Occupational Health and Safety, Civil Defense, and Fire Safety

The Bank ensures employees’ rights to safe working conditions and prioritizes their health and well-being over any other results of work activities. All employees are covered by the occupational health and safety management system.

In accordance with regulatory acts and internal policies on occupational health and safety, the Bank regularly conducts training, briefings, and knowledge assessments for employees and responsible personnel. The Bank also trains staff from contractors working under service agreements, as well as interns and temporary workers.

All workplace incidents are investigated in line with the labor laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Incident identification during investigations is not conducted, as the Bank is not classified as a high-risk organization. In 2024, there were no workplace accidents or fatalities. No fires occurred in any Bank premises or adjacent areas.

In 2024, the following activities were carried out:

• Online training for 10 designated safety personnel through a specialized organization, including examinations and certification;
• Introductory safety briefings for 153 newly hired employees.

The Bank regularly hosts sports events to promote a healthy lifestyle among employees. Participation in athletic competitions, medical insurance, and a 50 % reimbursement of gym memberships all encourage employees to stay active despite sedentary job routines.

Beyond physical activity promotion, the Bank places significant emphasis on employee health and operational safety. Under the “It’s Raining – Take an Umbrella” campaign, employees can borrow a corporate umbrella from the HR and Organizational Activities Management Department. In 2024, the Bank regularly conducted workplace safety briefings, including targeted, refresher, and unscheduled instructions covering emergencies such as fire or earthquake. All Bank buildings and branches are equipped with primary fire extinguishing means, including fire panels, extinguishers, fire hoses, and first aid kits.

The absence rate due to illness was 0.02 %, with the following safety metrics recorded:

• Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) – 0 %;
• Lost Time Accident Frequency Rate (LTAFR) – 0 %;
• Accident Severity Rate – 0 %;
• Fatal Injury Frequency Rate – 0 %;
• Occupational Disease Rate – 0 %;
• Lost Days Rate – 0 %.

The Bank also provides additional support for employees living in ecologically critical or high-radiation-risk areas. As part of its current activities, the Bank takes the following measures:

• employees of the Kyzylorda branch living in ecologically critical area and those of the East Kazakhstan and Semey regional branches living in radiation risk areas are provided with additional paid leave.
• employees of the East Kazakhstan and Semey regional branches living in high-radiation-risk areas are provided with additional maternity leave.
• additional labor remuneration is provided to employees living in ecologically critical and high-radiation-risk areas, in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Civil defense drills included evacuation exercises, rescue operations, and fire suppression simulations. These were conducted in the Bank’s Central Office and regional branches, with results documented in the test reports.

In the area of fire safety, the following activities were carried out in 2024:

• in accordance with the provisions of the Instructions on Fire Safety Measures for the Buildings of the Bank’s Head Office and Branches, fire safety inspections of the Bank’s buildings, premises and territories were carried out, which are registered in the report checklists;
• during the year, online fire safety training of 64 managers and responsible personnel was conducted under the fire technical minimum program and certificates were given.

Persons in charge of military records of the Central Office and Branches of the Bank carried out military registration duties for reservists and conscripts.

Any delays in obtaining military IDs were addressed during 2024. The Bank ensured timely reporting of conscripts and reserve officers to local defense departments as requested.

The role of the Security Department in achieving the Bank’s goals is fulfilled by ensuring the safe functioning of the Bank, preventing internal and external threats to its security, protecting the legitimate interests of the Bank, its shareholders, management and staff from unlawful encroachments, as well as enhancing the Bank’s image and increasing profits by ensuring the quality of services and customer security.

95 % of the Department’s employees have extensive experience in operational and investigative units of law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as financial organizations (second-tier banks), which speaks in favor of the qualitative composition of the Department.

Most of the employees of the Department have sufficient professional training in the field of economic, physical and information security.

The staff of the division has knowledge and skills acquired in the course of training in economic (enterprise and business security), personnel and information security (IT auditor, information security management system, hacking, etc.), procurement, fire safety, as well as ensuring the physical security of protected facilities, including in emergency situations (banks, warehouses of inventory, archives, life support facilities (heat and water supply) and transport (air and railway facilities), special facilities of special importance (warehouses of fuel and lubricants, ammunition, etc.).

The Bank also imposes similar requirements for ensuring physical security of guarded facilities on its security service providers, Kuzet Motors LLP, whose employees regularly attend relevant courses at the premises of their security company.

The Security Department also actively counters fraud by analyzing trends, identifying increasing or decreasing fraud risks, and implementing measures to prevent both internal and external fraudulent activity.

Fraud cases in 2024 were primarily detected through verbal and written reports from individuals and customers via the fraud and corruption hotline, as well as internal audit, risk management, and security investigations.

A total of 22 fraud cases were registered, including 6 internal and 16 external cases involving customers or third parties.

Compared to 2023, a significant decrease in fraud cases, especially external ones, was recorded.

In 2024, the Bank successfully prevented 100 % of attempted customer deposit thefts by internet fraudsters. No internal investigations into digital channel fraud were conducted by the Security Department.

In 2022, a new Anti-Fraud Department was established to protect the Bank and its customers from fraud events during the use of the Bank’s digital products (Internet banking, remote account management, etc.), and to prevent operational risks associated with fraud in these systems.

Thanks to the Anti-Fraud Concept, the Bank is currently working to strengthen anti-fraud measures by acquiring and introducing a special information system for fraud monitoring of transactions in Internet banking (anti-fraud system) to protect against external attacks.

The Security Department continues to investigate misuse related to the government housing program involving pension savings withdrawals. As the authorized operator for managing special accounts for lump‑sum pension withdrawals from the Unified Accumulative Pension Fund JSC (UAPF) for housing or medical purposes, the Bank monitors for illegal actions by customers or healthcare providers who misuse or cash out pension funds.

In fall 2024, the Security Department uncovered several illegal schemes for obtaining mortgage loans without initial down payments.

For instance, in October 2024, a regional Security Sector completed an investigation revealing that customers had used forged birth certificates to unlawfully transfer deposits, take out housing loans, and withdraw collateralized funds following notary execution orders. Six such incidents were identified.

The investigation found that a real estate agency director, working with agency staff, notaries, and private bailiffs, orchestrated a fraudulent scheme for personal gain.

Similarly, another regional Security Sector identified 18 military personnel who received housing payments and worked with the agency to obtain mortgages illegally.

Since early 2024, the Bank recorded 207 cases in which funds from collateral deposits were withdrawn due to fraudulent schemes involving real estate agencies. These schemes allowed customers to bypass the required 50 % down payment by having the Bank transfer collateral funds to private bailiffs after notary instructions, effectively issuing mortgages without any upfront payment.

Internal investigations were conducted, and the Bank submitted reports to law enforcement authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan to prosecute the individuals involved.

The Security Department continues to take all necessary measures to ensure safe functioning of the Bank, prevent internal and external threats to its security, protect the legitimate interests of the Bank and its customers from unlawful encroachments and enhance the security of the Bank’s personnel and property.