Ethical Business Policy

2.1 Legislation and Regulations

  • RANK INTERNATIONAL Shall operate in compliance with relevant national and international legislations/regulations as applicable in the countries in which they operate.
  • All personnel are expected and directed to comply with all applicable laws and regulations as well as all internal RANK INTERNATIONAL rules and policies relating to their business activities.
  • Compliance team maintains the list of applicable legal and regulatory requirements and the same is followed for compliance on a day-to-day basis. Necessary records of requirements and its compliance are maintained.

2.2 Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing, Other Financial Offences

  • RANK INTERNATIONAL Recognizes the fact that entities in the gems and jewellery sector have to take on the onus of analysing their potential vulnerabilities to money laundering and implement specific steps that are required for protection against abuse by criminals.
  • RANK INTERNATIONAL Shall act in accordance with national laws with respect to auditing of its financial accounts and maintaining internal controls as guided by various regulations. Following acts and international guidelines are considered while establishing company-level policies:
    • Prevention of Money laundering Act 2002
    • FATF 40 Recommendations and 8 special recommendations
  • It is the responsibility of concerned personnel to know and understand the relevant money laundering/financial offences related legal, regulatory, and internal requirements as they apply to their jobs. Ignoring or not reporting suspicious activity that appears to be questionable may also be considered a violation of the Business Principles, depending on the seriousness of the non-conformance.
  • Compliance officers ensure all the critical steps such as KYC & KYS, Identification of suspicious transactions, reporting to management, and record-keeping as required by the local act and legislations are complied with.
  • Compliance officer carries out periodic reviews of AML/CFT compliances and submits his report to management on a Quarterly basis.

2.3 Anti-Bribery and Facilitation Payment Policy

  • The RANK INTERNATIONAL Shall ensure complete prohibition of Bribery and facilitation payment across the organization and in all the entities.
  • RANK INTERNATIONAL will not offer, accept, or countenance any payment, gift in kind, hospitality, expense, or promises as such that may compromise promises of fair competition.
  • Entity shall prohibit bribery and facilitation payment and shall comply with various rules and regulations of the land.

2.4 Gold & Platinum Group Of Metal Sourcing Policy

Our Company is concerned about environment and social impacts of irresponsible mining. We at RANK INTERNATIONAL shall ensure that all our gold suppliers are in compliance with gold sourcing guidelines (Dodd-Frank rules, DRC & other applicable legislation).

Further, we are committed to ensuring that sourcing of gold and precious metal products and articles thereof, are under the highest Social, Human Rights, and Environmental standard cautions of trade.

CAHRAs are:

  • Angola
  • Ivory Coast
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Liberia
  • Sierra Leone
  • Republic of the Congo
  • Zimbabwe (Marange Diamond Fields)

RANK INTERNATIONAL shall ensure that none of its supplies are coming from the above sources. The organization shall communicate its sourcing policy to all the stakeholders and will ensure effective implementation among them.

2.5 Supply Chain Management / Best Endeavours

The management of RANK INTERNATIONAL is committed to taking appropriate action to use best endeavours to ensure that the suppliers and contractors are committed to compliance with International Social Standards such as RJC, SMETA, BSCI, etc.

2.6 Employment

  • Compliance is required at all times, with applicable national and, where appropriate, international laws/regulations with respect to employment and labour.
  • The RANK INTERNATIONAL shall not require staff to work for more than the national limit of hours in a week on a regular basis.
  • The RANK INTERNATIONAL shall ensure that wages and benefits for a standard working week shall meet at least national minimum standards.

2.7 Health and Safety

RANK INTERNATIONAL recognizes the need to develop a sustainable, value-creating business and is committed to the following:

  • Any adverse impact of our business processes on those who carry them out shall be identified and eliminated. Towards this end, we will systematically review our operations to identify sources of health and safety-related risks.
  • This review will use appropriate standards as required by prevailing laws, expert opinion, and our knowledge of best practices.
  • The review will lead to the formulation of clearly described work practices and drills.
  • All our staff will be trained in the manner required to adhere to these work practices and drills.
  • All workplaces will be constructed to meet safety standards with local regulations as the minimum standards that will be applicable.

2.8 Non-Discrimination, Disciplinary Practices

  • Discrimination can mean distinction, exclusion, or preference.
  • Any form of discrimination relating to the hiring, discharge, pay, promotion, and training of employees on the basis of race, caste, national origin, religion, age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, HIV status, migrant status, membership of worker representative bodies, political affiliations, or any criteria that are unlawful is strongly discouraged by the RANK INTERNATIONAL. Any such reported incidents will be viewed as a serious violation of these Business Principles.
  • We shall at no time condone the use of corporal punishment or other forms of mental or physical coercion.
  • We encourage all personnel to voice concerns promptly, if they have a genuine reason to believe that a policy, RANK INTERNATIONAL operation, or practice is or will likely be in violation of any law, regulation, or internal rule or policy, including these Business Principles.

2.9 Child Labour

  • No form of child labour should be employed at any of the facilities of the RANK INTERNATIONAL. Unless local laws stipulate a higher age, the minimum age for employment that will be applicable is fifteen (As per ILO Convention No. 138).
  • For authorized adolescents (persons below 18 years of age but above 15 years), the RANK INTERNATIONAL Management is responsible for providing working conditions, hours of work, and wages in compliance with applicable local laws as a minimum.
  • As per our RANK INTERNATIONAL policy, no child labour or indolence child labour will be employed.
  • RANK INTERNATIONAL will implement suitable policies and procedures to verify the age proof of all new employees joining the organization.

2.10 Forced Labour

  • The management of RANK INTERNATIONAL is fully committed to ensuring that forced or involuntary labour is not practiced in any form at any of its facilities. Any reported incidents relating to forced labour will be considered a serious violation of these Business Principles.
  • The following definitions will be applicable:
    • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights that states that ‘No one shall be held in slavery or servitude’.
    • ILO Convention 29, which defines forced or compulsory labour as ‘all work or service which is extracted from any person under the menace of any penalty, and for which they said person has not offered himself voluntarily’.

2.11 Human Rights

  • All employees in the RANK INTERNATIONAL facilities will be treated with equality, respect, and dignity.
  • RANK INTERNATIONAL will not interfere in the right of employees to observe tenets or practices based on caste, race, national origin, gender, religion, disability, union membership, or political affiliation.
  • The RANK INTERNATIONAL strongly discourages any form of sexually coercive, threatening, abusive, or exploitative behavior.

2.12 Environment Protection

RANK INTERNATIONAL is committed to effective environmental management as one of its important corporate priorities, and will focus on the following initiatives:

  • Compliance with all applicable environmental laws and regulations.
  • The impact of each of our operations on the environment will be systematically assessed for compliance with appropriately defined standards and reviewed periodically to mitigate or eliminate such impact.
  • Disposal procedures for waste generated will be clearly defined and practiced in line with standards that are set by law and best practices of the industry.
  • Improvement of employee environmental awareness and performance through detailed policies and procedures, training, and recognition of excellence.

2.13 Product Security

RANK INTERNATIONAL is committed to providing safety of product throughout its supply chain by following precautions as mentioned below:

  • Each and every stage of product processing is covered through blanket insurance.
  • Suitable safeguarding and storage is ensured at all stages with the help of safes.
  • We take utmost care to ensure the safety of visitors, customers, and interested parties, with suitable arrangements such as CCTV, multi-level entry doors, and other electronic intelligence.
  • All the concerned persons are trained on relevant safety and security procedures to be followed at all times.

Public Grievances against social & Ethical compliance of the RANK INTERNATIONAL

If you come across any instance of non-compliance or specific deviation from our ethical policy, please feel free to reach us.

Further, in case you are interested to obtain the copy of our sourcing annual compliance report based on OECD guidelines, please send an email communication to the below-mentioned email address.

Sr No. Mode Details
(i) By hand Contact: Mohit Kedia (Partner)
(ii) By Email [email protected]