Measuring our governance impact

Upholding the highest ethical, governance and investor relations standards continues to be the utmost priority for NBF. We believe solid corporate governance is key to the long-term success of any business, creating trust and engagement between the company and its stakeholders.

Board diversity:

Female participation on the NBF Board of Directors is 11%. NBF is proud to have Dr. Raja Easa Al Gurg as our Deputy Chairperson. The Board has recently appointed Raheema Ahmed Al Rayssi as the Board Secretary to further strengthen diversity.

Other Board considerations:

• All NBF Board members are non-executives. Independent members include Sheikh Hamad Bin Saleh Bin Mohammed Al Sharqi and Mr. Ahmed Saeed Al Raqbani.
• The roles of Chairman and CEO are separated.
• Board members have complementary and relevant skills and backgrounds.
• Board members are elected at least every three years.
• NBF has a stand-alone Board-level sustainability committee.
• Board members are not paid any incentivised pay.

For more information about NBF’s Board structure, please read the latest annual report.

Shareholders rights:

• NBF respects the "one share - one vote" principle.
• According to the bank's articles of association, shareholders must have at least 10% of shares in order to add items to the AGM agenda.
• There are no major restrictions on shareholders' ability to vote.

Supplier code of conduct

NBF’s procurement policy covers ethical behaviour related to procurement activity.

Ethics & prevention of corruption:

NBF has a well-defined Code of Conduct, Conflict of Interest, Gift Policy and Whistleblowing Policy. NBF also actively manages conduct risk, including implementing compliance policies to supplement the Code of Conduct and ensures that positive customer outcomes are at the core of our client engagement.

This involves conducting awareness programmes and the annual mandatory reading of the Code of Conduct, Anti Bribery and Corruption policy, Gift Policy and Conflict of Interest policy. In addition, annually each staff member electronically submits the Annual Attestations which are reviewed independently by the compliance department.

NBF has put in place the following measures to help prevent corruption:

• NBF staff are required to regularly complete training programmes relating to compliance and ethics.
• NBF has a whistleblowing mechanism and policy in place.

Prevention of money laundering/terrorism financing:

NBF complies with global and UAE specific anti-money laundering standards that are in line with the latest recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international anti-money laundering regulatory body, UAE federal laws and guidelines from the Central Bank of the UAE. This includes having adequate policies and supporting systems and controls to mitigate the risk of NBF facilitating financial crime, including money laundering and terrorist financing. 

NBF processes to prevent financial crime include:

• Due diligence: NBF undertakes stringent Know You Customer (KYC) procedures.
• Monitoring: NBF has a monitoring programme for potentially suspicious activity.
• Training: NBF provides AML training to relevant employees.
• Whistleblowing: NBF’s governance mechanisms ensure strict confidentiality and the anonymity of any employee communicating a concern.

Data privacy:

NBF’s cybersecurity strategy sits at the centre of the bank’s digitalisation model, and we have worked tirelessly towards strengthening our layered security controls, beefing up our cyber resilient capabilities and educating our workforce and customers about cyberattacks on a regular basis.

To protect the identity of the bank’s customers, NBF has:

• Deployed the most advanced authentication methods, such as biometrics and facial recognition, and we will continue to evolve our techniques to maximise security.
• Created a cross-functional data governance forum, which is designed to ensure we manage data security, privacy, quality and overall performance effectively.
• Joined the UAE Banks Federation to support its efforts to minimise the impact of fraud through awareness and education drives.
• NBF continues to maintain and improve the controls to protect its customer information, these efforts were acknowledged by NESA in 2020, where the bank maintained a compliance ratio of 99% together with securing the “ISO 27001:2013” security certification.

Sustainability reporting:

NBF publishes its Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Report every year. You can read the latest report here.