MBA402: Governance, Ethics & Sustainability - Code of Conduct Report

This document provides a sample solution for an assignment focused on creating a code of conduct for an Australian company, addressing key areas such as discrimination, exploitation, corruption, dishonest and fraudulent behavior, whistleblower protections, and enforcement. The code emphasizes the importance of opportunity, accountability, and integrity as core values, and references relevant Australian legislation like the Equal Opportunity Act 2010, Age Discrimination Act 2004, Disability Discrimination Act 1992, and Racial Discrimination Act 1975. It highlights the company's zero-tolerance policy towards corruption and fraudulent activities, emphasizing honesty and integrity in business ethics. The code also includes a whistleblower protection policy to encourage the reporting of unethical conduct, and stresses adherence to the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and the corporate governance principles of the Australian Stock Exchange. The document concludes with contact details for reporting unethical issues.

Running Head: BUSINESS AND CORPORATION LAW 0
Governance, Ethics and Sustainability
Student’s Name
1/11/2019

Governance, Ethics and Sustainability
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Contents
Code of Conduct..............................................................................................................................1
Overview 1
Scope 2
Our Values 2
Discrimination 2
Exploitation 3
Corruption 4
Dishonest and Fraudulent Behavior 6
Whistleblower Protections 7
Rules and Laws 8
Enforcement 8
Contact Details 8
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Code of Conduct
Overview
The code of conduct mentioned below is a set of beliefs and practices of Macquarie Group
Limited. The lead objective of this code of conduct is to ensure that the company is engaged in
good corporate governance practices and manage the affairs accordingly. In the preparation and
development of the subjective code, the requirements set out under all the laws applicable to the
company have been considered. The code includes some of the significant topics and issues that
the management, as well as stakeholder, faces regularly such as discrimination, fraudulent
behavior, corruption, and others. In this manner, the presented code is a route map to manage the
business dilemmas by the management of the company and let everyone know about the policies
and practices of Macquarie.
Scope
The code of conduct is applicable to all the directors, officers, employees and all the other people
who are employed by the organization or is part of the same in any manner. The presented code
does not include every aspect, however, set an idea in respect to the overall working style of the
company. Further, the code is not static and is subject to review on the periodical basis. The
management of the company has all the rights reserved to make the amendments in the code.
Our Values
Opportunity, Accountability, and integrity are our lead values (Static.macquarie.com, 2018a).

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Discrimination
Discrimination is an activity where management of the organization treats different employees in
a different manner. As our company is an Australian company, we follow and comply with the
provisions of the Equal Opportunity Act 2010. Applying the provisions of the act, an
organization is not allowed to make discrimination between two of the employees based on sex,
marital status, physical appearance, color, and other aspects (Victorian Equal Opportunity and
Human Rights Commission, 2018). Macquarie does not support any direct or indirect
discrimination and does not tolerate the discrimination at any level in the organization. In order
to ensure no discrimination, Macquarie is adhered to create a familiar environment in the
workplace so that employees would be able to share their concern related to discrimination with
the senior managers. As an organization, we understand the issues that an employee faces
because of discrimination and for this reason, we demotivate such practices. In addition to the
Equal Opportunity Act 2010, the organization do also comply with the provisions of other
legislation such as Age Discrimination Act 2004 (Cth), Disability Discrimination Act 1992
(Cth), Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) in order to remove the discrimination. Following are
some of the examples of major events whereby the company has zero tolerance policy regarding
discrimination:-
 While inviting the candidature for a job
 While selecting candidates for the job
 While making appraisal plans
Not only the discrimination but also harassment and bullying at the workplace are another issues
that bring negative impact on the performance of an employee. Macquarie makes its focus to

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reduce the issues of harassment and bullying not only by the management but also by the other
employees.
Exploitation
Exploitation refers to a situation where a person treats another person in an unfair manner to get
the benefit out of the work of later person (Emiri, 2012). The organization values its employees
and understands that the same is a significant resource of the company. Therefore, the company
tries to prevent the issue of exploitation of employees. Macquarie Group Limited is an
investment bank and finance company. Many of the employees are associated with us. In
addition to the aims and targets of the company, the times and efforts of the employees are
equally important. In conjunction with the employees, the company also ensure to not to exploit
any of the stakeholders. Everyone is equally important for the entity and we believe that the
company cannot go in the long run by doing exploitation of anyone. In order to ensure the
absence of issues like exploitation in the workplace, the company has decided the same will not:-
 Force any employee to do overtime with or without additional pay
 Force any stakeholder to take part in any sexual activity
 Force any employee to do work on holidays
 Hold the profit share or dividend of any shareholder
 Follow any unethical practices while dealing with stakeholders such as clients and
investors and shareholders.
Further, to reduce and prevent the issue of exploitation in the workplace, the company follows
the following practices:-
 Grant necessary holidays to employees.

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 Make the justified payment of salaries to employees and justifies payment of returns to
investors.
 Provide a safe and secure work environment for employees.
 Give the possible as justified targets to employees.
If any person would found doing any type of Exploitation, then the senior manager can initiate
the disciplinary actions against such person.
Corruption
Being an entity of the banking sector, the possibility of corruption is higher than the other
organization. Macquarie does not allow any of the staff members to give, promise, offer or
accept any bribe whether directly or indirectly. A bribe is disallowed whether comes gift, cash,
or other benefits. All these activities come under the category of corruption. Corruption is one of
the significant unethical activities that affect the reputation of the organization in an adverse
manner (Burke and Tomlinson, 2016). Some other activities such as embezzlement of company
funds, falsification and insider trading also consider as corruption (Mbaku, 2010). The company
does not disallow the corrupted practices on management level only but the people who are
employed at the junior position are also required to follow the requirement mentioned under this
code.
Further, if any person receives or gives any gifts in the course of performing his/her duty then the
same is required to ensure that because of such gift, there would not be any conflict of interest
with a staff of the organization or any other third party (Static.macquarie.com, 2018b). In
addition to this, political contributions by the organization are subject to the Anti-bribery and
corruption policy of the company. Some kind of payment and receipts are mentioned there,

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which requires prior approval of members of the company. Such restriction placed to follow the
good corporate governance practices (To know more about this, kindly refer to the Political
contributions policy of Macquarie). All the staff members including the management of the
company are required and suggested to not to accept money to perform their official duties
which are their obligation. Here, the liability of the staff of the company is not limited to
themselves but they are also required to report any incidents related to bribery by another staff
member that comes into their knowledge. The company believes that all the managers and
employees of the same are members of a family and they all have a collective obligation to
enhance and increase the goodwill of their organization.
Dishonest and Fraudulent Behavior
This is another concern regarding which company has a zero-tolerance policy. Honesty and
integrity in behavior is the core of business ethics (Robinson and Dowson, 2012). Therefore, the
company wants all of its managers, staff members, and other stakeholders to be honest. Fraud of
any kind is simply not acceptable by the company. No Macquarie personnel are expected to be
engaged in any fraudulent or dishonest activity. Similar to corruption, dishonest and fraudulent
behavior of organizational personnel reduces the value of goodwill and impact the reputation in a
negative manner. We want our employees to be honest and loyal to the organization. We have
sought out some activities that will be counted as dishonesty and the same are mentioned below-
 Insider trading
 Falsification in accounting
 Considering the personal interest over and above the interest of the organization
 Misuse of organizational resources
 Forgery in documents

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 Making a false claim of salary and other payments
 Other activities which are not in the interest of the organization
To reduce the number of fraudulent activities, organization make it compulsory for every of its
personnel to report their conduct to their immediate seniors. This will help them to know that
where the juniors are, what they are doing and whether they are even aware of the code of
conduct of the organization or not. Further, all the organizational personnel are required to
disclose their personal interest in the business transaction (if any there). Neither the managers not
the employees of the company are allowed to make personal profits at the cost of the
organization. They are required to act similar to a reasonable person and to perform their duties
for the best interest of the company.
Whistleblower Protections
Whistleblower protection is another important aspect on which this code develops its focus.
Whistleblowing is an activity whereby a person raises his/her voice in against of unethical
conduct and report the relevant issues to the managers (Greenberg and Edwards, 2009). A person
who performs the activity of whistleblowing is known as a whistleblower
(Workplacefairness.org, 2018). As a whistleblower report, the unethical conduct there is a
possibility of danger to such a person. In such a situation, it is our responsibility to provide the
protection to whistleblowers. Such a person can report either on the issues mentioned above or in
respect to any other issue. In order to protect the whistleblowers from any harm and to motivate
the practice of whistleblowing, the company has developed a whistleblower protection policy. In
the subjective policy, the manner is defined that every whistleblower is required to follow. This
policy prevents every officer, director, manager and other Macquarie personnel to make

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discrimination with an employee who done some lawful act such as whistleblowing in the
organization.
The company has appointed a person on the designation of whistleblower protection manager. It
is the responsibility of this manager to ensure the safety of whistleblowers and to provide them
access to the easiest mode of reporting. As company believes to create a positive and ethical
corporate culture, we invite our stakeholder to report any unethical issues that they experience
with us. The contact details are given at the end page of this code.
Rules and Laws
We believe to follow proper rules and regulation and for the same, we have managers of
different levels. Every manager is responsible to ensure the compliance with applicable laws.
Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) is applicable on the all the Australian Companies (Maisto, 2009).
As we also fall in this criteria we are required to comply with the provisions of this act. In
addition to the same, we also follow the corporate governance principles and other rules
prescribed by the Australian Stock Exchange as the securities of the company are listed over
there. Further, the company has designed and developed the policies and practices considering
all the other legislation such as the Fair Work Act 2009, the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and
others.
Enforcement
Manager, employees, staff members, officials, and personals are abide by this code. The code is
applicable to all these people as a mandate. The code not in just original form but is applicable
to all the amendments. People who will not follow the code would be liable for the actions by the
management of the company. Management of the company has the power to take actions in the

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form of penalties, fines, and dismissal. We consider our stakeholder as a valuable part of the
organization and therefore expect a good level of ethics from them.
Contact Details
Our stakeholder should feel free to contact us for any confusion or issues with this code. Further,
if they wish to report any other issues related to breach of our values and principles, they can
come to us by using the following details:-
Contact us [phone]
Further, they can contact us by reaching to our nearest branch.

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References
Age Discrimination Act 2004 (Cth)
Burke, R., J. and Tomlinson, E., C.(2016) Crime and Corruption in Organizations: Why It
Occurs and What To Do About It. USA: CRC Press.
Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)
Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth),
Emiri, F. (2012) The Law of Restitution in Nigeria. Lagos: African Books Collective.
Equal Opportunity Act 2010
Fair Work Act 2009
Greenberg, J., and Edwards, M., S. (2009) Voice and Silence in Organizations. UK: Emerald
Group Publishing.
Maisto, G. (2009) Residence of Companies Under Tax Treaties and EC Law. The Netherlands :
IBFD.
Mbaku, J., M. (2010) Corruption in Africa: Causes, Consequences, and Cleanups. Lexington
Books.
Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth)
Sex Discrimination Act 1984

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Static.macquarie.com. (2018a). Code of Conduct. [online] Available from:
http://static.macquarie.com/dafiles/Internet/mgl/global/shared/sf/mgl-code-of-conduct.pdf
[Accessed on 12 January 2018].
Static.macquarie.com. (2018b) Code of Conduct. [online] Available from:
http://static.macquarie.com/dafiles/Internet/mgl/global/shared/sf/mgl-code-of-conduct.pdf
[Accessed on 12 January 2018].
Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. (2018b) Types of discrimination
[online] Available from:
https://www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/discrimination/discrimination/types-of-
discrimination [Accessed on 12 January 2018].
Workplacefairness.org. (2018) General Information About Whistleblowing and Retaliation
[online] Available from: https://www.workplacefairness.org/general-whistleblowing [Accessed
on 12 January 2018].