Human Rights Practices at Yapı Kredi

Yapı Kredi aims to serve by respecting human rights and continiously improve its performance in this regard. Yapı Kredi is guided by pioneering perspectives of Koç Holding and Unicredit, Yapı Kredi's principal shareholders, in its efforts to further improve its performance in human rights practices. Both of these shareholders are signatories to the United Nations Global Compact, under which they publicly share their human rights performance in a clear and transparent manner. As a part of the whole, Yapı Kredi is a natural signatory to the United Nations Global Compact and fulfills its contractual obligations by closely following applicable principles. Human rights performance is subject to regular monitoring within this scope.

Yapı Kredi fully performs its legal obligations on human rights and pays strict attention to operate in conformity with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization's (ILO) Fundamental Conventions (No. 29, 87, 98, 100, 105, 111, 138 and 182). It tolerates no form of discrimination and offers equal employment opportunities for everyone.

Yapı Kredi has drafted "Yapı Kredi Human Rights Statement" to serve as a reliable and comprehensive framework for the purpose of managing risks related to human rights and preventing possible violations thereof. The statement consists of the human rights-related principles and systems adopted by Yapı Kredi in its operations.

Yapı Kredi Human Rights Statement and the principles of practice are announced globally to all employees through internal communication channels (intranet and internal annoucements). In addition to Turkish and English, the statement is translated into local languages Azerbaijani and Russian for access of employees in subsidiaries located in Azerbaijan and Russia. Azerbaijani and Russian versions of the statement can be reached at the below links:

• https://www.yapikredi.com.az/Siyaset
• https://www.yapikredi.com.az/Siyaset?Lng=En
• http://www.ykb.ru/en/about/internal.php
• http://www.ykb.ru/about/internal.php

In addition to the communication of the statement,Yapı Kredi Human Rights Training Program is developed globally for all executives and employees to ensure internalization and effective implementation of these principles. Human Rights Training Program is mandatory for all employees and provided as a distant learning program. The program aims to raise awareness about Yapı Kredi Human Rights Statement and its implementations. Human Rights Training Program is available in Turkish, Azerbaijani, and Russian. All employees are requested to complete the training and they are expected to repeat the training biennially. Human Rights Training is also added to the orientation program of the newly – recruited employees.

The number of employees who completed the human rights training and training completion rates are as following:

• Turkey:The number of employees who completed the training is 13,608, whereas the completion rate is 71.7%.
• Azerbaijan: The number of employees who completed the training is 315, whereas the completion rate is 79.5%.
• Russia: The number of employees who completed the training is 41, whereas the completion rate is 74.5%.

All employees are expected to think and act properly concerning the matters specified in Yapı Kredi Human Rights Statement while performing their jobs. In this regard, each employee is personally responsible for reporting violations or suspected situations related to all matters specified in this statement. Practices to report and detailed information on the reporting process can be found in Yapı Kredi Statement on Whistleblowing. Sustainability Committee develops relevant monitoring processes and monitors the statement’s effectiveness. There were no incidents reported to the notification channels about implementation of Yapı Kredi Human Rights Statement.

Within the scope of its responsible procurement implementations, Yapı Kredi requests its suppliers and business partners to conduct their opreations in compliance with Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all agreements to which Turkey is party, International Labor Organization - ILO Fundamental Conventions (Numbers 29, 87, 98, 100, 105, 111, 138 and 182), Turkish Human Rights and Equality Corporation Legislation, all national and international legal arrangements, and Yapı Kedi Human Rights Statement. Due to this reason, relevant clauses are intagrated to the agreements signed with suppliers and business partners.

Sustainability Committee monitors the effectiveness of Yapı Kredi Human Rights Statement, while enhancing existing relevant monitoring processes and constantly improving Yapı Kredi Human Rights Statement. Responsibility regarding the statement is allocated to the Sustainability Committee. Sustainability Committee Chairman duty is carried out with co – chair system by a Board Member and Assistant General Manager, Corporate Communications. The Committee reviews the statement annually and monitors the implementation of the statement regularly in respect to notices delivered to reporting channels and the results of the human rights risk assessment which is performed by the Internal Audit Department biennially according to “Human Rights Audit Instructions”. Human rights matters are integrated into general risk management processes and regular risk assessments are performed on this matter biennially. In 2016, human rights risk assessment study was performed for the first time by the Internal Audit Department. A target of 100% compliance with Yapı Kredi Human Rights Statement has been set for exisisting implementations.

Yapı Kredi Human Rights Statement was approved by the Board of Directors and entered into force in June 2015. In 2016 annual review and revision of the statement was performed in accordance with relevant updates and Board of Directors approval process was completed. Yapı Kredi Human Rights Statement can be accessed from here.

Key performance indicators monitored in the area of human rights are annually published in the sustainability report of Yapı Kredi. Human rights indicators within the scope of the sustainability report has been independently audited by the international audit company Ernst & Young. Detailed information about the audit report and relevant human rights indicators can be found in the Sustainability Report 2015. Through performance of the independent audit study, external stakeholder verification has been completed for relevant indicators. Sustainability Report 2015 can be accessed from here.