For KBC Group, controversial weapon systems cover both: Weapon systems which are prohibited by international (and national) law and Weapon systems for which there is a broad consensus that they should be banned.

These systems include: Nuclear weapons as banned by the 2017 UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Companies that are assessed to be involved in the production and/or development of controversial weapons are blacklisted by KBC through the KBC Group Policy on Blacklisted Companies.

When a company is assessed to be involved within the scope of the Blacklist, its majority shareholders will also be banned automatically from our business activities according to the procedures of the specific Zero Tolerance framework. So the parent company – towards the level of the ultimate parent – will be excluded and added to the Blacklist.

The KBC Blacklist strictly applies to all business activities which require / involve a direct relationship with a (potential) counterparty / customer on this KBC Blacklist, for instance:

• all forms of lending, including trade finance and bank guarantees;
• all deposits, including opening of accounts on behalf of new customers;
• all forms of leasing, including real estate;
• all investments, including in insurance and proprietary investments as well as investments in third party funds, providing with regard to the latter that their own investments in companies listed on the KBC Blacklist exceed 5% of their total assets;
• all market activities;
• all insurance activities;
• all procurement activities.