The Code of Conduct of the Danish Bar and Law Society is at the core of our business
As a law firm, we not only advise clients on compliance and adherence to rules and codes of conduct. We must also make sure that we are compliant ourselves in terms of governance, anti-corruption, ethics, and compliance. We are subject to the Code of Conduct of the Danish Bar and Law Society governing lawyers’ conduct.
The Disciplinary Board of the Danish Bar and Law Society and the courts set the legal standard for “good legal practice”, which must at all times reflect changes in society.
The Code of Conduct is intended to ensure that lawyers always act in the interest of their clients and in accordance with the law, and that they preserve the integrity and credibility of the legal system. The Code regulates, inter alia, lawyers’ integrity, duty of non-disclosure, duty of good faith, impartiality, and competence. The Code also includes rules on lawyers’ relations to their clients, the legal system, and the public. Lawyers must:
- always act in the client’s interest, which is a first priority in all matters
- protect client confidentiality and avoid conflicts of interest
- always act honestly and so as to preserve the integrity and credibility of the legal system
- avoid acting contrary to the law or in a manner that undermines justice
- have sufficient competence to perform their work properly. This requires ongoing supplementary training and updating of professional knowledge.
The Code of Conduct of the Danish Bar and Law Society guides us in our daily work. The Code provides the setting for our targeted initiatives to ensure that we remain compliant at all times.
Compliance
We define compliance as compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) rules, with the GDPR, with IT security policies, with matter-specific insider lists, with securities trading rules, and with the Code of Conduct for the Danish Bar and Law Society. Organisationally, our Risk & Compliance team is responsible for our internal day-to-day compliance activities. The team ensures that all employees comply with internal polices and processes.
Compliance training
Risk & Compliance ensures that all employees every year receive compliance training in relation to e.g. conflicting interests, code of conduct for lawyers, IT security, GDPR, DAC6, money laundering, etc.
Our Ethics Committee offers all new employees code of conduct compliance training, which also includes digital training in conflict of interest searches and training in the Code of Conduct.
Money laundering inspection
In 2022, our Chief Protection Officer, Christina Helbro, attended a compliance event hosted by the Association of Danish Law Firms. Here, she shared her practical experience from a money laundering inspection that was carried out at Kromann Reumert’s office in 2022, explaining what material will be requested by the inspectors, which preparations are advisable, which reports should be easily accessible, and how often data must be validated.
Sanctions
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 had far-reaching consequences for many companies. We made a decision back then not to offer advice to Russian clients or clients controlled by Russians and not to accept assignments from such clients for the time being. This is also part of our KYC process.
EcoVadis
In 2022, we started using EcoVadis, a rating platform that has given us valuable insights into our sustainability work. By using this platform, we have made further progress in our efforts to be more sustainable. In 2023, we have set specific sustainability targets. Read more about EcoVadis and our sustainability targets.
Conflicts of interest
Before accepting a new assignment, we always carry out a conflict of interest check. In practice, the check is made by our controller team using an in-house search tool. The result of the search is sent to the responsible partner. In case of doubt, the partner contacts our Ethics Committee, which may instruct the partner not to accept the assignment.
Instructions of the Ethics Committee
Our Ethics Committee ensures compliance with the Code of Conduct and Kromann Reumert’s internal rules and policies. The Committee has five members, who are elected for one-year terms at the meeting of partners on the recommendation of the board of directors. It reports to the meeting of partners and the board of directors. The Committee makes sure that we comply with the Code of Conduct and other relevant rules, including rules on insider trading and the Danish Anti-Money Laundering Act, as agreed with the board of directors. The Committee may also:
1. disqualify a partner from accepting a client/an assignment,
2. lay down the terms on which Kromann Reumert may represent a client/accept an assignment,
3. instruct a partner to terminate a client relationship/ an assignment, either immediately or within a certain period,
4. ask a partner to provide further details on the client or the assignment within a certain period.
The board of directors hears complaints against the Committee’s decisions
IT security
We have strong focus on IT security and received ISAE 3000 certification for our efforts at the beginning of 2023.
The article was first published in our annual review and ESG report 2023. Explore the interactive publication.
Read our ESG report 2023
Get an insight into our work with sustainability and the 10 UN Global Compact principles in our most recent ESG report.
