In everything we do, we aim to meet the highest standards of business conduct according to rigorous ethical, professional and legal standards.

We apply these standards across all Aviva operations worldwide, and we expect equivalent standards from our business partners too.

Every six months, businesses are required to provide assurance that they have complied with the business ethics principles, which 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
• commitment to accurate and honest reporting to our stakeholders.

Our principles of good business ethics are communicated to employees in various ways, ranging from inclusion in induction programmes and management training courses, to our business in Canada seeking annual acknowledgement from all employees that they understand and accept the business’ code of conduct.

In 2007, we established different ways to ensure standards, ethical behaviour and corporate values were embedded in our operations and management processes. These are outlined on the pages in this section.

Looking ahead

A revised global guidance framework is being rolled out in 2008 to ensure that our business ethics principles are understood and embraced by employees across the group. In addition, a global induction programme – including key information on these principles – will be created and implemented for new employees in 2008.