The work of the Board

The work of the Board of Directors follows a fixed agenda for each Board meeting including such matters as business status, investments, budget, interim reports and annual accounts. The Chairman leads and delegates the work of the Board and ensures that matters not included in the fixed agenda are addressed. The Board’s work is also regulated by the rules of procedure adopted annually by the Board governing the distribution of duties between the Board and the President.

Composition of the Board
The Board of Directors comprises nine standard Board members elected by the Annual General Meeting and two Board members with two alternates appointed by the employees. The President is a member of the Board. Other executives in the company participate at Board meetings to make presentations and to serve as Secretary.

Close contact with company auditors
The Board does not have a separate audit committee. Instead, the Board in its entirety strives to maintain a close relationship with the company’s auditors to ensure that the Board satisfactorily monitors significant issues concerning the company’s accounts, accounting routines, management of the company’s assets and level of internal control. Internal control issues to be discussed by the Board are addressed by the Board in its entirety, except for the President who does not participate in discussions regarding these matters since he is a member of the company management. 

Corporate governance issues
To ensure that the Board’s information requirements are met in this respect, the company’s auditors report to the Board at least three times a year. Part of the auditors’ presentation of information to the Board takes place in the absence of the company’s executives. The form in which these reports are to be prepared is documented in the Board’s rules of procedure.

Audit process
The audit process is structured such that reports from the auditors are received in connection with the planning of this year's audit, in conjunction with hard-close audits and finally, in conjunction with internal control and hard-close audits in the autumn and finally, in conjunction with the adoption of the annual accounts. In addition, the auditors also present an annual account of the consulting assignments that have been performed by the audit firm.