Code of Conduct

MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDERS

In the short period since it was founded in 2017, 4KST has already experienced significant changes in the market and in the very legislation that impacts its business.

Supplying or partnering with large companies that have well-established compliance programs requires total adherence to the best practices adopted by the market. In addition, new legal requirements have emerged, such as the General Data Protection Act (LGPD), which now demands greater care with ethical issues involving the use of personal data.

As a result of the need to update and reinforce issues that are relevant to the times we are living in, we have reissued the 4KST Code of Conduct, here in its second version.

As we always say, "The world is dynamic", and the ethical issues surrounding the business environment are just as dynamic. And, never being repetitive, with Integrity as an essential vector for the development of 4KST and its employees.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with this second version of the 4KST Code of Conduct, so that you can use it as a compass when conducting your work on behalf of or for 4KST.

Well done!

Fabrício Enembreck, Riccardo Lanzuolo.

 

GENERAL GUIDELINES

This Code of Conduct presents the most relevant values and rules adopted by 4KST Tecnologia da Informação Ltda. (the ¨4KST¨ or ¨Company¨) for the development of its activities. The content of this material guides the personal and professional conduct of all professionals who work in or for the 4KST team, whether they are partners, employees, trainees, partners, service providers and suppliers (hereinafter referred to as ¨Collaborator¨ or ¨Collaborators¨).

 

I. OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW

4KST does not authorize any of its Employees to violate or promote the violation of any legislation or regulation in force, wherever they carry out or may carry out their activities, even if for the benefit of the Company or its clients. In this regard, 4KST is committed to fully complying with all the requirements of public authorities backed by legal precepts, as well as fully complying with any judicial determination.

 

II. WORKING CONDITIONS

4KST combats any type of work that does not comply with current legislation and is committed to ensuring that it does:

1. adequate working conditions for the health and safety of its employees;
2. no use of child labor;
3. no use of forced labor; and
4. the rejection of any form of slave or slave-like labor.

This commitment also covers any contracting that 4KST may carry out involving its chain of service and supply providers.

4KST believes that a diverse working environment, where professionals come from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, age groups, genders and sexual orientations, contributes to greater creativity and development for the company and for everyone. In this sense, 4KST demands that respect for differences is a virtue to be cultivated and that promoting diversity is always on our team's human development agenda.

 

III. PERSONAL CONDUCT

Every 4KST employee must be aware that he or she is the embodiment of the company, not only when performing his or her duties, but also during time off and breaks. It is therefore the duty of all Employees to know and respect the rules of behavior required by 4KST, whether in a professional or personal environment:

1. repudiation of any kind of discrimination based on race, religion, gender or sexual orientation;
2. repudiation of any kind of harassment, whether moral or sexual;
3. repudiation of any kind of violence, whether physical, written or verbal;
4. no behavior outside of socially accepted standards that could denigrate the image of 4KST, its professionals or its clients;
5. protection of the good name and reputation of 4KST and its professionals;
6. caution and common sense in public statements, including on social networks, on matters that may have an impact on 4KST, its business, its professionals and its clients;
7. not carrying out/promoting any kind of criminal activity;
8. not to use their status as a 4KST employee, as well as any information about the company or its clients to which they have access, for personal advantage or for the advantage of third parties;
9. unrestricted protection of any and all information of 4KST, its Employees, its clients and related natural persons from disclosure to unauthorized third parties; and
10. respect and protection of Intellectual Property, as well as repudiation of the use of any material authored by third parties, without proper authorization or reference to authorship.

 

IV. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Conflicts of interest arise throughout an individual's professional relationships and occur when personal interests, corporate interests, the interests of clients, partners or suppliers diverge.

4KST is keen to prevent Conflicts of Interest involving the Company and/or its Employees from materializing and, to this end, gives non-exhaustive guidance to each Employee to observe conflicting situations that may arise:

1. participation in associative entities that adopt a direction, ideology or values different from those adopted by 4KST or that promote the defense of issues contrary to the understanding of the Company or its clients;
2. the development of an external professional activity, or participation in a company, which constitutes competition with the activities of 4KST or of any client under its care or in respect of which it has relevant internal information, or which conflicts in any way with the activity carried out at or for 4KST;
3. public office, on a temporary or permanent basis, that may interfere or appear to interfere in matters of interest to 4KST or its clients;
4. party political activity;
5. kinship, or close relationship by affinity, with a director, controlling shareholder or employee in a relevant position of a company that competes with 4KST;
6. kinship, or close relationship by affinity, with another 4KST Employee;
7. kinship, or close relationship by affinity, with an Authority (individual invested with a public function, temporarily or permanently, paid or not, who has decision-making power in matters of interest to 4KST or its clients); and
8. kinship or close relationship by affinity with, customer, partner or supplier of 4KST.

No 4KST Employee may conduct a negotiation on behalf of the Company if there is any personal financial interest or the appearance of personal financial interest, whether with suppliers, customers, competing companies or Authorities.

4KST requires the commitment of any Employee who identifies any situation that may constitute or appear to constitute a possible Conflict of Interest, to formally notify their immediate superior or 4KST's Compliance area.

 

V. 4KST IDENTITY AND MARKETING

No 4KST employee may use 4KST's visual identity, name or brand without the express prior authorization of the company. Nor is any Employee authorized to use a client's name and/or material to promote new business for 4KST, with the exception of situations in which the client has expressly authorized its use and/or disclosure or if the material is in the public domain.

 

VI. USE OF TOOLS

All the tools made available by the Company, especially IT equipment and corporate e-mails, are provided to its Employees exclusively for professional purposes. In this sense, everyone should be aware that their activities using these tools are subject to monitoring by 4KST, and that all access records and monitoring reports form electronic evidence that can be used for internal investigations and even support other investigations or inquiries conducted by public authorities.

Any Employee who uses portable equipment at work must adopt continuous measures to prevent its loss, theft or misplacement, especially to prevent the disclosure of and/or improper access to information belonging to 4KST and related third parties.

It is also essential that all 4KST employees fully comply with the company's internal rules on information security.

 

VII. CONFIDENTIALITY

VII.1 4KST technology

4KST's Proprietary Technology is its industrial secret, an essential asset for the continuity and development of the Company, and for this reason it must be the object of continuous protection.

Some 4KST Employees may have access to its industrial secrets as a result of the activities they carry out for 4KST. In this case, the Collaborator must be aware of the commitment not to disclose any sensitive information involving 4KST Technology, as well as make every effort to prevent access to it by unauthorized persons, who may even be other 4KST Collaborators.

It is the duty of every 4KST Employee to report any irregular disclosure of information about 4KST Technology, as well as any unauthorized access or suspected access to it, to their immediate superior or to the 4KST Compliance area.

VII.2 4KST Internal Information

4KST's Internal Information may only be disclosed by its senior management, or by those expressly designated by them to do so.

In a non-exhaustive manner, 4KST's Internal Information is considered to be that related to:

1. product and service development;
2. technical and commercial research;
3. partnerships and investments;
4. commercial conditions, plans and/or projections;
5. 4KST customer data;
6. data provided by 4KST customers about their customers;
7. results, profits and other financial and sales data, including projections;
8. contractual conditions with suppliers;
9. 4KST Employees data;
10. etc.

VII.3 Insider Trading

All 4KST Employees are prohibited from carrying out any business or advising family members and/or third parties to carry out any business through the use of Inside Information to obtain an advantage.

Inside information is considered to be any material, non-public information about 4KST, its customers, its partners or its suppliers, obtained by any Employee as a result of their work for/with the Company, which may be used to obtain a financial advantage.

4KST also requires its Employees to fully comply with all local and international legislation governing Insider Trading in the Securities Market. They must not corroborate the improper use of Insider Information.

VII.4 Third Party Information

In all its relationships with third parties, 4KST receives confidential information for a wide variety of reasons. Confidentiality agreements are often concluded even before the relationship begins, whether with a future partner, client, investor or supplier.

Under no circumstances may any 4KST Employee disclose Confidential and Non-public Information of a third party with whom 4KST has a relationship or is in negotiations to do so, including when such information has not been obtained from 4KST and/or due to the activity he/she performs at 4KST.

It is also essential that 4KST employees respect the security and privacy rules of 4KST's clients and partners, strictly observing all its required internal procedures. It should be noted that it is forbidden to take and publish photographs of people, structures and materials in the environments of third parties with which 4KST has dealings, unless expressly authorized.

 

VIII. PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA

4KST is committed to fully observing the entire local and international legal repertoire related to the protection of personal data, especially Law 13.708/2018 (General Personal Data Protection Law). The right to privacy and protection of citizens' data involves the need for robust and transparent processes for the collection, storage, processing and sharing of personal data.

It is 4KST's premise that all data-driven technological development requires legal certainty and this will be the condition required in all the company's relations with its customers, partners and suppliers.

4KST will only accept to process personal data that has been obtained lawfully, for legitimate, non-abusive purposes, and with the knowledge of its owners (natural persons to whom the data refers).

VIII.1 Internal Personal Data

4KST may keep the personal data of its partners, employees and investors (individuals) for the purposes of complying with all legal requirements involving such relationships. In addition to registration information, information related to employment, salaries, benefits, banking information and medical issues may be processed.

As this is sensitive data, 4KST is committed to adopting robust procedures for the security of this data, guaranteeing limited access to it (only to professionals who need it to carry out their activities responsibly), and the condition of only retaining that which deals with mandatory information and within the time limits determined by legislation.

VIII.2 Personal Data of Suppliers and Partners

Any due diligence process to be carried out prior to contracting with suppliers and partners may require 4KST to access the personal data of individuals related to them, such as partners and administrators. The company is committed to protecting this data and only retaining it for the duration of the assessment, disposing of it securely and anonymously, also in accordance with the aforementioned legal provisions.

 

IX. INTEGRITY

The highest standards of Integrity in all relationships underpin 4KST's actions and reinforce the company's commitment to conducting business based on ethics and good practices, always aiming to achieve the best results for society. This Code contains relevant rules that should guide the professional conduct of its Employees in an integral manner.

IX.1 Anti-corruption

4KST fully observes the entire local and international legal repertoire related to corruption prevention, especially Law 12.846/2013 (Brazilian Anti-Corruption Law), the FCPA (US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) and the UK Anti-Bribery Act.

4KST prohibits any of its Collaborators from carrying out any act or allowing it to occur by omission, which could enable corruption at any level, whether through bribery, payment of bribes, extortion, influence peddling, directly or indirectly, in both the public and private spheres.

IX.2 Offering and Receiving Benefits

4KST adopts rules related to the offer and receipt of Benefits by its Employees, falling within the definition of Benefit:

• a) Giveaway: an object with no commercial value offered by an organization to promote its name, products or services;
• b) Gift: object or service with commercial value;
• c) Hospitality: involves meals, accommodation and transportation; and
• d) Entertainment: corporate events (commemorative parties, congresses, courses, etc.), tickets (technical/professional, cultural, festive, sporting events, etc.).

The basis of the rules regarding the offer and receipt of Benefits is based not only on the need to prevent any taint in the impartiality of decisions made or to be made by those who receive them, but also on the appearance of any Conflict of Interest.

The offer of a Gift to an individual working for the Public Sector is authorized by 4KST, provided that the code of ethics or internal regulations governing the matter within the body to which the individual is linked are observed. It should be noted here that no 4KST Employee is authorized to grant a Gift, Hospitality and/or Entertainment to any representative of the Public Sector, even if they personally pay for it.

The offer of a Benefit to an individual representing the Private Sector must always be guided by reasonableness, so as not to influence the recipient to make a decision favorable to 4KST, not to appear to be a reward for a decision made or to appear to be a possible Conflict of Interest.

4KST employees may only accept Gifts offered by third parties if they are suppliers, partners or clients of the Company.

IX.3 Relations with Authorities

Every relationship with an Authority (an individual invested with a public function, temporarily or permanently, paid or not, who has decision-making power in matters of interest to 4KST or its clients) must be guided by total transparency and full compliance with the related laws and internal rules of the body to which the Authority is linked.

To this end, it is essential that every 4KST employee seeks prior knowledge of the rules governing this type of relationship and adopts mechanisms to formalize such contacts, such as: (i) public scheduling; (ii) drawing up an agenda; and (iii) drawing up minutes.

IX.4 Political Participation

4KST supports and encourages the political participation of its Employees as a way of improving public management through the participation of civil society. However, in order to avoid any possible Conflict of Interest, each Employee is required to inform the Company whenever: (i) he/she joins a political party; (ii) he/she provides services to political campaigns; (iii) he/she runs for public office; (iv) he/she runs for office in a trade association or union; (v) he/she receives an offer of employment in public office; and (vi) he/she passes a public examination.

The company does not make, and does not authorize any employee to make, on its behalf, donations to political campaigns for public office, trade associations or unions. This prohibition applies to donations of: (i) monetary value; (ii) services; (iii) goods; and (iv) direct use.

IX.5 Donations

4KST may make donations to philanthropic institutions or non-profit organizations, provided that such donations are completely unrelated to any counterpart in favor of 4KST, either directly or indirectly.

IX.6 Sponsorship

4KST can use the sponsorship model to promote its brand and services, but its name will only be linked to organizations and events that have values that converge with those of 4KST.

All sponsorship by 4KST must be formalized through a contractual instrument detailing the conditions of the agreement.

IX.7 Protection of Free Competition

4KST is committed to defending free competition as a way of guaranteeing a fair market and greater economic development. Therefore, its relations with competitors observe ethical competition practices and fully comply with Brazilian legislation on the defense of free competition, and other antitrust legislation in other countries where it does business.

4KST employees are prohibited from entering into or agreeing to any type of agreement or arrangement as a way of altering the balance of any competitive bid, whether for the public or private sector. This prohibition applies not only to tenders in which 4KST is a participant, but also to tenders involving the interests of the company's clients.

The company also prohibits any of its employees from participating in the drafting of public notices, terms of reference or any other type of document used in competitive tenders that are the exclusive responsibility of the Public Administration.

 

X. PREVENTION OF MONEY LAUNDERING

4KST is fully committed to complying with all local and international legislation and practices that deal with the prevention of money laundering, especially Brazilian Law 9.613/98 and other related rules. Therefore, it does not allow any of its Employees, under any circumstances, to promote or participate in any activity aimed at concealing the nature, origin, location, movement or ownership of goods, rights or values derived, directly or indirectly, from crime.

It also requires its employees to be on the lookout for movements by clients, partners or suppliers that raise suspicions of illicit funds.

 

XI. DUE DILIGENCE

4KST is concerned with ensuring that all its corporate changes and changes to its management model continue to comply with the rules and principles set out in this Code of Conduct. In this regard, the Compliance area should always conduct a due diligence process in order to learn about the history of the newcomer and/or the business trajectory of the new partner, and confirm that there is no conflict of interest under the terms of this Code of Conduct.

 

XII. VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES

Any violation of the rules set out in this Code of Conduct must be reported by the Employee to their immediate superior or to 4KST's Compliance department. It must be the commitment of every 4KST employee to prevent violations from occurring and/or not being punished.

Violations of the rules of this Code will involve penalties that can range from warnings to discontinuation of the contractual relationship. 4KST will not refrain from referring any legal violations to the competent authorities.