start in the business and support units, which include all employees. The second line comprises the independent control functions Compliance and Risk Control, which review, evaluate and report to management and the board regarding risks and compliance. The third line consists of internal audit, which is an independent audit function directly subordinate to the board. The internal audit is mainly responsible for providing the Board with reliable and objective evaluation of risk management, financial reporting and control and governance processes in order to reduce the presence of risks and improve the control structure.

More information about TF Bank’s corporate governance can be found in the corporate governance report.