CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Corporate Compliance – that is, clear adherence to the legal systems of our countries and sites – is a basic prerequisite for sustainable economic activities in an internationally active corporation like Symrise. At Symrise, the Corporate Compliance Department is run by the Chief Compliance Officer and consists of Internal Audit, Integrated Management, Product Compliance, and Complaint Management offices.

An in-house system of software-supported global document control makes sure that standardized processes throughout the company are documented and made accessible to employees. These processes include key functions such as “Brief to Contract” and “Order to Payment,” global guidelines, operating procedures, working procedures, tests, and analytical methods.

Because of the geographic diversity of our company sites – and the major variations in local conditions that are a natural result – this issue has been fully integrated at corporate level as well as regional and local levels. In some countries and at some sites, there are also Corporate Rules which go above and beyond national standards and set clear guidelines in areas such as occupational safety and environmental concerns.

Symrise follows the recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code. Our own corporate governance measures have their roots in both this code and our in-house Code of Conduct. It serves as an international and binding guideline on how all employees are to interact with the company’s stakeholders. There is an Integrity Hotline available to employees in their local language at every site, allowing people to call for free and report any violation of the code (anonymously if they choose). Among other initiatives, Symrise has also established an Internet-based learning platform for compliance issues.