Compliance control

Dear colleagues, dear friends and clients of our bank!

We all know that among the problems of our society, undoubtedly, corruption is the most dangerous for the development of our country. Corruption is an obstacle to the well-being of people and reforms aimed at improving the living standards of our citizens. It is well known that this flaw will not only be a serious obstacle to reform, but also a direct threat to the goals set before us now.

The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the Law “On Combating Corruption” on January 3, 2017. This opened the way to ensuring international cooperation in the main areas of state policy in the field of combating corruption, the system of competent authorities, the participation of citizens’ self-government bodies, civil society institutions, the media and citizens participation in this area, measures to prevent corruption and the inevitability of punishment.

In addition, a number of decrees, resolutions and laws have been adopted aimed at preventing corruption that hinders the development of society and the state, on the basis of which consistent measures are being taken.

In particular, in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On additional measures to improve the anti-corruption system in the Republic of Uzbekistan”, our bank has created a compliance control structure that has existed in world practice for many years.

At the same time, in order to prevent corruption and conflicts of interest in the activities of the employees of the bank, a roadmap has been developed for the implementation of the Sphere without corruption project for 2021-2022, and the implementation of the tasks set in this map by all departments of the bank is controlled.

The official website of the bank has a special page “Compliance control”, where you can report about the prevention of corruption in the behaviour of employees. In order to send proposals, complaints and reports of possible violations by bank employees, customers, consumers of banking services, a “hotline” (78 150-36-99) and an email address whistleblowing@ipotekabank.uz have been created. These appeals are regularly reviewed and analyzed by employees of the compliance control department of the bank in accordance with the established procedure.

In addition, on the basis of the approved anti-corruption measures in our bank, ensuring openness and transparency of banking practice has been determined as a priority area of activity. In particular, the system of considering appeals from individuals and legal entities has been radically improved, a virtual reception of the bank, a “contact center” has been established and the practice of holding “reception days” by managers of all levels has been established. The opinion of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the need to “vaccinate society with a vaccine of honesty” are more actual than ever. All employees, from the lowest level to the highest level, must understand this and follow to it!

At the end of my address, I would like to quote the following words of our President. “State organs should serve the people, but not the people to state organs”. We still have a lot of work to improve the quality of service at JSCMB “Ipoteka-bank” and to fully implement the basic principles stated above.

Therefore, we ask you to report on corruption cases in our bank and contribute to the improvement of the social environment in our society.

Your privacy is guaranteed!

Tashkent 2022

In order to prevent the occurrence of corruption situations and conflicts of interests in the activities of JSCMB “Ipoteka-bank”, a roadmap for the implementation of the “Corruption-free sphere” project for 2021-2022 was developed, and the implementation of the tasks set in this roadmap was monitored by all structural units of the bank.

In particular, hotline numbers (78-1503699, 78-1508968) and e-mail address whistleblowing@ipotekabank.uz, as well as telegram bot @Compliance_control_bot were established for reporting on the cases of corruption and conflicts of interest and violations by bank employees, customers, and third parties.

JSCMB “Ipoteka-bank” Compliance control department presents an annual report on the cases of corruption and conflicts of interest and violations received through the above communication channels during the 4th quarter of 2021 and the 1st-3rd quarters of 2022.

During the 4th quarter of 2021, a total of 5 reports were received, 3 of them were received by e-mail, and 2 of them were received on hotline numbers. According to the results of the preliminary investigation and analysis, facts of corruption were not revealed in these appeals, but the issues in these appeals were resolved in the established order and the appeals were satisfied. The responsible employees of the Compliance control department gave explanations to the applicants and the relevant employees of the bank regarding the situation mentioned in the appeals.

During the 1^st-3^rd quarters of 2022, totally 70 appeals were received, 5 of them were received via email, 6 of them through telegram bot and 59 of them on hotline numbers. According to the results of the preliminary investigation and analysis, facts of corruption were not revealed in these appeals. The issues in these appeals were considered and satisfied in the established order. The responsible employees of Compliance control department gave explanations to the applicants and the relevant employees of the bank regarding the situation mentioned in the application.

Appeals by regions: Tashkent region – 35, Bukhara region – 2, Jizzakh region – 2, Navoi region – 7, Kashkadarya region – 6, Republic of Karakalpakstan – 2, Namangan region – 2, Samarkand – 6, Surkhandarya region – 2, Fergana region – 2, Khorezm region – 2.

In addition, Compliance control department in cooperation with other structural units of the bank, received totally 15 appeals from law enforcement authorities and other state institutions regarding appeals of citizens during the 1^st-3^rd quarters of 2022. Information on the results of investigations and studies was provided to law enforcement authorities and the applicant.

Most of the appeals received during the reporting period were related to loan related appeals, and violations and deviations from the requirements of internal regulatory documents were revealed in these appeals. The measures were taken towards relevant responsible employees of the bank within the framework of the legislation.

In the bank, the following measures have been determined in order to prevent the conditions that allowed violations in the provision of loans and to avoid them in the future:

- carrying out a proper study of the borrower (joint borrower/guarantor/credit security (collateral)) by clearly defined responsible employees in bank branches through comparing person with his/her original identity document, comparing the information in the questionnaire of client with the information obtained from electronic databases, and studying behavior of client;

- paying attention to the warning “signals” of persons on the “black list” during the lending process in the “CRM-Light” program;

- controlling the process of proper inspection of the vehicle or property to be pledged for credit provision on the basis of documents.