Managing Board
Profiles, roles and responsibilities of DSM's Managing Board and its Members.
The Supervisory Board supervises the policy pursued by the Managing Board, the Managing Board's performance of its managerial duties and the company's general course of affairs, taking account of the interests of all the company's stakeholders.
All current members of the Supervisory Board are independent in accordance with the Dutch law. The remuneration of the members of the Supervisory Board is determined by the General Meeting of Shareholders.
The functioning of and decision-making within the Supervisory Board are governed by the Regulations of the Supervisory Board, which have been drawn up. The Supervisory Board has established from among its members an Audit Committee, a Nomination Committee, a Remuneration Committee and a Sustainability Committee. The task of these committees is to prepare the decision-making of the Supervisory Board.
DSM values diversity and strives to reflect this in the composition of the Board of Directors. The composition of the Supervisory Board is such that it can fulfill its responsibilities and duties to the Company, its shareholders and stakeholders. The diverse and balanced composition reflects the nature and diversity of the Company’s business (life sciences & material sciences, (bio) chemicals and biotechnology), the geographical spread, the international knowledge and experience in the fields of general, strategic and risk management, finance/accounting/auditing, marketing/sales, manufacturing & operations, research & development/innovation/technology, safety, sustainability & environment, emerging economies, people & organization, information technology & digital, governance, compliance & legal and public affairs.
The Supervisory Board has formulated a diversity policy for the Supervisory Board, Managing Board and Executive Committee that addresses the concrete targets relating to diversity and the diversity aspects relevant to the Company, such as nationality/cultural background (aiming for a maximum of 50% of one nationality/cultural background), age, gender, board tenure and background of education, knowledge and professional experience. The Supervisory Board profile, together with the Supervisory Board competence matrix and the diversity?policy are implemented by applying them to?nominations for?(re)appointments?of Supervisory Board and Managing Board members as well as to appointments of Executive Committee members.
The composition should be as varied as possible taking into account:
DSM does not consider race or ethnicity explicitly as a criterion for Supervisory Board composition, as nationality/cultural background is already taken into account.
In the Board should be present (international) knowledge and experience in the following fields:
Individual members should be prepared and willing to fulfil the role as member of the Supervisory Board according to the Dutch Law, the Company’s Articles of Association and these Regulations. At the moment of his/her appointment each member should subscribe to the dsm-firmenich Code of Business Ethics and should not have a conflicting interest with the company.
The Supervisory Board must be independent of the Company. They, including their related family members, must meet the following conditions to be independent:
Each member should be capable of assessing the broad outline of the overall policy and should fit in the overall Supervisory Board composition described above, having knowledge or experience in one or more of the fields mentioned with at least one member having competence in accounting and auditing.
Members should represent the following qualities:
On the occasion of each appointment and re-appointment of a Supervisory Board member this profile will have to be respected. Every year the Nomination Committee will evaluate whether the actual situation reflects the desired, diverse composition of the Board and the desired qualities of each individual, and will report its findings to the Supervisory Board. To the extent that the actual situation differs from the diversity of composition aimed for in this profile, the Supervisory Board must account for such discrepancy in the Integrated Annual Report of the company, and indicate how and within what period it expects to achieve this aim. This profile is to be renewed regularly by the Nomination Committee. The Committee will report its findings to the Supervisory Board.
DSM has a number of Board committees whose role is to aid and advise the Managing Board in the execution of its duties. The Board committees cover four key areas: auditing, board nominations, remunerations, and corporate social responsibility.
The?Audit Committee?is comprised of John Ramsay (Chair), Pradeep Pant, Erica Mann and Corien Wortmann-Kool. The Audit Committee is charged in particular with the supervision of the Managing Board with respect to:
The?Nomination Committee?is comprised of Thomas Leysen (Chair), Eileen Kennedy, Pradeep Pant and Carla Mahieu. The Nomination Committee has the following duties:
The?Remuneration Committee?is comprised of Carla Mahieu (Chair), John Ramsay, Frits van Paaschen and Thomas Leysen. The Remuneration Committee has the following duties:
The?Sustainability Committee?is comprised of Eileen Kennedy (Chair), Erica Mann,?Frits van Paaschen and?Corien Wortmann-Kool. The Corporate Sustainability Committee has the following duties:
Supervisory Board members are appointed for fixed-term periods of 4 years. A person may be appointed to the Supervisory Board for a maximum of two 4-year terms. Members may then subsequently be reappointed again for a period of two years, which may be extended by at most two years.
Below is a summary of the current Supervisory Board's members terms and their reappointment possibilities.
Member | Appointed | Term expires | Further term(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Thomas Leysen (Chair) | 2020 | 2024 | Yes |
John Ramsay (Deputy Chair) | 2017 | 2025 | Yes |
Eileen Kennedy | 2012 | 2024 | No |
Pradeep Pant | 2016 | 2024 | Yes |
Frits van Paasschen | 2017 | 2025 | Yes |
Erica Mann | 2019 | 2023 | Yes |
Carla Mahieu | 2021 | 2025 | Yes |
Corien M. Wortmann-Kool | 2021 | 2025 | Yes |
The remuneration of the members of the Supervisory Board is based on the?Supervisory Board's Remuneration Policy approved by the 2019 General meeting of Shareholders.?
Comprehensive details concerning the actual remuneration of DSM's Supervisory Board can be found in the Remuneration Report 2022.
Profiles, roles and responsibilities of DSM's Managing Board and its Members.
DSM's Policies, Procedures & Rules to protect whistleblowers and to prevent misuse of inside information.
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