Previous Page  113 / 236 Next Page
Information
Show Menu
Previous Page 113 / 236 Next Page
Page Background

109

In terms of corporate governance, Cofinimmo seeks to maintain the highest standards and

continuously assesses its methods in relation to principles, practices and requirements in force in

this field.

INTERNAL AUDIT AND RISK MANAGEMENT

In accordance with the Corporate Governance rules and with the sev-

eral laws applicable to Regulated Real Estate Companies, Cofinimmo

has set up a risk management and internal control procedure.

To do so, the company has chosen as reference procedure the

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) model developed by COSO

(Committee of Sponsoring Organisations of the Treadway Commission).

COSO

(www.coso.org)

is an organisation that stems from the private

sector and whose purpose is to promote the improvement of the

quality of financial reporting through the application of business ethics

rules, an effective internal control system and corporate governance

rules.

The ERM model has six components:

internal environment;

setting of objectives and risk appetite;

identification, analysis and control of risks;

control activities;

information and internal communication;

surveillance and monitoring.

Internal environment

The notion of internal environment includes the company’s vision,

integrity, ethical values, personal skills, and the way in which the

Executive Committee assigns authority and responsibilities, organises

and trains its staff, all under the control of the Board of Directors.

At Cofinimmo, the business culture incorporates risk management at

various levels, based on:

corporate governance rules and the existence of an Audit

Committee, Nomination, Remuneration and Corporate Governance

Committee entirely composed of Independent Directors within the

meaning of Article 526ter of the Company Code, an Internal Auditor,

Risk Manager, Management Controller and Compliance Officer;

the Executive Committee’s integration of the notion of risk for any

investment, transaction or commitment with a significant impact on

the company’s objectives;

the existence of a Code of Conduct dealing with conflicts of interest,

professional secrecy, rules governing the buying and selling of

shares, prevention of misuse of corporate funds, acceptance of

business gifts, communication and respect for individuals;

adherence to task separation principles and the application of rules

regarding delegation of powers clearly established at all levels of

the company;

the application of strict criteria in relation to management of human

resources, particularly selection, staff recruitment rules, the training

policy, the periodic performance assessment procedure and the

setting of annual targets;

the monitoring of procedures and the formalisation of processes.

External players are also involved in this risk control environment,

in particular, the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA),

company auditors, legal consultants, independent real estate experts,

banks, the credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s, financial analysts

and shareholders.

REFERENCE CODE

This corporate governance declaration is covered by the provisions of

the Belgian 2009 Corporate Governance Code (“2009 Code”) as well as

the Law of 06.04.2010 amending the Company Code. The Royal Decree

of 06.06.2010 recognised the 2009 Code as the only applicable code.

The Code is available on the website of the Belgian Official Gazette

(Moniteur Belge/Belgisch Staatsblad), as well as on the website

www.corporategovernancecommittee.be.

The Board of Directors declares that, to its knowledge, the exer-

cised corporate governance fully complies with the 2009 Corporate

Governance Code.

The company’s Corporate Governance Charter can be viewed on its

website

www.cofinimmo.com

. It was last amended on 24.03.2016.