Committees of the Board of Directors
Compensation Committee
The Compensation Committee consists of not fewer than three members, all of whom must be independent. The current members are:
The Compensation Committee has its own charter (PDF), which has been approved by the Board. Pursuant to its charter, the Compensation Committee holds at least four meetings per year. Additional meetings may be scheduled if required to discuss urgent matters. The length of the meetings varies and depends on the agenda. The main meeting is held in January with the primary purpose of reviewing the performance of the businesses and the respective management teams, and determining and/or recommending to the Board for approval the overall compensation pools and the compensation payable to the members of the Board, the Executive Board, the head of Internal Audit and certain other members of senior management. Other duties and responsibilities of the Compensation Committee include reviewing newly established compensation plans or amendments to existing plans and recommending them to the Board for approval. The Chairman of the Compensation Committee decides on the attendance of management or others at the committee meetings.
The Compensation Committee is assisted in its work by external legal counsel and an independent global compensation consulting firm (Johnson Associates, Inc.). For information on our compensation approach, principles and objectives, refer to Compensation. The Compensation Committee performs a self-assessment once a year where it reviews its own performance against the responsibilities listed in the charter and the committee's objectives and determines any special focus objectives for the coming year.