THE NATURE OF OUR BUSINESS – STABLE GROWTH - Symrise

A breakdown of the total remuneration of each member of the Supervisory
Board is shown in the Notes on pages of this annual report.
Information Service for our Shareholders
Corporate communication is undertaken with the objective of guaranteeing
the greatest possible transparency and equality of opportunities
through timely and equal information to all target
groups. All major press and capital market releases by Symrise AG
are also published on the company’s website in German and in
English. The articles of incorporation, rules of procedure of the Executive
Board and the Supervisory Board, as well as the annual
and consolidated financial statements, quarterly results and the
annual and half-yearly financial reports can also be found on our
website.
We regularly notify our shareholders, analysts, shareholder associations
and the public of all important recurring dates through a
financial calendar published in the annual report, the quarterly reports
and on the Company website. Regular meetings with analysts
and institutional investors are part of our investor relations
activities. This includes an annual analysts’ conference as well as
conference calls for analysts coinciding with the publishing of our
quarterly and half-yearly figures.
The most important presentations prepared for these events, the
Shareholders’ Meeting and road shows and investor conferences
can also be viewed on our website. The location and dates of road
shows and investor conferences can similarly be found on our website
under the heading Investor Relations/Events.
It is our intention to provide our shareholders with quick, comprehensive
and effective information before and during the Shareholders’
Meeting and to make it easy for them to exercise their
rights. The annual report and the invitation to the Shareholders’
Meeting, both of which are also available on our website, provide
the shareholders with comprehensive advance information on past
fiscal years and the individual agenda items of the upcoming meeting.
All documents and information pertaining to the Shareholders’
Meeting and the annual report are available on our website.
The website will have additional information seven days before and
during the Shareholders’ Meeting.
The registration and legitimation process for the Shareholders’
Meeting is simple and follows the international standard for the
record date, according to which the 21st day before the Meeting is
the applicable cutoff date for the legitimation of the shareholders.
Annual Report 2008 Symrise AG 47
We offer shareholders who cannot personally attend the Meeting
the opportunity to exercise their voting rights through a proxy of
their choice or a voting proxy of the company who is bound by their
instruments. Instructions on how voting rights are to be exercised
may be given to a voting proxy before and during the Shareholders’
Meeting on May 11, 2009, up until the end of the general debate.
It is possible to transfer the voting rights to a voting proxy
electronically up until 6:00 PM on the evening of May 10, 2009.
Subsequent to the Shareholders’ Meeting, we also publish the attendance
and the votes on our website.
Risk Management
Dealing with risks of all kinds responsibly has the utmost importance
for the success of a company. For this reason, a comprehensive
risk management system is a mandatory element of
suitable corporate governance. The Executive Board ensures appropriate
risk management and risk controlling throughout the
Group. The risk management system at Symrise AG is monitored
by the auditors both in Germany and abroad. It is constantly being
developed and adapted to changing conditions. Twice a year, potential
risks are analyzed and classified throughout the Group.
The risk management system at Symrise AG, its security mechanisms,
internal guidelines and checks are additionally examined
by outside auditors and without prior notice by the internal Group
auditors. Risks identified in this manner are immediately reported
to the Executive Board.
Along with the audit of annual accounts and monitoring of accounting
procedures, the Auditing Committee set up by the Supervisory
Board also undertakes regular auditing and monitoring of
the effectiveness of the internal control and risk management system.
This includes regular reporting by Internal Auditing and the
Compliance Office of Symrise.
This overlapping mechanism allows risks to be identified and assessed
at an early stage. The Executive Board regularly informs the
Supervisory Board of existing risks and their development. Specific
measures are proposed and implemented right from this early stage
to mitigate the identified risks. The Group’s in-house auditors also
check on the implementation of these new measures and the results
are given a critical assessment. The risk profile is thereby constantly
monitored and necessary measures to mitigate risks are
introduced. Specific staff members are assigned responsibility for
this and held accountable in their performance review.
Company