Compliance Governance

Protecting our good reputation

HENSOLDT has traditionally been committed to responsible, fair, reliable and transparent corporate practices, and is focused on expanding and utilising corporate potential, achieving financial targets and systematically increasing corporate value on a sustainable basis.

Therefore, HENSOLDT supports the principles of good corporate governance as a means to responsible and transparent management and control focused on the long-term growth of company value.

Our compliance governance framework is a prerequisite for cultivating trust in HENSOLDT among national and international investors and financial markets, business partners, employees and the general public. The company positions its activities in this regard around the recommendations and suggestions contained in the German Corporate Governance Code.

Internal Compliance Structure

Functional and organisational outline

The Head of Compliance at HENSOLDT leads a dedicated team of professionals responsible for

  • drafting and implementing directives and compliance programme processes
  • monitoring effectiveness and
  • providing support, advice and expertise on all compliance topics and issues Group-wide

The Compliance organisation is part of the HENSOLDT corporate functions. The General Counsel is a Group Executive Committee member who reports to the CEO. To ensure independence, the Head of Compliance at HENSOLDT reports to the General Counsel and has a direct link to the CEO. He or she also regularly reports to the Compliance Committee of the Supervisory Board.

 

Risk Management

At the HENSOLDT Group, comprehensive measures and systems have been implemented with the objective to allow an early identification of risks. Such an early identification is the basis for the timely introduction of adequate counter-measures. The same applies to consistently seizing opportunities as they arise.

The HENSOLDT risk management system is applicable to the entire HENSOLDT Group. It considers relevant legal requirements and is based on generally accepted principles set out in external frameworks and standards, such as COSO (COSO: Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission).

The HENSOLDT risk management system represents an integral part of the systems and instruments, which the HENSOLDT Management Board is using for a value- and success oriented corporate management. Central objective, besides the early and systematic identification of significant risks, is also the assessment and management of such risks. For this purpose, valid procedures and methods are defined on HENSOLDT Group level. 

Also, the management of compliance risks is an integral part of the HENSOLDT risk management system and one of the foundations of the compliance management system.

More detailed information about the Hensoldt Risk Management System can be found in the Annual Report of the HENSOLDT Group.

Policies & Procedures

Guidelines for our ethical conduct

HENSOLDT issues and regularly updates compliance policies and directives that establish, among other things, the minimum requirements of the compliance programme in order to ensure compliance with the applicable national and international laws and regulations of the legal systems in which HENSOLDT Group operates.

 

Training & Communication

Training our employees on compliance topics is an integral part of our compliance programme.

HENSOLDT regularly offers various compliance training formats to all employees across all divisions and geographies. Our compliance training covers the complete range of relevant topics and has been specifically tailored for all the respective target groups within HENSOLDT. To further encourage participation, the compliance training is offered in different languages, enabling employees and management in all our locations, including our subsidiaries, to take part at any time.

The courses range from in-person general compliance awareness trainings, group-specific trainings (e.g. for Sales Professionals) through to extensive e-learning offerings on topics such as anti-corruption, antitrust law and data protection.

Additionally, the Compliance Department offers regular Q&A sessions to all HENSOLDT employees interested in compliance topics. In this forum, all employees can raise and debate questions together with other HENSOLDT employees and the Compliance Department. Furthermore, everyone can use this forum to suggest points of improvement and to report any difficulties as well as ways to solve them. All this helps to promote a strong corporate compliance culture that is able and willing to meet the highest and strictest professional compliance standards.

Participation in compliance trainings is tracked systemically. Training numbers are reviewed on a continuous basis and are regularly reported to the Management Board and Supervisory Board.

Monitoring & Controls

A centrepiece of compliance. Monitoring and reporting are standardised.

The HENSOLDT Group ensures oversight and monitoring of the compliance programme to make sure that policies and directives are implemented effectively.

Periodic reports are provided to the HENSOLDT Executive Committee, including recommendations for strengthening the compliance programme where necessary.
To complement this, the Corporate Audit Department undertakes periodic, independent audits as well. Audits help to assess the effectiveness of internal controls and procedures and allow the HENSOLDT Group to develop action plans for strengthening such controls in the future.

In this way, we ensure that our compliance and anti-corruption programme is subject to regular audit, and policies and procedures are updated according to audit recommendations.

Reporting within the Compliance organisation and to statutory bodies such as the Supervisory Board, the Management Board and the management boards of the individual entities is standardised.

Reports on monitoring and controls are part of the regular reporting to the competent functions at HENSOLDT including the Supervisory Board’s Audit Committee and HENSOLDT’s Executive Board.