There is a D&O liability insurance scheme for members of the
Management and Supervisory Boards. The insurance covers
personal liability risks in the event that a claim is made against
members of the Management and Supervisory Boards
while they are performing their activities. The insurance contract
stipulates a deductible of ten percent of the damages,
but a maximum of one-and-a-half times the amount of the
fixed annual compensation of the respective member of
the Management or Supervisory Board per insurance year.
Further information on the compensation of the Management
and Supervisory Boards can be found on pages 71 f. of
the online Consolidated Financial Statements.
Compliance
The trust of our business partners and customers, as well as
the public, in the lawful and responsible behavior of the
ALTANA Group and its employees is decisive for the success
and reputation of the company. Compliance is therefore
extremely important for ALTANA.
Since 2008, ALTANA has had a so-called Compliance
Management-System (CMS). It aims to ensure that its companies
and employees abide by the laws, regulations, and
internal company rules the non-observance of which can pose
considerable risks for the company. The objective of the
CMS is therefore to identify the primary risks that can arise
through violations of laws and rules, and to assure that the
company’s employees receive training regarding the content
and importance of rules and regulations relevant to them
and that measures are taken to prevent infringements of laws
and internal regulations.
Furthermore, the CMS aims to ensure that the necessary
control mechanisms are implemented so that violations
of laws and rules can be detected and terminated. The CMS
encompasses nine compliance areas, including corruption,
antitrust law, environmental protection and safety, human resources,
customs and foreign trade, data protection, financial
reporting, as well as taxes and information technology.
ALTANA’s CMS follows the ALTANA structure and thus
is decentralized. The main responsibility for making sure that
the individual subsidiaries and their employees behave in
accordance with the rules rests with the local managing directors
and the local management. ALTANA AG lives up to its
responsibility of ensuring compliance by providing a framework,
making competencies available, creating platforms
and forums for local authorities, and by taking concrete measures
to secure compliance on the part of the management
of subsidiaries or to impose minimum requirements, especially
through guidelines that are binding Group-wide.
ALTANA’s Code of Conduct, which holds for the entire
company, contains binding rules regarding responsible,
ethical, and lawful behavior for all staff members. This applies
in particular to issues such as antitrust law, corruption,
conflicts of interest, environmental protection, and discrimination.
Together with the company’s Guiding Principles,
the Code of Conduct provides a guideline for responsible corporate
action. The Code of Conduct and our Guiding
Principles are published on our website (www.altana.com).
Since 2010, ALTANA’s employees have been trained with
the help of an e-learning program regarding the content of
the Code of Conduct and further issues relevant to compliance
such as corruption and bribery, as well as competition
law issues.
Moreover, for each compliance area further specific
measures have been developed and implemented to ensure
that laws and internal regulations are adhered to.
Another important element to guarantee compliance
is the management system. Since 2016, specifically developed
compliance tests have been carried out regularly
at ALTANA and its subsidiaries.
With the ALTANA Compliance Hotline ALTANA provides
a further central means for ensuring compliance. The hot-
line gives employees the possibility to report illegal behavior,
10 Corporate Governance