Any form or corrupt or unethical conduct causes substantial damage to society. Companies operating in the financial sector have an important role to play in preventing such behaviour. Responsible corporate governance therefore additionally includes absolute adherence to laws and ethical standards as well as the implementation of extensive risk and prevention systems and continuous awareness-raising among staff.
In this context the compliance function and our compliance management are of considerable significance. We define "compliance" as the totality of all content-related and organisational safeguards that ensure lawful conduct on the part of the Hannover Re companies, the members of their governing bodies and their employees with regard to all legal and ethical standards as well as the internal corporate policies in the various areas of the company and its operational processes.
In the context of our materiality process we identified compliance as a material issue.
Integrity in dealings with our business partners, shareholders and the public at large is a matter of particular concern for us. Legally correct, responsible and ethical action is a fundamental prerequisite for trust in our company and for its competitiveness. If we are to succeed over the long term, it is vital that we respect and comply with relevant laws and provisions as the legal basis for our business activities in all the countries where we operate. These include, for example, laws and directives governing environmental matters, the prevention of corruption and money laundering, data protection, information security, sanctions and embargos, tax compliance as well as the Market Abuse Directive, the Solvency II Directive, the Insurance Supervision Act (VAG), the Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act (WpÜG) and the Securities Trading Act (WpHG). Our company also has its own Code of Conduct. The compliance function is one of four key functions of the governance system required by the Solvency II Directive and is an important element of the internal control system.
We report at length on our DIN EN ISO 14001-certified environmental management system, our EMAS III environmental statement and our Donations Guideline in the section entitled "Environment and Society".