Human Rights and Labour Standards

Governance​

The Group Chief Sustainability Officer (GCSO) and the Group Sustainability Council (GSC) are responsible for managing human rights risks. The Board, through the Group Sustainability and Governance Committee (GSGC), has the ultimate accountability for human rights in the organisation. 

Implementation of our Human Rights policy extends to all aspects of our business and is executed by business units and business enablers:
 

• Group Sustainability oversees the implementation of the Human Rights Policy and Procedure across all aspects of our business. Group Sustainability conducts control testing on these policies and procedures to proactively identify areas for improvement
  
  
• Group Corporate Assurance Division conducts periodic audits to maintain accountability and effectiveness of our policies
  
  
• Relationship Managers from non-retail lines of business conduct Basic Sustainability Due Diligence, which includes a human rights due diligence, on clients in compliance with our Group Sustainability Financing Policy. For cases where a high risk of human rights is identified, Group Sustainability conducts an Enhanced Sustainability Due Diligence
  
  
• Group Strategic Procurement conducts and oversees the sustainability due diligence, including human rights due diligence, on vendors/suppliers during the RFP process and during onboarding of new vendors whereby vendors/suppliers are required to acknowledge the Vendor Code of Conduct
  
  
• CIMB Foundation and our Corporate Social Responsibility function conducts the sustainability due diligence when onboarding new partners
  
  
• Group Human Resources manages complaints received related to employees and unions

Our Group Human Rights Policy

The policy aims to provide clarity and transparency on human rights management across the Group. Our Human Rights policy provides guidance on identifying, assessing, and managing salient human rights risks that present the most severe potential negative impacts. This ensures consistency between internal practices and external expectations, including legal and regulatory obligations and voluntary commitments to respect and protect human rights.

Within the broader scope of human rights, we focus on issues and risks that are most pertinent to our operations and activities. Our policy not only covers requirements for our own operations, but also encompasses requirements for our business relations such as our clients, suppliers and partners. The policy has been rolled out across the Group in 2023. Read our Group Human Rights Policy here.

CIMB commits to continuous human rights due diligence to identify, prevent, and mitigate adverse human rights impacts across the Group through collaborations with our stakeholders. This is done using a risk-based approach, with the greatest attention paid to the areas of greatest risk to the Group and the most salient impacts on people, particularly vulnerable groups. 

Commitments and Frameworks​

We commit to uphold and comply with:​

1. The International Bill of Human Rights, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR);​
   
   
2. UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights;​
   
   
3. ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work;

With regards to labour rights, we commit to the following: ​

1. Avoid causing or contributing to labour rights violations as per national legislation standards. In the event where there is a discrepancy between national, regional, and international standards, we will engage with stakeholders to explore approaches that respect international standards.
   
   
2. Respect the rights of our employees, including:​
   • Freedom of representation; ​
   • Right to collective bargaining;​
   • A safe and healthy work environment, including safety from any forms of harassment, including sexual harassment;​
   • Fair recruitment and other people practices;​
   • Preventing modern slavery; and​
   • Respecting regulations on minimum wage and maximum working hours.
      
3. Eliminate discrimination in the workplace and promote diversity and inclusion.​
   
   
4. Avoid contributing to, and assist in the prevention of human trafficking.

We also adopt principles and recommendations laid out in recognised international, regional and local frameworks, including:​

• The UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative Principles for Responsible Banking;​
• UN Sustainable Development Goals;​
• Bank Negara Malaysia’s Value-Based Intermediation Financing and Investment Impact Assessment Framework and Association of Banks in Malaysia’s ESG Principles​

Our Policy in Action ​

We commit to protecting the rights of our employees. This includes their right to freedom of association and ensuring we operate in accordance with local legislation and regulations. We regularly engage employees through focus groups, surveys, town halls, and engagements with union representatives.  

Human rights due diligence is part of our sustainability due diligence in our financing relationship with non-individual clients. Where a client is considered to have high human rights risks, we request that clients have in place commitments and processes to mitigate these risks. In cases of non-compliance with our human rights requirements, we engage with these clients and request them to implement corrective action plans.​​

We assess actual and potential adverse human rights impacts and how we may have directly caused, contributed to, or linked to an abuse of rights within our supply chain.​ We conduct sustainability due diligence on our suppliers and require them to acknowledge CIMB's Vendor Code of Conduct (VCOC). We will use our leverage to influence them towards the standards outlined in our human rights policy.