Place strong governance at the core of our activities

Managing our business with integrity, and maintaining compliance with the highest ethical standards contributes to lasting prosperity. It demonstrates that we care for all our stakeholders in every country where we operate.

Ethics

We have policy and procedures in place to ensure compliance with corporate ethical strategy and European and national regulations. This includes development of sustainability, ethics and human rights awareness and performance throughout our value.

Ethics and Anti-corruption Compliance

Given our role as a trusted part of the defence community, MBDA is committed to comply with the law, and to fight corruption. Our Group applies the highest ethical standards in all the countries where we operate, and we have zero tolerance to any breach of our Code of Ethics and anti-corruption programme, including mandated trainings for employees.

Code of Ethics

Code of Ethics

The Code of Ethics serves as a tool to help us operate at the highest ethical standards by setting out the principles that underpin our values and actions. It also explains how we should conduct ourselves.

Code of Ethics
Code of Ethics

Code of Ethics

The Code of Ethics serves as a tool to help us operate at the highest ethical standards by setting out the principles that underpin our values and actions. It also explains how we should conduct ourselves.

Complying with laws and regulations relating to our job, committing to integrity in our daily work and seeking guidance and reporting concerns altogether upholds our principle of actions. These principles apply when we manage our business, working together, protecting assets and information and being socially responsible.

Our Code of Ethics applies to everyone within the company, regardless of location or role. All employees are expected to assume responsibility for performing their duties with fairness and integrity. It is implemented through regularly updated policies and procedures, both at Group and National level.

Integrity Line

Integrity Line

Employees are encouraged to ask direct questions to their immediate manager, someone else in their management structure, the Human Resources Directorate, the Legal Directorate or the ECR Department.

Integrity Line
Integrity Line

Integrity Line

The Code of Ethics cannot cover every situation that we may face within our everyday role. We may find ourselves faced with a situation that we are not sure how to resolve. Employees are encouraged to ask direct questions to their immediate manager, someone else in their management structure, the Human Resources Directorate, the Legal Directorate or the ECR Department.

Recognising that MBDA employees might face a situation that seems contrary to our Code of Ethics or the law, we encourage employees to speak up and report violations in good faith and protect them and any person facilitating the report of violations from any retaliation from any employee and from the company. Reporters can use our Integrity Line. The identity of the reporting person is kept confidential.

Anti-Corruption Management System

Anti-Corruption Management System

MBDA rejects corruption of any kind, under any circumstances, whether public or private, active or passive, direct or indirect and applies a zero tolerance principle.

Anti-Corruption Management System
Anti-Corruption Management System

Anti-Corruption Management System

MBDA is engaged in the fight against corruption. Corruption hinders economic growth, diverts tax revenues, stales democracy, destroys trust and ruins equality. MBDA rejects corruption of any kind, under any circumstances, whether public or private, active or passive, direct or indirect and applies a zero tolerance principle. This zero tolerance approach applies to the entire Group (wholly owned and controlled entities), internally to its employees (included contingency workers), its directors and officers, and externally to its suppliers or contractors, and its agents or consultants wherever in the world they are based or operate.

As an integrated Group, MBDA operates its Anti-Bribery Management System across its companies in France, the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain. MBDA’s Anti-Bribery Management System has been certified by independent certification body LRQA accredited by ACCREDIA, as meeting the internationally recognised standard ISO 37001. The certification evidences the effectiveness of the system and the strength of commitment to anti-bribery compliance by the 14,000+ people working within MBDA.

Our anti-bribery and corruption programme. It addresses both hard and soft corruption risks, upstream in the supply chain and downstream in the sales function, covering all forms and shapes of corruption from monetary bribes to improper sponsorship and donations, inadequate gifts and hospitality, or conflicts of interest, via ghost employees or partners and disguised transactions. Anti-corruption checks are performed on our third parties from suppliers to business partners.

Human rights

Human Rights

MBDA fully subscribes to the international instruments establishing prohibition of forced labour, elimination of all forms of child labour, right to dignity at work, freedom of association or freedom of expression, assembly and association.

Human rights
Human rights

Human Rights

As stated in our Code of Ethics, MBDA fully subscribes to the international instruments establishing prohibition of forced labour, elimination of all forms of child labour, right to dignity at work, freedom of association or freedom of expression, assembly and association.

Those principles are in particular embodied in the ILO’s Core Conventions, the 1996 United Nations covenants on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.

MBDA is committed to abiding by these fundamental principles with respect to its employees, suppliers and providers, and to ensuring a safe and healthy working climate, free from any threat or violence.

MBDA also states its adherence to the national laws and regulations of the countries where it is located and in particular to the principles enshrined in the UK Modern Slavery Act.

  • Code of Ethics

  • Integrity Line

  • Anti-Corruption Management System

  • Human Rights

Consolidated ESG and Sustainability Governance throughout Our Group

We have established under the responsibility of the Group General Secretary an ESG directorate and an ESG Committee. The ESG directorate defines and steers the Group ESG strategy, monitors specific KPIs, and promotes the ESG culture throughout the company.

Individual national companies are able to build on this approach. This is so they can address specific national legislation and regulation and customer needs, like for example the UK government procurement policy notices around social value and carbon reduction, the Italian Legislative Decree No. 231/2001, the 2017 law related to duty of due care in France, or the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains.

Raise ESG and Sustainability Awareness and Performance throughout Our Supply Chain

To be truly effective, our ESG and sustainability vision cannot stop at our door. We develop strong ties with small- and medium-sized businesses, and promote ethics and responsibility in our partnerships. 2022 saw the birth of our Sustainable Supply Chain Charter. We are strengthening our supplier due-diligence and onboarding process. Our Procurement Team is being trained on ESG and sustainability topics, in particular human rights.

Raise awareness

Linking ESG and Sustainability to Pay

We have introduced ESG and sustainability pay incentives to drive positive behaviour and support change. KPIs related to CO2 emissions, safety and gender equality are integrated as long-term incentives for all Executive Committee members. 

We will extend these incentives more widely in the coming years.

See our ESG and sustainability reports and our Integrity procedures

Find all documents MBDA publishes on various ESG and sustainability topics, and Integrity procedures.

See all our reports
Reports