“At VakıfBank, we draw on our deep-rooted legacy and strong sense of social responsibility to create lasting value for our stakeholders, our society, and the environment. By focusing on exports, investment, and production, we continue to support the balanced and sustainable growth of the Turkish economy. We believe that sustainability strengthens our financial and non-financial risk management approach; that managing Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks provides a competitive advantage in the sector. As a bank that adapts swiftly to global change and transformation in the banking sector, responds quickly to evolving customer expectations and needs, and earns trust through its deep-rooted foundation culture, we conduct all our operations with a responsible banking approach. With our leading role in international markets, our innovative products and services, and our position as a trendsetter in the industry, we will continue to support the sustainable and resilient growth of the Turkish economy.”

Chairman of the Board

“At VakıfBank, we remain committed to our goal of maintaining an active and leading position in the Turkish banking sector through the steps we take and the initiatives we implement in the field of sustainable banking. At VakıfBank, we remain firmly committed to supporting the principles of the United Nations Global Compact—the world’s largest sustainability initiative. As a reflection of our commitment to placing sustainability at the core of our corporate strategy, we restructured our organizational framework in 2024 and established the Sustainable Banking Department. We’ve made responsible and sustainable banking the cornerstone of everything we do.  We became the first Turkish bank to have its science-based targets officially approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).  Through the transactions we carried out, we remained the Turkish bank with the highest volume of sustainability-linked funding in 2024. As a reflection of the trust placed in our Bank, we will continue to secure long-term, cost-effective funding from international markets through our foreign financing transactions in the coming period. At VakıfBank, we place innovation and sustainability at the heart of our business. We leverage our financial strength not only to drive economic growth, but also to protect natural resources and help ensure a livable world for future generations.”

General Manager

Globalization, technological developments, and evolving regulations are constantly transforming the nature of risks faced by the banking sector. Adapting to this rapidly changing risk environment is critically important for ensuring long-term sustainable growth, strength financial performance, and the effective management of climate and environmental risks. In this context, VakıfBank regards risk management not only as a compliance tool, but also as a cornerstone that supports strategic decision-making processes under changing market and regulatory conditions, while also covering climate and sustainability risks.

Our risk management activities are carried out in accordance with legal regulations and international best practices, in line with the regulations of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA). The Internal Audit Department, the Internal Control Department, the Risk Management Department, and the Compliance and Legislation Department — whose duties and responsibilities are clearly defined — work under the supervision of the Audit Committee in a coordinated manner to ensure holistic risk management.

Primary responsibility for risk management lies with the Risk Management Department. In the field of risks stemming from Information Technologies (IT), the Information Security Department is responsible. Within our Bank, a Risk Management Committee is also in place.

Three Lines of Defense

In order to effectively manage not only the first- and second-structural block risks but also sustainability and climate risks, our Bank applies the Three Lines of Defense approach:

First Line: Business units are directly responsible for managing risks in their own operations and in the delivery of products/services to customers.

Second Line: Ensures the identification, monitoring, and reporting of risks. It oversees the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of risk management practices across processes, systems, and the institution. It is responsible for setting control standards to achieve risk management objectives such as compliance with laws, regulations, and acceptable ethical conduct, as well as internal control, information and technology security, sustainability, and quality assurance.

Third Line: The Internal Audit Department, which evaluates and audits the effectiveness of internal systems, provides independent and objective assurance to senior management and the Board of Directors on whether banking activities are conducted in compliance with the Banking Law and other related legislation, as well as the Bank’s internal strategies, policies, principles, and objectives. It also ensures that governance, internal control, and risk management systems are effective and adequate, and reports its findings to the Board of Directors and the Audit Committee.

Risk Culture and Policy Framework

Risk management practices are carried out through policies, action plans, implementation procedures, and limits determined in line with VakıfBank’s risk–return profile and the nature and scope of its activities. These practices cover the identification, measurement, and reporting of risks on both a solo and consolidated basis, as well as the monitoring of total capital requirements and liquidity adequacy associated with risk profiles.

VakıfBank conducts awareness activities to strengthen its corporate risk culture and encourages participation at all levels for the proactive identification and management of risks. Risk management policies and procedures are prepared taking into account national regulations and international standards and are approved by the Board of Directors. In addition, in order to assess the internal and external risks the Bank may face, take necessary measures, and identify opportunities arising from the economic context while ensuring the necessary awareness throughout the organization, various sensitivity analyses, internal scenario analyses, stress tests, and similar studies are also conducted, and the results of these studies are reported regularly.
 

At VakıfBank, we embrace transparency and accountability as the foundation of sustainable growth, sound financial performance, and public trust. This approach goes beyond mere legal compliance; it also underpins our efforts to fulfill our responsibilities to stakeholders and to respond strategically to changing market conditions.

We believe that corporate governance is strengthened through proactive risk management in compliance with national regulations and international standards, prevention of conflicts of interest, and ethical banking practices that enhance transparency. In this context, we share the information and documents required to be provided to stakeholders transparently on our website.

In line with our ethical banking approach, we implement an “Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy” and ensure that all our employees are made aware in this area. We also act proactively in combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, thereby supporting the security of the financial system. We establish effective feedback mechanisms by gathering the views of all our internal and external stakeholders through channels such as the Ethics Hotline and Whistleblowing Mechanism.

In accordance with our principle of transparency, we calculate our greenhouse gas emissions across all our locations and have them verified by independent accredited organizations. We also assess and report our water footprint under the same principles. By doing so, we continue to generate value for relevant parties through transparency, consistency, and reliability. Furthermore, we carry out our sustainability reporting in line with GRI, TSRS, and SASB standards, ensuring international comparability and auditability in our reports.

In the context of tax transparency, our Bank is committed to acting in line with the principles of sustainable public tax governance and conducting its tax practices on the basis of the rule of law and accountability. Our Bank exercises the utmost diligence in providing financing for sustainable projects and in adding value to them through potential tax incentives. We position our tax strategies not only to ensure legal compliance but also as part of our ethical responsibility to society and tax fairness. In tax management, we apply the principles of alignment with the OECD’s global tax practices, not transferring the value created to low-tax jurisdictions, and avoiding the use of so-called tax havens for tax avoidance or tax evasion. We believe that taxation should be considered an independent and strategic component of our corporate governance system. As part of our ESG performance, we view tax management as representing a proactive approach that contributes to sustainability. Accordingly, detailed information on our Bank’s tax practices can be found in Section 3 of the Independent Audit Report included in our Integrated Annual Report.

At VakıfBank, we continue to carry out all our activities within a transparent, ethical, and accountable framework.