Bank of Ireland Group seeks to operate to the highest ethical standards by encouraging an environment where doing the right thing is embedded in the DNA of our organisation. We support this by setting clear expectations for behaviour and undertaking mandatory training each year for all our colleagues.

Code of Conduct

Our key tool for setting standards of ethical behaviour and delivering good conduct across all jurisdictions is our Group Code of Conduct. The Code is a key building block for creating the right culture, and we expect the following standards and behaviours from everyone:

• Act with integrity and honesty
• Report wrongdoing
• Avoid disclosing confidential information
• Avoid conflicts of interest
• Comply with legislation and regulations

By maintaining these standards, we believe our colleagues can make sound decisions in everyday business situations, and when faced with complex dilemmas achieve good outcomes for all our stakeholders.

Encouraging colleagues to speak up

To help ensure that we embed the Code of Conduct in every aspect of our business, we encourage and support our colleagues to speak out if they witness wrongdoing. By wrongdoing we mean a breach, or suspected breach, of our Code of Conduct standards, or any concern they might have in respect of potential improprieties – for example, in financial reporting, financial control, accounting and auditing.

Avoiding conflicts of interest

Our colleagues not only need to perform their duties with honesty and integrity, they also have to be seen to do so. To help them avoid compromising their ability to perform their everyday duties with honesty and integrity, we have put in place systems and procedures to identify, report, manage and monitor potential or actual conflicts of interest.

Policies, standards and procedures

Bank of Ireland Group has defined and implemented policies, standards and procedures to ensure that it operates to the highest of standards, both from the perspective of the Group’s legal, regulatory and compliance requirements, and also in an ethical, fair and consistent manner. The Group’s policies and standards set out clearly the Group’s objectives and provide direction to its staff, management and Court in carrying out their various day-to-day activities.

Keeping customer information safe

As well as supporting customers to avoid attempts by fraudsters to steal their account details, we are also aware of the importance of keeping the customer information we hold as safe and secure as possible, while complying with relevant data protection legislation. Our colleagues, across all jurisdictions, are required to complete training on information security each year to ensure that they are aware of how to keep customer information private and secure and to avoid breaches of data protection.