THE FIAT GROUP IN
THE FIAT GROUP IN
THE FIAT GROUP IN
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
stockholder have been filed, together with their respective<br />
curricula vitae, in accordance with the Code of Conduct.<br />
Three new Directors were appointed at the Stockholders’<br />
Meeting of May 14, 2001. The appointments of F. G. Rohatyn,<br />
who had been coopted earlier, and V. Marrone were proposed<br />
by the entire Board. The appointment of A. Benessia was<br />
proposed by the Chairman acting at the behest of the Board.<br />
This information was largely available in documents filed in<br />
advance of the Stockholders’ Meeting and made available<br />
to the stockholders.<br />
The Board of Directors currently in office has not deemed it<br />
necessary to create a special committee for the appointment<br />
of Directors.<br />
COMPENSATION OF DIRECTORS AND SENIOR<br />
MANAGERS – COMPENSATION COMMITTEE<br />
The Board of Directors established a Compensation<br />
Committee consisting of four Directors, including two with<br />
executive authority (Chairman Paolo Fresco, Paolo Cantarella,<br />
Franzo Grande Stevens and John F. Welch).<br />
The Compensation Committee has the task of developing<br />
proposals to be submitted for approval to the Board of<br />
Directors regarding:<br />
❚ appointments to corporate posts at Group’s subsidiaries,<br />
and the respective development and back-up plans;<br />
❚ general and individual compensation packages for first<br />
level Group managers and stock option plans;<br />
❚ compensation to Directors with executive authority,<br />
including stock option plans.<br />
The Chief Executive Officer does not attend meetings where<br />
his compensation is discussed and the Chairman and Chief<br />
Executive Officer do not attend meetings where the<br />
compensation of the Chairman is discussed.<br />
In 2001, the Compensation Committee met four times to<br />
discuss the submission to the Board of Directors of motions<br />
concerning the definition of compensation and stock option<br />
plans for the Group’s senior managers and new appointments<br />
at the Group’s Parent Company and for the corporate posts<br />
at the Sector lead companies.<br />
The Board of Directors, with the favorable opinion of Statutory<br />
Auditors, determines the compensation of those Directors who<br />
are asked to perform special tasks. The entire compensation<br />
payable to the Chairman is variable, while only a portion of<br />
the compensation payable to the Chief Executive Officer is<br />
variable. In both cases, as explained in a special schedule<br />
included in the Notes to the Financial Statements, the variable<br />
compensation is based on the average market price of Fiat<br />
ordinary shares. These two Directors are also covered by<br />
the stock option plan, which is reviewed in detail in the Notes<br />
to the Financial Statements.<br />
The compensation of first level managers includes a variable<br />
component based on the results of the Sector where each<br />
manager is employed and on his/her personal performance.<br />
<strong>IN</strong>TERNAL CONTROL SYSTEM AND AUDIT COMMITTEE<br />
In May 1999, the Company, which had already published<br />
a Code of Ethics several years earlier, adopted an Internal<br />
Control System based on a model derived from the COSO<br />
Report. The Board of Directors then decided to disseminate<br />
an Internal Control Policy and establish an Audit Committee<br />
that provides the Board with consulting and decision-making<br />
support and performs functions that are consistent with the<br />
guidelines of the Code of Conduct.<br />
This Committee comprises four non-executive Directors and<br />
is chaired by G. Galateri (the other members are A. Benessia,<br />
L. von Boehm-Bezing and J. P. Elkann). It meets at least twice<br />
a year, or whenever a meeting is requested by the Chairman<br />
of the Board of Statutory Auditors or by one of the Supervisors<br />
of the Internal Control System. The Meetings of the Audit<br />
Committe are attended by the Chairman of the Board<br />
of Statutory Auditors, and the Chairman of the Board<br />
of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer and representatives<br />
of the independent auditors are invited to participate.<br />
The Board of Directors appoints the Supervisors of the<br />
Internal Control System. While performing this task, they are<br />
not under the jurisdiction of operations managers, but report<br />
directly to the Audit Committee and to the Board of Statutory<br />
Auditors. At present, the Supervisors of the Internal Control<br />
System are the General Counsel and the Chief Administration<br />
Officer. They rely on input from the Internal Audit function,<br />
which is performed for the entire Group by Fiat Revi, a highly<br />
skilled and capable consortium company.<br />
The most important initiatives pursued in 2001 by the Committee<br />
and the Supervisors included analyzing the procedures used<br />
to assess the status of litigation and ascertain the adequacy<br />
of the respective reserves, monitoring the effectiveness of the<br />
Group’s accounting organization and systems, and formulating<br />
suggestions for their improvement.<br />
In response to a specific resolution of the Board of Directors<br />
concerning the issues raised by Articles 5 and 6 of Legislative<br />
Decree No. 231 of June 8, 2001 (Regulations Governing<br />
the Administrative Liability of Legal Entities), with respect<br />
to which the appropriate industry associations have not yet<br />
produced final organizational models, all Group companies<br />
Report on Operations – Corporate Governance<br />
73