Employee Welfare – All officers and employees are to be selected, engaged, and compensated based on qualification and performance. They shall be treated fairly and accorded respect and dignity. Their individual and collective rights shall not be violated. The Company shall maintain a safe, productive and conducive workplace and comply with all applicable health, safety and environmental laws. In this regard, company employees are covered by rules against the use of prohibited drugs and working under the influence of liquor. Opportunities for career advancement shall be provided based on clear performance and qualifications criteria. The Company shall also provide learning and development opportunities for professional growth.
Succession Planning Policy – The policy provides for an effective Succession Planning program that addresses human resource requirements for mission critical positions, provide value to the Company’s employee development efforts and ensures stability and continuity of the Company mission and goals through smooth organizational and operational transitioning.
Creditors’ Rights – The Company respect agreements with creditors, manage loans according to lending objectives, ensure timely repayment of loans and interests, thoroughly honor loan conditions as agreed, and competently operate the business to assure creditors about the Company’s healthy financial standing and loan repayment capabilities.
Supplier Selection – The Company adheres to the principles of healthy competition, equal opportunity and fair treatment of business partners. As such, selection of suppliers follows an open, competitive and non-discriminatory process. SM Prime implements a vendor enrolment process that screens qualifications of vendors/suppliers the Company will deal with. Such qualifications include legality of entity or business, adequacy of financial strength, compliance with SM Prime policies such as conflict of interest disclosure requirements and ethical standards, and support to SM Prime’s environmental missions, health and safety culture.
Conflict of Interest – All directors and employees are prohibited from engaging in transactions that result in conflicts of interest and are mandated to promptly disclose actual or perceived conflicts of interest, such as acceptance of gifts, interest in businesses of competitors, participation in other organization or activities and close personal relationships in the Company or its affiliates and subsidiaries. Conflicted directors are required to inhibit themselves from participating in board meetings and are specifically identified in the Company’s Definitive Information Statement submitted to the SEC.
Acceptance of Gifts and Travel Sponsored by Business Partners (Anti-Corruption Policy) – The Company prohibits the solicitation or acceptance of gifts in any form from a business partner, directly or indirectly, by any director, officer or employee of the Company. The policy is intended to ensure integrity in procurement practices and the selection of the most appropriate business partner in each instance.
Insider Trading – All directors, officers, employees and other covered persons as defined in the Insider Trading Policy are prohibited from trading in SM Prime’s shares, five trading days before and two trading days after the disclosure of any material, stock price-sensitive information. SM Prime issues reminders of the “trading ban”, before the release of financial reports or the disclosure of other material information to ensure compliance with the policy. Trading done by Directors and officers are also reported within three (3) business days of the transaction.
Related Party Transactions – Full disclosure of the details, nature, extent and all other material information on transactions with related parties in the Company’s financial statements and quarterly and annual reports to the SEC and PSE shall be observed at all times. Details of transactions entered into by the Company with related parties are required to be reviewed by independent directors in accordance with the RPT Policy, to ensure these are conducted at arms’ length.
Policy on Accountability, Integrity and Vigilance (Whistleblowing Policy) – This was adopted to create an environment where concerns and issues, made in good faith, may be raised freely within the organization. Any director, officer, employee customers, shareholders, vendors, suppliers and other stakeholders may accomplish an incident report on suspected or actual violations of the Code of Ethics, the Company’s Code of Conduct or any other applicable policy, law or regulation. The policy provides for a conduct of investigation of the incident report. The policy also includes provisions for non-retaliation against filer of the incident report. Upon receipt of the incident report, Management conducts an investigation on its merit, subject to due process, and impose applicable penalties and sanctions thereafter.
Guidelines on Placement of Advertisements – The Company prohibits the placement of advertisements in publications that solicit for such ad placement prior to the release of the official results of an awarding process conducted by the publication and where SM Prime or any of its subsidiaries, director, officer or employee is one of the nominees vying for the award. The Company may consider placing advertisements in such publications as part of its over-all marketing strategy, but only after the release of the results of the awarding process and where it will not create reasonable doubt that such ad placement influenced in any way an award given to the Company or to any of its subsidiaries, director, officer or employee.
Alternative Dispute Resolution System – The Company establishes an alternative dispute resolution system to settle intra-corporate disputes in an amicable and effective manner. As such, the Board of Directors normally engages the services of a neutral third party to assist in the resolution of issues between the Company and stockholders, third parties and regulatory authorities. The alternative dispute resolution system may include arbitration, mediation, conciliation, early neutral evaluation, mini-trial, or any combination thereof, as the Company and the circumstances sees fit.
Privacy Policy – SM Prime Holdings, Inc., including its parent company, subsidiaries, affiliates, and related companies, (collectively, the “SM Prime Group”) collect, process and store personal data about you when you avail of their products and services, including its websites and mobile applications, participate in their events, apply for a job with them, or enter into any contract with them (“Services”), provided that you have given your express consent. This privacy policy has been prepared to better serve any person who avails of the Services of the SM Prime Group to inform them on how their personal data are being collected, used and secured.