Corporate Governance
To us as Executive Board members, “Corporate Governance” is the essence of responsible and ethical management of Epigenomics, with very close and regular communication with the Supervisory Board aimed at the generation of long-term value to our shareholders. Openness and transparency in our corporate communications towards all shareholders, employees, the general public, and other stakeholders are the guiding principle.
For Epigenomics, corporate governance has been an important focus for several years and we welcome the publication of the German Corporate Governance Code in its current form. Even as a private company the compliance with the German corporate governance principles was systematically checked and amendments made wherever possible to ensure fair and responsible corporate management according to the new and amended version of the German Corporate Governance Code.
Epigenomics’ corporate governance principles in some instances go beyond the requirements of law and the recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code. For example, upon successful completion of our initial public offering (IPO), we have established binding internal guidelines on insider trading and have appointed a Corporate Governance Compliance Officer to ensure best practice is adhered to. The Compliance Officer is required to submit regular compliance reports to the Executive Board and these are reported to the Supervisory Board. All reports in 2004 confirmed the Company to be in compliance with corporate governance principles.
There are some notable exceptions where, based on historic contracts and corporate plans put in place as a private company, certain peculiarities lead to deviations from the German Corporate Governance Code. These are detailed in the documents above and there is a clear commitment to fully adhere to the Code going forward, e. g. with any future stock option plans and future Supervisory Board compensation plans.
2011 | |
Declaration of Compliance with the German Corporate Governance Code pursuant to Section 161 of the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG) - December 2011 | |
Declaration of Governance and reporting on Corporate Governance pursuant to Section 289a German Commercial Code (HGB) | |
Declaration of Compliance with the German Corporate Governance Code pursuant to Section 161 of the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG) - March 2011 | |
Declaration of Governance and reporting on Corporate Governance pursuant to Section 289a German Commercial Code (HGB) | |
2010 | |
Declaration of Compliance with the German Corporate Governance Code | |
Declaration of Governance and reporting on Corporate Governance | |
German Corporate Govenance Code as amended on May 26, 2010 | |
Articles of Association |