The term Whistleblowing refers to the act of raising concerns about actual or potential violations of HBL’s Code of Ethics & Business Conduct and policies, as well as violations of laws and regulatory requirements, including, but not limited to illegal, immoral, and fraudulent practices, misconducts and unethical behaviours etc.

Yes. A concern is raised confidentially when the whistleblower provides their identity but requests that it not be disclosed without their consent, except where disclosure is required by law. A concern is raised anonymously when the whistleblower does not disclose their identity.

While concerns may be raised anonymously, only those supported by sufficient and credible information will be considered for investigation. Whistleblowers are encouraged to identify themselves, as this facilitates effective follow-up and investigation.

HBL endeavours to achieve a transparent culture and maintain highest ethical standards in all its practices. It encourages all individuals who are directly or indirectly associated with the Bank, including but not limited to employees, outsourced resources, customers, suppliers, vendors, and any other stakeholders, to blow the whistle to raise concerns which may harm the Bank reputation.

​You can blow the whistle on actual or potential violation of the law and/or code of conduct including, but not limited to, misconduct, unethical behaviour, fraud/ forgery, bribery, corruption, money laundering, terrorist financing, insider trading, password sharing, alleged dishonesty, danger to health & safety, bullying, harassment including sexual harassment, discrimination, regulatory misreporting, questionable accounting, auditing and financial reporting practices, breach of law, unauthorized use, unethical / unfair practices or illegal activity occurring within an organization that may lead to internal financial, regulatory or reputational loss.

• Employees may report their concerns in confidence to his/her supervisor or one level above supervisor. The person with whom the information is shared would then be responsible to bring it to the knowledge of Ethics. Employees may also report concerns directly through the whistleblowing reporting channels.
• Email - Whistle blowers may report matters to Ethics through a dedicated email address whistle.blow@hbl.com
• Postal Mail - Whistle blowers may report such matters through Post-mail, addressed directly to Chief Human Resource Officer and Chief Internal Auditor at following addresses:
• Chief Human Resource Officer, 31st floor, SKY Towers, East Zone, Block 4, Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan
• Chief Internal Auditor 13th floor, HBL Plaza, I. I. Chundrigar Road, Karachi, Pakistan

All such mails should be marked “confidential” on the outer envelope and “whistle blowing” on the inside envelope for maximum confidentiality.

• Website Form – Whistle blower may report such matters through whistle blow form available at HBL’s website.
• For International Operations - In addition to the above, the stakeholders of international locations may also report their concerns to relevant Country Manager or Regional General Manager (RGM), who would then be responsible to bring it to the knowledge of CHRO HOK in line with the above procedures.

Confidentiality will be maintained within the limitations of law and policy and the legitimate needs of the investigation.​

Yes you should blow the whistle even in case you suspect a matter to be a wrong doing. The whistle blow unit will decide whether the matters for which whistle is blown are classified as improper, illegal, unethical or immoral practices.

You should state the facts with as much specific information as possible so that your allegations can be investigated properly; such as brief the matter with clarity (with the name of person/department/branch involved), money amount involved (if any), time since matter existed, evidence if any (documentary or descriptive), brief remedial action that you suggest.

After the matter is reported, the Bank’s relevant department will review your concern and initiate all necessary investigations. Further all appropriate actions will then be taken in accordance with the Bank’s established Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to address the concerns raised.

Matters relating to employee’s personal grievances concerning HR policies and practices, as well as customer complaints and disputes arising in the normal course of business, should be reported through the designated channels established by the Bank. Concerns related to HR practices, including performance appraisals, promotions, compensation, employee benefits, disciplinary actions, job postings, and similar matters, may be raised directly with Human Resources through the relevant HR Relationship Manager or via Speakup.hr@hbl.com.Customers have the right to raise their complaints related to service delivery and disputes as part of normal course of business to customer.complaints@hbl.com.

You can provide as much factual information as possible in order to allow the investigation to proceed. However, don’t obtain any evidence for which you do not have a right of access and don’t do your own investigation-leave that to the experts. ​

For routine complaints there is a designated customer resolution unit established by the bank. Account statements not received, customer grievances, incorrect record of particulars, transactions not processed are some of the examples of the routine complaints. All kind of these routine complaints shall be reported to the bank’s Customer Resolution Unit or Phone Banking instead of whistle blow unit.​

However, incase your complaints have not been responded after multiple escalations, you have one right to escalate it to the whistle blow channel.

Only those HR concerns may be reported which have an entity wide implications or which are significant in nature. Further whistle can also be blown in case of inconsistent implementation of HR policies which comes to the knowledge of the employee. However, this does NOT include complaints of personal nature involving the employee himself / herself.​

There is a separate channel to report your personal grievances related to HR matters and you may report these through Speakup.hr@hbl.com

To protect your confidentiality and the confidentiality of the investigation, it is advisable not to discuss the matter with friends and colleagues.​

As covered in the whistle blowing policy only those who are found to have acted maliciously will be subject to appropriate actions.​

Yes, safeguarding whistle blower is the foremost responsibility. Management will ensure that stakeholders will not be at risk of suffering any form of retribution as a result of concerns raised/ potential fraudulent practices reported by him/her; no matter whether the same are being proven or not; provided that he/she is acting in good faith and in a reasonable manner.

There is zero tolerance against harassment or victimization of anyone blowing the whistle. Any such act by the accused or other stakeholders, whether inside and outside of the bank’s premises will be treated as gross misconduct, which if proven, may result in disciplinary and/or other legal action(s) against the person involved.

Yes, you can. Kindly forward your request via the channels that you would like to withdraw the reported matter stating reasons for your action.