Compliance

The Group Compliance Division was established in the context of complying with the rules of the Basel II supervisory framework and the provisions of the Bank of Greece Governor's Directive (BGGD) number 2577/9.3.2006 as an independent administrative unit that is responsible for implementing the policy adopted by the Bank's Board of Directors to comply with the relevant current legal and regulatory framework. The Group Compliance Division is part of the Corporate and Legal Affairs Division, it has unrestricted access to all data and information necessary to carry out its duties and is managed by a person selected to be the Chief Compliance Officer possessing sufficient knowledge of banking and investment activities.

Main responsibilities of the Group Regulatory Compliance Division

To establish and implement appropriate procedures and policies and to prepare an annual Regulatory Compliance Programme in order to achieve the timely and continued compliance of Piraeus Bank and Group with the current regulatory framework and the provisions of the Group Regulatory Compliance Policy, which the Bank has established and at all times to show a complete picture of the degree of achievement of this goal;
To ensure that Piraeus Bank and its Group are in compliance with the applicable legal and regulatory framework that governs preventing the use of the financial system for money laundering and terrorist financing. To this end, it confirms that Piraeus Bank's organizational units are in compliance with the obligations under said framework, and also with the Group Regulatory Compliance Policy which the Bank has adopted to create an environment appropriate for the early detection, prevention, investigation and reporting of such transactions;
To inform the Bank's Management and Board of Directors on regulatory compliance issues through its annual reports; in particular to inform it of any significant violation observed of the applicable regulatory framework or any major deficiencies in meeting the obligations it imposes;
In the case of amendments to the relevant current regulatory framework,to provide,with the assistance of Piraeus Bank's legal services and/or with that of the legal advisors of foreign subsidiaries, appropriate instructions for adjusting internal procedures and the internal regulatory framework which are implemented by the Bank's departments, branches and domestic and foreign subsidiaries as appropriate;
Through appropriate procedures to ensure, meeting the deadlines ,for fulfilling obligations under the existing regulatory framework and for this purpose to provide written assurance to the Board through its annual reports;
To ensure that the staff is kept continuously informed of developments related to the regulatory framework and its policies related to their duties, by establishing appropriate procedures, updates and training programs in collaboration with the competent unit of the Group Human Resources Sector;
To coordinate the work of the compliance officers of the Group companies so that all the Group companies comply fully with the applicable relevant provisions and with the provisions of Law 2656/1998 on combating corruption of foreign public officials in international business transactions;
To submit to the Bank of Greece a report on the matters of its competence until the end of the first half of each calendar year.

The Bank shall inform the Bank of Greece and the Capital Market Commission of any change to the head of the Regulatory Compliance Unit within ten working days of such change. Similarly, this change also must be communicated immediately to the Athens Stock Exchange.