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Client screening is designed to identify potential social, ethical or environmental issues associated with the client's business.
The process not only identifies risks to ANZ as a potential supporter of the business, but also opportunities for the client to improve their management of these issues, mitigating the risks these issues (if left unresolved) pose to their own business.
Where social and environmental issues are raised as part of the screening process, we identify specific actions the client should complete to manage those issues and these actions become part of the terms of any product or service provided by ANZ.
We also continue to monitor developments and keep in touch with the client as well as any stakeholders who contact us with concerns about the client and/or transaction.
We believe this is a key role for financial institutions and one which can add value for our clients. Companies committed to continuous improvement in their management of social, ethical and environmental issues and integrate that improvement into the way they do business are more likely to be sustainable in the long term, and therefore maximise shareholder value.
This is an important role for a bank, but also a challenging one. We can never meet the expectations of all of our stakeholders all of the time. However what we can do is to be as transparent as possible with our stakeholders about our objectives and the principles upon which we make our decisions. Read about how we are managing some particularly controversial issues.
There will be some situations where we cannot work with a client to manage social and environmental issues. Where the client is unable or unwilling to address the risks identified by ANZ, or where the risks identified cannot be managed in accordance with ANZ's, the product or service will be declined.
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