Basic approach
Kao’s basic position on corporate governance is to establish and operate a management system and an internal control system that can realize speedy, highly efficient, sound and transparent management with the aim of continuously enhancing corporate value. Kao considers corporate governance to be one of its most important management issues. Kao conducts annual reviews of these management issues and implements appropriate measures while integrating social trends and responding to the requests of shareholders and all other stakeholders.
Structure outline
Kao has introduced, within the framework for the Board of Directors (half of the Board of Directors are Outside Directors) and the Audit & Supervisory Board (majority of the Audit & Supervisory Board are Outside Audit & Supervisory Board Members) the Executive Officer system in order to separate the supervision function from the execution function. Following the conclusion of the 108th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held in March 2014, Kao has: six (6) members of the Board of Directors, including three (3) Outside Directors; five (5) Audit & Supervisory Board Members, including three (3) Outside Audit & Supervisory Board Members; and twenty-six (26) Executive Officers, including four (4) Executive Officers, with the title of Senior Managing Executive Officer or Managing Executive Officer and without concurrent positions in the Board of Directors. Also, Kao is promoting the appointment of diverse human resources, and it has assigned one (1) female Outside Audit & Supervisory Board Member and one (1) female Executive Officer. Two (2) out of three (3) Outside Directors and all Outside Audit & Supervisory Board Members maintain their neutrality, independent from Kao’s management. In order to improve the transparency of discussions in the Board of Directors, an Independent Outside Director has become the chairman of the Board after the 108th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held in March 2014. The term of office for Directors and Executive Officers is one year.
Board of Directors
Meetings of the Board of Directors were held 17 times during the fiscal year ending December 2013, including extraordinary meetings. At the end of the fiscal year ending December 2013, the average attendance rate of Outside Directors was 98.0%, and Outside Audit & Supervisory Board Members 98.0%. To facilitate thorough discussions in each meeting of the Board of Directors, Outside Directors were informed of each agenda item in advance by the Board of Directors secretariat, including the background, objective and description of each agenda item.
Compensation Advisory Committee and the Committee for the Examination of the Nominees for the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the President and CEO
Kao has established the Compensation Advisory Committee and the Committee for the Examination of the Nominees for the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the President and CEO (reorganized as the Committee for the Examination of the Nominees for the Members of the Board of Directors and Executive Officers in February 2014), which fulfill functions similar to the compensation committee and nominating committee of a “company with committees.”
The Compensation Advisory Committee consists of the Chairman of the Board of Directors, all Representative Directors, and all Outside Directors. This committee meets at least once a year during the remuneration revision period to examine and evaluate the appropriateness of the remuneration system and the level of remunerations for the members of the Board of Directors and Executive Officers after considering the input from the Committee members. The results of the examination and evaluation are to be reported at a meeting of the Board of Directors. A meeting of the Compensation Advisory Committee was held in February 2014, where the current remuneration system and the level of remuneration for the members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Officers presently in office were examined and evaluated as being appropriate, and this opinion was reported at a meeting of the Board of Directors held in March 2014. Also, Kao decided to add all Outside Audit & Supervisory Board Members to the members of the Committee at the meeting of the Board of Directors held in February, 2014.
The Committee for the Examination of the Nominees for the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the President and CEO, on the other hand, consists exclusively of all Outside Directors and all Outside Audit & Supervisory Board Members. This committee examines the nominees prior to the election or re-election of the Chairman of the Board of Directors and/or the President and CEO, and submits its evaluation of the nominees’ qualifications to the Board of Directors. The Chairman of the Board of Directors and the President and CEO contribute by submitting necessary and sufficient documents for a thorough examination (information on the nominees and the new management including the respective duties of the Members of the Board of Directors and Executive Officers) to the Committee members in advance of the meeting of the Committee. A meeting of the Committee was held with the attendance of all Committee members, in advance the election of Chairman of the Board of Directors and President and CEO following the reelection of the Members of the Board of Directors at the 108th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in March 2014. The Committee subsequently submitted to the Board of Directors its opinion that it considered appropriate the retirement of the Chairman of the Board of Directors (An Outside Director has been the chairman of the Board from March 28, 2014) and the reelection of the President and CEO. Also, Kao expanded the scope of examination to all nominees for the members of the Board of Directors and Executive Officers, and reorganized the committee into the “Committee for the Examination of the Nominees for the Members of the Board of Directors and Executive Officers” at the meeting of the Board of Directors held in February, 2014.
Efforts to strengthen the function of the Audit & Supervisory Board Members
The Audit & Supervisory Board maintains neutrality independent from Kao’s management. It consists of three (3) Outside Audit & Supervisory Board Members, of whom one (1) is a woman, and two (2) Full-Time Audit & Supervisory Board Members. For improving the auditing effectiveness and strengthening and maintaining the auditing function, the Audit & Supervisory Board Members regularly and as necessary share information with Representative Directors, attend meetings of the Board of Directors, Management Committee and other important meetings, participate in regular Conferences of Audit & Supervisory Board Members of Domestic Group Companies, share auditing information with the internal auditing division and Accounting Auditor, and gather opinions from internal divisions and subsidiaries.
Policy on determining the amount of remuneration of members of the Board and Audit & Supervisory Board Members
Kao’s fundamental position on remunerations of members of the Board of Directors, Audit & Supervisory Board Members and Executive Officers is as follows: (1) compensation system which attracts diverse and excellent candidates to establish and improve competitive advantages; (2) compensation system which promotes continuous improvement of corporate value and shares interests with shareholders; and (3) objective and transparent decision making process regarding compensations.
Based on the outside research institution’s data on Members of the Board of Directors’ and Audit & Supervisory Board Members’ remunerations, Kao decides on compensations of the members of Board of Directors and Audit & Supervisory Board Members by setting a benchmark every year with other well-known manufacturing companies with a similar business size and in a similar business category as the companies of the same rank, and comparing their remuneration system and the level of remunerations with those of Kao’s.
The remunerations of the members of Board of Directors except Outside Directors consist of three factors below, and they are decided based on the roles as members of Board of Directors and positions concurrently held by such members.
(1) Monthly fixed salary
(2) A short-term incentive compensation in the form of bonus
The amount of bonus is set between 20-35% of the estimated annual standard salary of each position, and this linked amount is set to fluctuate between 0-200% depending on the circumstances of achievement of EVA target and both sales and operating income targets.
(3) A long-term incentive compensation in the form of stock options(Share Remuneration Type Stock Options)
The amount of compensation in the form of stock option is set between about 10-20% of the estimated annual standard salary of each position.
The compensations for the Outside Directors independent of the execution of Kao’s operations consist of monthly fixed salary and stock options (Share Remuneration Type Stock Options).
The compensations of the Audit & Supervisory Board Members consist only of monthly fixed salary.
Kao has no retirement bonus system for both the members of Board of Directors and the Audit & Supervisory Board Members.
The total amount of remunerations for the Members of the Board of Directors and the Audit & Supervisory Board Members in fiscal 2013 is available in the “Report Concerning Corporate Governance.”