Business Ethics
Aviva is committed to ensuring that our business is conducted in all respects according to rigorous ethical, professional and legal standards. It is essential that the reputation of Aviva be upheld at all times with governments, regulatory bodies, customers and all other parties with whom the group trades or has dealings.
Our business ethics principles provide a clear ethical compass to turn to when making business decisions. These focus on: commitment to fair business practices in our relationships with our customers, employees and suppliers; commitment to transparent business practices; commitment to honest business practices; respecting the confidentiality of information entrusted to the company; obeying the rule of law; and commitment to accurate and honest reporting to our stakeholders. The principles embody our corporate values of integrity, performance, progressiveness and teamwork and must be followed by all our staff, in particular by our senior managers across our businesses, to set an example for others to follow. All CEOs around the group must provide annual assurance that the principles are adhered to within their business. Compliance with the principles is also required as part of Aviva's senior management contract. In some businesses, such as Delta Lloyd in the Netherlands, an integrity investigation is conducted by a specialist external company when recruiting top management functions.
Download Aviva's Business Ethics Code PDF (75kb)
Combating financial crime
Financial crime costs the industry billions of pounds each year. We take the detection, prevention and reporting of financial crime very seriously and undertake specific measures to tackle and minimise the challenge posed by financial crime, which encompasses money laundering, fraud, malpractice and market abuse.
We have replaced our anti-money laundering policy and fraud management and malpractice reporting policy with one clear policy which covers all aspects of financial crime. The new financial crime policy meets all the requirements of applicable legislation, regulatory guidance and industry best practice regarding anti-money laundering, fraud management and malpractice reporting worldwide.
We have a single financial crime network across the group, bringing together expertise on fraud and anti-money laundering. Members of the network receive regular guidance and training on emerging financial crime trends and issues, and receive regular communications which assist in continued and consistent financial crime prevention group-wide. Significant progress continues to be made in raising awareness and understanding of our financial crime risk around the group. We continue to assist the group in maintaining the highest standards of governance, personal and corporate ethics and compliance with legislation and regulatory requirements.
In accordance with the financial crime policy we have a malpractice reporting service which allows for confidential reporting of allegations for independent investigation. This service, 'Safecall' is provided by an external provider who may be contacted via telephone, e-mail or the internet and offers anonymity for the whistleblower when requested. During 2007 we extended the use of the 'Safecall' service from solely covering the UK to include many of our overseas business units.
View our latest CR report for further information on our activities.