Ethics & Integrity

Prysmian’s Code of Ethics is the basis of our company constitution. It is a charter of rights and moral duties and defines the ethical and social responsibilities of every person in the organisation.

The Code consists of three pillars:

1. Ethics in business activities: the pursuit of profit does not justify improper behaviour. Profit must be achieved with respect for the rules and our competitors, and by fair and transparent actions that anticipate and meet market needs, thus generating value for distribution to all stakeholders.
2. Ethics in internal relations: we are aware of the importance of our ties with employees. We strengthen these by respecting their rights, expectations and needs, and by facilitating improvement in their living conditions and professional growth. The individual is central to our future development as a company.
3. Ethics in environmental and social matters: given our strong belief in the principle of sustainable development, we operate worldwide with respect for the environment and local communities; at the same time, we encourage the responsible use of resources and promote local projects designed to enhance well-being in the areas concerned.

All companies within the Prysmian Group agree to comply strictly with the Code of Ethics, applicable regulations, and the rules and procedures adopted by the Group.
 

Our Code of Ethics complies with international best practices and adopts the principles embodied in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Fundamental Conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Supporting our Code of Ethics

Integrity is a key value of the Prysmian Group. In order to ensure it is upheld at all levels within the company, we have established a compliance organisation to monitor observance of our Code of Ethics and other relevant compliance policies.

The organisation comprises the following roles:

• Chief Compliance Officer: manages all compliance policies and procedures, including the Code of Ethics, while reporting to the Control and Risks Committee and the Chief Executive Officer of the Group.
• Local Compliance Officers: present at every Prysmian Group company to ensure the consistent implementation of compliance policies.

Raising employee awareness

With the goal of ensuring employee awareness of all our policies relating to ethical conduct, we introduced an e-learning module on our intranet. Completion of this module is obligatory for all Prysmian management and staff.

New versions of this on-line application are made available on the Group’s intranet and staff are notified when these updates are available.

With this approach, we aim to keep our employees continually engaged with our policies and stimulate greater understanding of their importance to us a company.

Download our full Code of Ethics

The elimination of corruption and unfair competition is taken extremely seriously by the Prysmian Group. To that end, the compliance policies enshrined in our Code of Conduct include an Anti-Bribery Policy and an Antitrust Code of Conduct. Both documents are published on the corporate intranet where all employees may access them and any updates are communicated across the company.

The Anti-Bribery Policy
 

This policy prohibits the corruption of both public officials and private individuals. It requires all Prysmian employees to comply with its rules and regulations and, if the former are less restrictive, all the anti-corruption legislation in force in the countries in which they work or are active.

Under this policy, no employee may make, promise to make, offer or approve the payment of anything of value, whether directly or indirectly, for the benefit of public officials, unless in compliance with all current laws and to the extent expressly allowed by Group Policy.

For this purpose, the term ‘public officials’ means the employees of a public agency or company controlled by the government. This includes commercial entities, international public organisations, political parties or party officials, or candidates for public office.

Download our full Anti-Bribery Policy

The Antitrust Code of Conduct

This code describes the issues relating to the application of Italian and EU competition policy with regard to agreements and the abuse of dominant positions. The specific situations arising must be assessed against this framework on a case-by-case basis.

Download our full Antitrust Code of Conduct
 

We strongly encourage partially owned affiliates and third parties to adopt similar policies and practices, especially if they are located, or do business, in a country that has signed the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.

At Prysmian, we actively promote commercial practices that will ensure a responsible and sustainable chain of supply and that ethical, economic, environmental and social standards are met throughout the company and throughout the value chain. These principles are enshrined in our Code of Business Conduct.

The Code applies to all employees and those who do business with us. The principles set down in the Code cover all the business transactions and daily activities of our employees, Group entities and their suppliers, commercial partners, commercial agents, sub-contractors and distributors.

The document covers the following matters: business integrity (fair trade, conflicts of interest, gifts and offers of entertainment, corruption, accountability); human rights and those of workers (under-age working and slavery, health and safety at work, non-discrimination, freedom of association and collective bargaining); environment (principle of precautions, use of raw materials and compliance, use of energy, greenhouse gases and other emissions, water consumption, waste production and recycling).

Our Code of Business Conduct and the Group’s application of the related guidelines are highlighted to suppliers at the scouting and qualification stages.
 

The Code is available to all employees our intranet and any updates are broadcast across the company.

Download our full Code of Business Conduct

We manage activities that benefit local communities with the goal to define common rules for establishing corporate citizenship and philanthropy initiatives relating to our business operations.

We believe that access to energy and telecommunications is a prerequisite for the economic and social development of local communities and countries.

For this reason, the corporate citizenship and philanthropy activities we promote must support initiatives that facilitate access to energy and telecommunications for local communities, with particular reference to those in developing countries.

We undertake to disclose information about major funding initiatives in support of local communities and sponsorships in our Sustainability Report, and where possible, on our website.

Download our full Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy Policy