Tackling corruption

AEGON is determined to tackle incidents of corruption and malpractice in all its businesses around the world. AEGON companies have detailed procedures in place for complaints regarding accounting, international financial controls and auditing issues. These procedures operate in conjunction with national laws, as well as with separate provisions, set out at country unit level, to deal with issues ranging from handling confidential information to tackling money laundering. AEGON also has a number of additional measures in this area:

• AEGON sets out clear rules in its Code of Conduct and elsewhere designed to prevent corruption, bribery, money laundering, insider dealing and other forms of malpractice.
• AEGON's Global Ethics Line provides employees with an opportunity to report, in confidence, any suspected violations of the company's Code of Conduct.
• AEGON also has a number of educational programs in place designed to raise awareness among employees of the risks posed by issues such as money laundering and insider dealing.
• In 2009, AEGON's Executive Board adopted a Global Financial Crime Notification, Investigation and Reporting procedure, which provides a clear definition of what constitutes financial crime and will help track incidents of fraud, corruption and money laundering across the company.

Each quarter, AEGON records incidents of fraud involving employees, intermediaries or external parties at its operations around the world. This information is summarized and reported to the company's Group Risk & Capital Committee, and is part of AEGON's overall approach to risk management.

Six incidents of fraud involving AEGON employees were reported in 2009, one in the United Kingdom and five in the Netherlands. In each case, action was taken against the employee involved.

Please see also 'Fraud involving intermediaries and external parties.