OREANDA-NEWS. June 7, 2012. PETRONAS has revised its guidelines for business conduct in keeping with the principle of its corporate enhancement programme embarked on two years ago.

The new PETRONAS Code of Conduct and Business Ethics (CoBE) replaces the 2006 PETRONAS Code of Conduct and Discipline and the PETRONAS Guidelines for Business Conduct, and accommodates developments in local and international laws and practices and technological developments.

The new CoBE has also been harmonised with PETRONAS’ global operations to enhance consistency and support effective management oversight. It is being implemented in phases in its operations worldwide, commencing with the PETRONAS Group in Malaysia on 1st April 2012.

“The CoBE, together with PETRONAS’ shared values, serves as a guiding beacon on how we are all expected to conduct ourselves when carrying out our work and duties. It is designed not only to promote legal and procedural compliance, but also to provide a moral compass for individual behaviour to be in line with our shared values,” said PETRONAS President and Chief Executive Officer  Dato’ Shamsul Azhar Abbas.

The CoBE contains detailed standards for ethical conduct and behaviour expected of every applicable individual or parties, including all employees and directors within the PETRONAS Group world-wide.

“We also expect that all contractors, sub-contractors, consultants, agents, representatives and others performing work or services for or on our behalf to comply with the relevant parts of the CoBE when performing such work or services,” said Dato’ Shamsul.

“In particular, the CoBE expressly prohibits improper solicitation, bribery and other corrupt activity not only by employees and directors but also by third parties working for or on our behalf group-wide,” he added.

The CoBE also includes the “no gifts” policy that prohibits the receiving and offering of gifts as parts of the efforts to prevent corruption and unethical practice.

To complement the objectives of the enhanced CoBE, PETRONAS has also introduced a Whistle-Blowing Policy that provides an avenue for all employees and members of the public to disclose any improper conduct within PETRONAS. These include fraud, bribery, abuse of power, conflict of interest, theft or embezzlement, misuse of company’s property and non-compliance with procedure.