Corporate governance: values add value

Above and beyond these measures, we foster stakeholders’ trust in our organisation and prevent damage to our reputation by means of the clear rules which govern all our employees’ conduct as well as that of our top management. We are committed to observing the highest ethical standards and upholding exacting values. Two binding Codes of Conduct set out the standards of integrity our employees are required to abide by in their business practices. A Code of Conduct has governed the behaviour of our top management and all company employees since 2008. In August 2011, we drew up a separate code for the self-employed sales agents organised in our major sales organisations in Germany.

Both codes contain a clear overview of the values we seek to uphold. The Code of Conduct for our self-employed sales agents lays the foundations for close working relationships of mutual trust between ERGO and our sales partners. Both codes include details of an additional instrument for reporting and investigating legal violations, our ombudsman procedure, which allows anyone who suspects a serious instance of white-collar crime to turn to an external, neutral ombudsman or –woman who will respect confidentiality and guarantee anonymity if desired; this helps suspicious cases come to light and be dealt with more quickly and easily.

One of the areas in which we pursue our overarching objective to create more transparency with particular dedication is in that of fraud and white-collar crime, which is an increasing menace to companies across the globe. Such crime can take many forms, including embezzlement, corruption or fraudulent manipulation. The larger the company and the more complex its structures and processes, the more susceptible it is to these crimes.

In this context, ERGO has protected itself from major financial loss and serious damage to its reputation by supplementing its Codes of Conduct with guidelines on anti-fraud management, which are valid across ERGO Group and contain regulations and principles stipulating efficient courses of action for preventing and uncovering instances of white-collar crime and bringing the facts completely to light.