Corporate Governance

The Corporate Governance structure of BOK International is developed and approved by the Board of Directors of Bank of Khartoum (BOK). The implementation and maintenance of Corporate Governance framework is of paramount importance to the Board, and the management. BOK maintains the Corporate Governance practices across its branches and subsidiaries to ensure the quality of implementation and support the Board and other committees in fulfilling their administrative duties.

BOK International ensures high compliance to the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Corporate Governance Law, Central Bank of Bahrain’s High Level Control Module of the CBB Rulebook (Vol. 2) and Basel’s corporate governance principles. BOK International strives to achieve the highest levels of transparency, accountability and management by adopting and executing the strategy, goals, policies that are aimed at complying with the Bank’s regulatory responsibilities.

The Bank believes in the importance of effective corporate governance for the safe and sound functioning of banks. BOK International and its parent i.e. Bank of Khartoum (BOK) considers the importance of risk governance as part of a bank’s overall corporate governance framework and promotes the value of a strong board, board committees and effective executive management and control functions to perform their duties in a manner that serves the interests of the bank and its shareholders.

BOK International is achieving high standards of corporate values embedded through a number of well-established pillars formulized through a robust set of Corporate Governance and Code of Conduct policies and procedures covering:

Related Party Transactions

BOK’s Related-Party Transactions Policy outlines the guiding principles on dealing with and managing transactions with relevant parties, whether between BOK and its Board Members, their companies or their related parties, Executive Management, and employees including syndicated financing and trading activities.

Insider Trading

BOK’s Insider Trading Policy outlines the disclosures, penal actions and prohibited activities that fall under insider trading. The policy also outlines the Employees ‘responsibility for the integrity of the information, reports and records under their control.

Code of Conduct

The Board takes the lead in setting professional standards and corporate values that promote integrity for the entire body, Executive Management and other employees. BOK International’s Code of Conduct outlines the ethical standards expected of various stakeholders in the conduct of its business. This specifically covers the Board, employees and other stakeholders. BOK International’s Code of Conduct policy is shared with all the staff and a written annual declaration is obtained from the staff to ensure acknowledgement of the code.

Conflict of Interest

BOK International maintains a Conflict of Interest Policy that provides guidelines for the identification, reporting, disclosure, prevention, and strict limitation of potential conflict of interest, including rules concerning connected party transactions and potential conflicts of interest.

Confidentiality

The Board, Executive Management and employees are committed to preserve the confidentiality of information and data on the BOK group’s customers, as per the law and rules issued by the regulatory bodies in this respect. This has been well governed by confidentiality and information-security rules adopted and implemented within the Bank.

Whistle Blowing

BOK promotes a transparent and collaborative working environment for all employees. The Whistle Blowing policy and procedure determine the guiding principles and measures which enable BOK’s employees to report any significant concerns regarding suspected wrongdoing, potential violations, malpractice, and “reportable” conduct, and to allow independent investigation and monitoring of these concerns.