I. Purpose
This Third-Party Due Diligence Policy is intended to define the procedures and actions that must be followed by directors and Employees of the Company, as well as Third Parties with whom the Company has business relationships, in the compliance with applicable laws and regulations governing International Sanctions and embargoes, international trade and/or AML/CTF in all relevant areas of the Company.
II. Scope & Applicability
All employees (full-timers, part-timers and contractual third parties) are responsible of facilitating the implementation of this policy throughout the organisation.
The Coral Oil Company Limited expects and endeavors to encourage its business Partners to develop and implement ethics programs and standards that are aligned with ours. In cases where The Coral Oil Company believes that such parties have failed to comply with our policies or their contractual commitments, it reserves itself the right to take the appropriate actions.
III. Review & Amendments
This Policy is applicable to all directors, officers, managers and Employees of The Coral Oil Company Limited.
It shall become effective upon the approval of the Board of Directors of the company who is authorized to approve the Compliance Department policies and their amendments. The Compliance Officer shall be responsible for updating the Policy.
IV. Commitments and Guiding Principles
1. The Coral Oil Company Limited is committed to upholding the highest standards of ethical and responsible behavior by all professionals within the company, regardless of their position. This preventive culture is based on the principle of zero tolerance for any kind of wrongdoing or misconduct. All staff are required to abide by applicable legal requirements as well as corporate policies, rules, and guidelines.
2. As part of its endeavor to build a culture of prevention across the organization, The Coral Oil Company Limited encourages all employees of the Company to embed ethical considerations into their activities and decision-making, so that any conduct on the part of such persons is based on four principles:
- that it is ethical;
- that it is lawful;
- that it is desirable for the Company; and
- that the person involved is willing to accept responsibility and accountability for their actions and decisions.
3. The Coral Oil Company Limited will highly scrutinize any potential commercial or financial transactions with any individuals, organizations or countries under prevailing International Sanctions applicable to the transaction involved. To the extent The Coral Oil Company Limited proceeds with those transactions, it will make the necessary disclosures required by law.
4. Employees involved in commercial or financial transactions must understand and comply with the trade regulations and restrictions applicable in the countries and jurisdictions where the The Coral Oil Company Limited conducts its businesses or acquires goods and services. Persons in charge or involved in the transaction should seek guidance from the Compliance and Legal Departments from the very start of any discussions and always before signing a Memorandum of Understanding; whenever the transaction involves a country, entity or individual subject to International Sanctions, the Compliance Office must be duly notified.
5. Employees have a duty and obligation to willingly cooperate with any investigations or audits carried out and voluntarily provide all available information related to any transactions (whether executed or not). Failure to cooperate with an investigation, or to withhold relevant information for an investigation or provide false, incomplete or misleading information, may result in disciplinary action.
6. Employees have a duty and obligation to promptly report any actual or suspected violations of trade laws and International Sanctions laws to the Compliance and Legal Departments.
7. The Coral Oil Company Limited shall endeavor to create an open, honest, fair and transparent environment within the organization, integrating the various systems developed to prevent criminal offenses and maintaining appropriate internal channels for reporting potential violations and misconduct, as stipulated in the Whistle Blowing Policy enabling directors, Employees and other stakeholders to submit concerns and complaints about any possible non-compliance or any actual or suspected violations of applicable laws or the rules and standards of the Code of Professional Ethics and Conduct.
8. Third-Party Relationship Owners should consistently consider any international trade limitations and the risk of International Sanctions when assessing potential business opportunities. In particular, special care must be taken when engaging in commercial and financial transactions in US dollars or that involve US financial or banking entities and in commercial or financial transactions.
9. Third-Party Relationship Owners shall conduct thorough and comprehensive “Know Your Third Party” Due Diligence reviews on potential business Partners.
10. Third-Party Relationship Owners shall properly screen all business Partners and counterparties and ask questions about Ultimate Beneficial Ownership before doing business with such parties, gathering as much information as possible on who they are, what they do, where they operate and how they use our products. The data collected to support Third Party Due Diligence, and the conclusions reached, should be properly documented.
11. Employees should take precautions with collections or payments coming from or going to tax havens or to individuals who are or have been entrusted with prominent public functions and immediate family members or persons known to be close associates of such persons, defined as “Politically-Exposed Persons” (PEP), given that they pose a higher risk for potential involvement in bribery and corruption by virtue of their position and the influence that they may hold. Special care must be taken particularly when the currency of a transaction is the US dollar or when it involves the rendering of services that are difficult to trace. In these cases, the transaction should be notified to the Compliance Department, submitting all the required supporting documents.
12. Third-Party Relationship Owners shall apply all the necessary and appropriate safeguards, following the Legal Department’s guidelines, based on the counterparty involved in the proposed transaction, including all necessary legal protection clauses and contractual safeguards.
13. Each counterparty shall be required to complete a Know Your Counterparty Questionnaire as included in Annex 1. Additional validations could be requested by the Compliance Officer based on the received information included in the KYC.
V. Anti Money Laundering / Counter Terrorism Financing Commitment
1. The Coral Oil Company Limited undertakes to avoid doing any kind of business with persons and/or entities whose aim or purpose may involve or be supportive of Money Laundering or Terrorist Financing and accordingly, upholds a policy of zero tolerance towards such practices.
2. The Coral Oil Company Limited undertakes to comply with all tax regulations that are applicable to its activities and to ensure that this principle is observed by each and every one of its companies, acting in the best interest of society while seeking to achieve the Company’s long-term business objectives and at the same time, endeavoring to avoid tax risks or inefficiencies in the pursuit of its business and financial activities.
3. The Coral Oil Company Limited cooperates with the competent tax authorities in identifying and combating fraudulent tax practices that may occur in the markets where it operates.
4. The Coral Oil Company Limited conducts its businesses in compliance with all laws and regulations on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in force in the countries where it operates. The Coral Oil Company Limited only does business with reputable Customers, Suppliers and Partners who engage in legitimate business activities using funds from legitimate sources.
5. The Coral Oil Company Limited Employees who participate in or carry out commercial or financial transactions must be familiar with the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Laws applicable to the business and country where the transaction takes place.
6. Employees should take particular care with regard to the following:
- Payments where the ultimate beneficiary is not clearly identified.
- Payments that are not specified in the corresponding contract or are made to Third Parties or bank accounts unrelated to the transaction.
- Requests to receive payments urgently or ahead of schedule.
- Unusual or unconventional arrangements for the transfers of funds coming from or going to countries with strict banking secrecy laws, weak anti-Money Laundering controls, tax havens or where corruption is known to be widespread.
- Cash payments/collections and transfers that are not consistent with the counterparty’s normal business activities.
- Payments that may be the result of splitting up a larger payment and are made to the same beneficiary and for the same purpose.
- Payments that contain repeated or rounded-off amounts.
- Transactions involving unusual or unconventional payment or settlement methods or parties or places unrelated to the transaction.
7. The Procurement Department of The Coral Oil Company Limited and the supply chain areas of each of the Business Units play a key role in the identification, certification and registration of Third Parties with whom business is conducted. Therefore, it is essential that all The Coral Oil Company Limited Employees strictly abide by the relevant Manuals and procedures.
VI. Responsibilities
In terms of responsibilities of implementation and abidance, the roles of the following parties are highlighted below:
Board of Directors:
- Ratify and approve the contents of the Policy as well as any review
- Ensure that the company is equipped with the adequate skills to ensure implementation of the Policy and its requirements
- Ensure strict abidance by management and all concerned staff with the Policy prerogatives
- Ensure all staff is adequately and regularly trained on sanctions abidance
Compliance Department:
- Ensure the Policy is regularly updated and at least reviewed semi-annually in line with international standards and practices
- Ensure monitoring of all transactions with any counterparty where said transactions should be in strict compliance with all sanctions regulations
- Determine and approve controls to be followed in specific regions or types of transactions
- Provide guidance on specific situations on request
- Conduct periodic risk assessments and monitor the processes and controls in place
All Employees:
- Read and follow this Policy, understand and identify any red flags that may arise in the business and to escalate potential compliance concerns to the Compliance Team.
- Report promptly to their line managers and/or to the Compliance Department any known violation to this policy when detected.
No tolerance in breaching any of the applicable sanctions regimes or this Policy. An employee violating this policy will face disciplinary action, which may include employment termination.
Annex 1: Know Your Counter Party Template
In terms of responsibilities of implementation and abidance, the roles of the following parties are highlighted below:
KYC Questionnaire
We would like to inform you that in line with our compliance procedures, The Coral Oil Company Limited (Lebanon Branch) is required to implement Know Your Counterparty (KYC) procedures.
These procedures involve identifying and keeping records on the essential facts of every company that we deal with as well as identify each person who has authority to act on its behalf. This is important to ensure:
- We prevent money laundering or the financing of terrorism (knowingly or unknowingly) in our industry
- We comply with the law
- We protect our business
To fulfill our obligations, we ask that you assist us by completing the form below with questions we ask about your company and submitting it to us. This procedure is very important to us because it is a statement of our credibility and evidence of our commitment to responsible business practices.
We thank you for your understanding and anticipated cooperation.
Kind regards,
Coral Oil