The Board of Directors appoints members of the Audit and Risk Committee and the Nomination and Remuneration Committee from amongst its members. Each committee shall have at least three members. The members shall have the expertise and experience required by the duties of the respective committee.
Members are appointed for a one-year term of office expiring at the end of the first Annual General Meeting following the election. All the members of the Board of Directors have the right to attend the committee meetings. The Chairman of the committee reports on the committee’s work to the Board of Directors regularly after each meeting, and the committee meeting materials and minutes are available to all members of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors has approved written charters for the committees; the charters are reviewed regularly and updated as needed.
Audit and Risk Committee
The Audit and Risk Committee assists the Board of Directors in matters relating to financial reporting and control in accordance with the duties specified for audit committees in the Finnish Corporate Governance Code. The Board of Directors regularly determines the role and duties of the Audit and Risk Committee in a written charter. The committee monitors the Group’s reporting process of financial statements and the efficiency of the internal controls, internal audit and risk management systems. In addition, the committee monitors and assesses the legal compliance and the business ethics compliance.
Pursuant to the Finnish Corporate Governance Code, the members of the Audit and Risk Committee shall have the qualifications necessary to perform the responsibilities of the committee, and at least one of the members shall have expertise specifically in accounting, bookkeeping or auditing. The members shall be independent of the company, and at least one member shall be independent of the company’s significant shareholders.
The external auditors, Chief Financial Officer, Head of Internal Audit, Corporate Controller, and General Counsel, as secretary to the committee, attend the committee meetings on a regular basis. Other senior executives attend the meetings as invited by the committee.
The Audit and Risk Committee carries out a self assessment of its work and approves the internal audit charter and the internal audit plan and its budget. The committee evaluates the independence of the external auditors, reviews the external auditor’s audit plan and meets with them regularly to discuss the audit plan, audit reports and findings.