Compliance is a high priority at VERBUND

VERBUND is one of the largest companies on the Vienna Stock Exchange. We are thus subject to the provisions of Austrian and European capital market law.

Based on these provisions, the group policy “Financial Market Compliance” regulates:

• the principles for the forwarding of confidential information at VERBUND
• the organisational measures for preventing improper use or the forwarding of insider-relevant information
  
  

Within the company, permanent and, where necessary, temporary (project-related) confidentiality areas are set up. All people and companies covered by the confidentiality areas are recorded in the insider directory of VERBUND. The group companies are also incorporated into this organisational accordingly.

The goal is to avoid conflicts of interest and insider trading through the proper and legally compliant conduct of all bodies and employees and to prevent the misuse of insider-relevant information.

For VERBUND, fair business practices are a matter of course. We also commit ourselves to this in our code of conduct.

Within the company, we have implemented a “policy for fair business practices, in particular against corruption and fraud”. This was done before the tightening up of Austrian corruption law, which views all bodies and employees of VERBUND as officials and thus subjects them to stricter regulations.

For all acting persons, this policy establishes the framework for how to deal with invitations, gifts and acts of consideration, but also with other contributions (e.g. donations or sponsorships) or with conflicts of interest. We also expect our business partners (suppliers, consultants, etc.) to act with integrity and abide by our principles.

The Chief Compliance Officer coordinates the policy’s implementation throughout the group and is therefore also the point of contact for messages and information in connection with invitations, gifts, etc. and on specific instances of corruption and fraud. He/she functions as a point of contact for business partners on these topics.

In addition, the group companies have so-called Compliance Officers, who act as direct contact persons in the respective company.

At VERBUND, transactions are carried out in accordance with the provisions of competition law. Because only a competition-compliant transaction is a good transaction.

Conduct at odds with competition law harms competition, damaging both the companies involved in a violation and the entire economy. A successful, long-term and sustainable business activity is only possible with business deals that are in compliance with the law.

Our group policy “Compliance with competition law” establishes the legal framework for competition-compliant conduct and our employees’ compliance with the provisions of competition law.

Corporate governance at VERBUND

At VERBUND, we want to do more than just comply with rules. We want to increasingly focus on sustainability and the values of society, and then base our business activities on these.

We have therefore set out the principles for our actions in our “Code of conduct for sustainable corporate governance”. This stands for our lived values and integrity and provides guidance for all corporate bodies, management staff and employees.

The Chief Compliance Officer puts measures in place that convey to all employees the content of the corporate mission statement, in particular the code of conduct. He collaborates on implementing the code of conduct and acts as a contact person and point of coordination for inquiries and reports.