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 page 72 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
abide by the laws, regulations, and internal com-
pany 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, to ensure that the employees
are trained regarding the content and meaning of the relevant
laws and regulations, and to assure that measures
are taken to prevent infringements of laws and internal regulations.
Furthermore, the CMS aims to ensure that the neces-
sary 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.
The ALTANA CMS follows the ALTANA structure and is
therefore decentralized. The local managing directors and the
local management are primarily responsible for making sure
that the individual subsidiaries and their employees behave in
accordance with the rules. ALTANA AG lives up to its responsibility
of ensuring compliance by providing a framework,
making competencies and tools available, creating platforms
and forums for local authorities, and by taking concrete measures
to ensure 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 corruption, conflicts of inter-
est, antitrust law, environmental protection, and discrimination.
Together with the company’s Guiding Principles, the
Code of Conduct provides orientation for responsible corporate
action. The Code of Conduct and the 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. In 2018, around 4,200 employees completed the
Code of Conduct training program.
Moreover, for each compliance area further specific
measures have been developed and implemented to ensure
that laws and internal regulations are adhered to. This
includes, for example, an IT-assisted system with whose help
business partners that support ALTANA AG and its subsidiaries
in sales or in their cooperation are examined for potential
compliance risks.
12 Corporate Governance