Ascendas REIT - Annual Report 2021

Corporate Governance The Manager’s employees adhere to CLI’s Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Risk Management Policy (FBC Risk Management Policy). The FBC Risk Management Policy reiterates the strong stance against fraud, bribery and corruption, and sets the overarching approach and standards in managing fraud, bribery and corruption risks in an integrated, systematic and consistent manner. The Manager’s stance against bribery and corruption is also reiterated by Management during its regular staff communication sessions. Whistle-Blowing Policy A whistle-blowing policy has been put in place by the Manager which sets out the procedures for the Manager’s employees and parties who have dealings with the Manager to make a report to the Manager on misconduct or wrongdoings relating to the Manager and its officers. Procedures are put in place to provide such employees and parties with well defined, accessible and trusted channels to report suspected fraud, corruption, dishonest practices or other improprieties in the workplace, and for the independent investigation of any reported incidents and appropriate follow up action. The Manager ensures that the identity of the whistle-blower is kept confidential. The objective of this policy is to encourage the reporting of such matters so that employees or external parties making any reports in good faith will be able to do so with the confidence that they will be treated fairly and, to the extent possible, be protected from reprisal. The Manager is committed to ensuring protection of the whistle-blower against detrimental or unfair treatment. The ARC is responsible for oversight and monitoring of the investigation of whistle-blowing reports made in good faith. The ARC reviews all whistle- blowing complaints at its scheduled meetings. Independent, thorough investigation and appropriate follow up actions are taken. The outcome of each investigation is reported to the ARC. All employees of the Manager are informed of this policy which is made available on CLI Group’s intranet. Business Continuity Management The Manager has implemented a Business Continuity Management (BCM) programme that puts in place the prevention, detection, response and, business recovery and resumption measures to minimise the impact of adverse business interruptions or unforeseen events on the Ascendas Reit Group’s operations and also has in place a Business Continuity Plan (BCP). Under the BCP, Management has identified the critical business functions, processes and resources, and is able to tap on a pool of CLI Group’s employees who are trained under a Business Psychological Resilience Programme to provide peer support to colleagues following the occurrence of adverse events. As part of the BCP, periodic desktop exercises and drills, simulating different scenarios, are carried out to stress-test the effectiveness of processes, procedures and escalation protocols. This holistic approach under the BCP serves to ensure organisational and staff preparedness and readiness to deal with adverse business disruptions such as acts of terrorism, cyber attacks, data breaches and epidemics. This approach aims to minimise financial loss to Ascendas Reit, allow the Manager to continue to function as the manager of Ascendas Reit and mitigate any negative effects that the disruptions could have on the Manager’s reputation, operations and ability to remain in compliance with relevant laws and regulations. The Manager has also acquired insurance policies for the Ascendas Reit Group on business interruption events. Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Measures As a holder of a Capital Markets Services License issued by MAS, the Manager abides by the MAS’ guidelines on the prevention of money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism. Under these guidelines, the main obligations of the Manager are: (a) evaluation of risk; (b) customer due diligence; (c) suspicious transaction reporting; (d) record keeping; (e) employee and CMSL Representative screening; and (f) training. Ascendas Reit 142