No Chance for Corruption.

When One Hand Washes the Other…

A deal that benefits everyone? A fatal decision! Corruption creates enormous damage – to fair competition, to society and to our company. That is why we take a global stand against corruption and all its negative repercussions. As a founding member of the United Nations Global Compact  (UN Global Compact), we actively contribute to ensuring both we and our business partners act in accordance with the principles of the UN Global Compact. We perform our duties in compliance with the applicable laws, regulations and our corporate principles. This also includes the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials (1997) and the UN Convention against Corruption (2003).

Together On the Right Track

Preventing and tackling corruption are key aspects of our compliance work. In order to continuously raise awareness of the significance of anti-corruption among our employees, we have launched various training and communication activities. This way, we encourage discussions related to the topic corruption and help our employees to navigate safely through difficult situations in day-to-day business.

Our Compliance Program for Anti-Corruption

Our Anti-Corruption Compliance Program is based on our comprehensive Compliance Management System. A key component of this is the assessment of potential risks. In addition to internal information, such as a unit's business model, external factors are also considered here, e.g. the Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International . The results of this risk analysis form the basis for implementing our anti-corruption measures, which aim to prevent corruption in all business activities. Thereby, we place particular emphasis on sales companies in high-risk countries and business relationships with wholesalers and general distributors worldwide.

The local management is responsible for implementing the compliance measures in close cooperation with the Integrity and Legal Affairs division. In companies exposed to a high corruption risk, an independent “Local Compliance Officer” supports the management in implementing the Anti-Corruption Compliance Program. We regularly review the effectiveness of our measures and continuously improve our Anti-Corruption Compliance Program.

For an independent assessment of our Anti-Corruption Compliance Program, we commissioned KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft with auditing the Compliance Management System for anti-corruption in accordance with the 980 standard of the Institute of Public Auditors in Germany. This audit, which was based on the principles of appropriateness, implementation and effectiveness, was successfully completed at the end of 2019.