3 Board of Directors

3.1 Members of the Board of Directors

According to Article 14 of the Articles of Association, the Board of Directors of Conzzeta AG consists of between five and eight members. On December 31, 2020, it was composed of eight members.

3.2 Curriculum Vitae and Other Activities and Vested Interests

Ernst Bärtschi

lic. oec. HSG, born in 1952, a Swiss national. Since 2012 he has been a member of the advisory board of the private-equity investor CRCI (China). In 2002, he joined Sika Ltd, Baar, where he worked until 2004 as chief financial officer and from 2005 until 2011 as chief executive officer. After working at Nestlé, Vevey, Ernst Bärtschi occupied various management positions between 1980 and 2002 at the Schindler Group, Ebikon, including managing director of Schindler Switzerland and chief financial officer of the Schindler Group.

Dr. Roland Abt

Dr. oec. HSG, born in 1957, a Swiss national. He is a member of the board of directors of Swisscom AG, Bern, and chairman of the board of directors of Aargau Verkehr AG (AVA), Aarau. Previously, between 2004 and 2017, he was chief financial officer at Georg Fischer Ltd., Schaffhausen, which he joined in 1996, initially working as chief financial officer for the Agie Charmilles Group (1997 to 2004). He held various positions at the Eternit Group in Switzerland and in Venezuela (1987 to 1996).

Robert F. Spoerry

Dipl. Masch.-Ing. ETH, MBA, born in 1955, a Swiss national. He is chairman of the board of directors of Mettler-Toledo International Inc., Greifensee, which he also headed as CEO from 1993 until 2007, and of Sonova Holding Ltd., Stäfa.

Urs Riedener

lic. oec. HSG, born in 1965, a Swiss national. Since 2008, he has been chief executive officer at Emmi, Lucerne. Until 2008, he headed the Marketing department and was a member of the general management at the Federation of Migros Cooperatives MGB in Zurich. From 1995 until 2000, he worked at the Lindt & Sprüngli Group, Kilchberg, in various management roles nationally and internationally. He started his career working in various positions at Kraft Jacobs Suchard. Urs Riedener is also a member of the board of Promarca (Swiss Association of Brand Articles), a member of the board of the Swiss Management Association (SMG) and a member of the executive committee of the Institute for Marketing at the University of St. Gallen.

Jacob Schmidheiny

lic. oec. publ., born in 1943, a Swiss national. Since 1977, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of Conzzeta AG, previously Zürcher Ziegeleien, which he chaired from 1984 until 2014. In 1976, he was appointed to the Executive Committee of Zürcher Ziegeleien. He was Chairman of the Executive Committee from 1978 until 2001. Under the leadership of Jacob Schmidheiny, the Group transformed itself from a supplier of construction materials into the current industrial holding company.

Michael König

Dipl. Ing. chemical engineering, University of Dortmund, born in 1963, a German national. Since December 2019 he has been Chief Executive Officer of Elkem ASA, a listed company in Oslo, Norway. From 2016, he was previously Chief Executive Officer of China National Bluestar (Group) Co., Ltd, a Chinese state-owned company with global operations and a registered office in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China. Until 2015, he held various management positions at Bayer AG, Leverkusen (Germany), and was a member of the executive board between 2013 and 2015. Michael König has spent more than ten years of his whole career in various positions in the People’s Republic of China.

Dr. Matthias Auer

Dr. iur., born in 1953, a Swiss national. He has been an independent attorney and notary public in Glarus since 1981. He is also vice-chairman of the board of the Cooperative Migros Zurich.

Philip Mosimann

Dipl. Ing. ETH, born in 1954, a Swiss national. He has been chairman of the board of directors of Bucher Industries Ltd, Niederweningen, since 2016, which he has led as chairman of the executive committee since 2002. Between 1980 and 2001, he held various management positions within the Sulzer Group from Winterthur, including at Sulzer Innotec Ltd (1980 to 1992), then as head of division at Sulzer Thermtec (1992 to 1996) and as head of division at Sulzer Textil, Rüti (1997 to 2001). He is also chairman of the board of directors of Uster Technologies Ltd, Uster, and Ammann Group Holding AG, Langenthal, and a member of the boards of directors of Bobst Group SA, Mex, and of Vanderlande Industries B.V., Veghel, The Netherlands.

No member of the Board of Directors has worked in an executive role for the Conzzeta Group within the last four years and no member and no enterprise or organization represented by that member has any significant business relationship with the Group – other than with the status as a shareholder (under Financial Report, Notes to the Financial Statements of Conzzeta AG).

When filling future vacancies, it will continue to ensure that the Board has a diverse composition in terms of experience, knowledge of the sector, geographical origin and gender.

3.3 Rules Contained in the Articles of Association Relating to the Number of Permitted Activities under Article 12 para. 1 point 1 OaEC¹

According to Article 28 of the Articles of Association of the company, no member of the Board of Directors may accept more than ten additional appointments, including no more than four in companies listed on the stock exchange. These restrictions do not apply to:

• appointments to companies controlled by the company or that control the company;
• appointments taken up by a member of the Board of Directors on the instructions of the company. No member of the Board of Directors may take up more than ten such appointments; and
• appointments to associations, charitable foundations and staff pension funds. No member of the Board of Directors may take up more than ten such appointments.

Appointments include appointments to the highest management body of a legal entity that must be entered into the Commercial Register or an equivalent foreign register. Appointments to different legal entities under joint control or with the same economic beneficiary are regarded as one single appointment.

3.4 Elections and Terms of Office

The date of first election to the Board of Directors of each member is presented in the table under Section 3.1 “Members of the Board of Directors”. There are no limitations on the term of office. The Articles of Association do not contain any rules concerning the appointment of the Chairman, the members of the Remuneration Committee and the independent proxy deviating from those prescribed by law.

3.5 Internal Organization

The powers and tasks of the Board of Directors are determined by law and the Articles of Association along with the Organizational Regulations of Conzzeta AG (see further also “Definition of Areas of Responsibility”, Section 3.6). The Articles of Association and the Organizational Regulations of Conzzeta AG may be consulted on the company’s website https://conzzeta.com/en/company/corporate-governance/, the latter not including the annexes.

Chairman of the Board of Directors

The Chairman of the Board of Directors coordinates the work of the Board of Directors, issues invitations to the meetings of the Board of Directors, determines the agenda, prepares for meetings along with the Group CEO and chairs the meetings. He monitors the implementation of resolutions of the Board of Directors and the general meeting.

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors meets as often as required by business activities, but on no less than five occasions each year. Normally, two meetings are held in the first half of the year and three in the second half of the year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the frequency of meetings was increased temporarily during the first half of 2020. Accordingly, during the reporting year, the Board of Directors held six full-day meetings, one two-hour meeting as well as three one to one-and-a-half-hour telephone conferences. Two members of the Board of Directors were unable to attend one meeting each, and one member was absent with apologies at four meetings due to the pandemic. The other members of the Board of Directors were present at all meetings. The Group CEO, the Group CFO and the General Counsel, who also serves as the Secretary to the Board of Directors, are included in meetings of the Board of Directors, unless decided otherwise by the Board of Directors in relation to individual agenda items. In addition, the relevant heads of the business units and other managers and, on occasion, external advisors may also be included. During the reporting year, representatives of four external advisors were invited to five meetings in relation to various agenda items.

Cooperation between the Board of Directors and its Committees

The Board of Directors may establish committees, unless such a right is vested by law in the general meeting. It has established an Audit Committee with tasks relating to finances and auditing and a Human Resources Committee with tasks relating to personnel and remuneration. After Conzzeta AG announced a more decentralized management and the evaluation of options for the accelerated development of the present potential in all business units in August 2019, the Board of Directors created three additional committees in 2019. In connection with the new strategic focus which was announced in December 2019 (see in this regard the details on Business Review) these committees are closely accompanying the implementation in the business units Bystronic, FoamPartner and Mammut Sports Group.

The Board of Directors determines the duties of the committees, subject to provisions of law. Overall responsibility for the tasks transferred to the committees remains with the Board of Directors. However, if the Board of Directors has granted a committee decision-making powers in areas that lie outside the non-transferable powers of the Board of Directors, the committee concerned bears sole responsibility for such decisions. Ordinarily, no specific responsibility for decisions is transferred to the committees. They thus bear responsibility for the preparation of decisions and for the detailed examination of the affairs to be handled by them, and they submit proposals to the Board of Directors or inform the Board of Directors of their conclusions. The Human Resources Committee and the Audit Committee report on their activities, results and proposals at the next Board of Directors meeting. The Board of Directors is informed immediately of important events. Minutes are taken concerning the meetings of the committees and their decisions, which are also presented to the other members of the Board of Directors.

Human Resources Committee

The Human Resources Committee consists of those members of the Remuneration Committee appointed to the task in the course of the Annual General Meeting held on April 22, 2020. These are namely Philip Mosimann (Chairman), Urs Riedener and Robert F. Spoerry. The Chairman of the Board of Directors also participates in meetings of the Human Resources Committee as a general rule, as well as the Group CEO and the Group HR manager, in an advisory capacity, albeit it not when it comes to determining their own salaries. With regard to using external advisors, reference is made to the Report of the Human Resources Committee and to the Compensation Report, Section 2, “Priorities in 2020”.

In addition to the tasks essentially outlined in Article 21 of Conzzeta AG’s Articles of Association, the Remuneration Committee, acting in its capacity as the Human Resources Committee, executes other tasks which are all described in the Organizational Regulations. Its tasks essentially comprise the following:

• Presentation of proposals to the Board of Directors concerning rules on the remuneration of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee;
• Examination of all remuneration as to its permissibility;
• Recommendation to the Board of Directors concerning proposals to the Annual General Meeting on remuneration;
• Proposal to the Board of Directors concerning the annual remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors, the Group CEO and the other members of the Executive Committee;
• Preparation of the Compensation Report and discussion of the report with the auditors; presentation of proposals to the Board of Directors;
• Assessment of share and option plans in addition to bonus plans and other performance-related remuneration with regard to compliance with the provisions of the Articles of Association applicable to such matters, and the payment of variable remuneration in cash or as options and shares to members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee; presentation of proposals to the Board of Directors;
• Proposal to the Board of Directors concerning the setting of the principles applicable to the selection procedure for candidates for election to the Board of Directors or the Executive Committee and preparation of the short-list of candidates;
• Preparation of medium- to long-term succession planning for members of the Board of Directors and members of the Executive Committee;
• Recommendation concerning appointments of members of the Executive Committee for the attention of the Board of Directors;
• Monitoring of training and staff advancement measures;
• Assessment of managers and internal talent;
• Assessment of staff pension benefits;
• Any recommendations and monitoring of compliance with Group targets in relation to personnel.

The Human Resources Committee meets at least twice annually. In the reporting year, four meetings each lasting around two hours and one lasting four hours were held. Additional details can be found in the Compensation Report, Section 2 "Priorities in 2020" as well as the Report of the Human Resources Committee.

Audit Committee

The Audit Committee consists of Roland Abt (Chairman) and Matthias Auer. As a rule, the meetings of the Audit Committee are also attended in an advisory capacity by the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the Group CEO and the Group CFO. Upon invitation by the Chairman, the external auditors and internal auditors of the company may also attend meetings or participate in discussions of individual items on the agenda. The essential tasks of the Audit Committee are described in the Organizational Regulations. They include in particular:

• Examination of and presentation of proposals to the Board of Directors concerning the organization of the accounting, financial control and financial planning systems;
• Critical analysis of individual company and Group financial statements (annual and half-year financial statements). Discussion of these financial statements with the Group CFO and the external auditors. Presentation of proposals to the Board of Directors concerning these financial statements;
• Assessment of the efficacy and performance of the external auditors and their fee, as well as their independence. Decision regarding the issue of additional mandates to the external auditors other than the auditing mandate; Preparation of the proposal of the Board of Directors to the general meeting regarding the election of the external auditors. Presentation of proposals to the Board of Directors concerning the form of the auditing mandate. Assessment of the reports of the external auditors (including in particular the audit report and the comprehensive report pursuant to Article 728b CO) and the discussion of these reports with the external auditors;
• Assessment of the functional capability of the internal control system, taking account of risk management, compliance and internal auditing. Discussion and establishment of the audit program for the internal auditors. Acceptance of reports from internal auditors and discussion of these reports with the internal auditors. Reporting to the Board of Directors;
• Approval of the method used for assessing acquisitions at the Group level and individual assessment of major acquisitions for presentation to the Board of Directors;
• Assessment of pension plans and the associated risks;
• Assessment of further Group solutions in the financial field such as treasury, taxation and dividend payments by the direct subsidiaries of Conzzeta AG, etc.;
• Assessment of initiatives by the Board of Directors in the area of finance and accounting such as, for example, the achievement of specific financial targets and key performance indicators (KPI); reporting to the Board of Directors on fulfillment of targets.

The Audit Committee meets upon invitation by the Chairman as often as required by business, but on no less than three occasions each year. It normally meets in March, August and November and at these meetings discusses, among other things, any annually recurring issues in accordance with the description of tasks provided above and following a standard agenda. During the reporting year, the Audit Committee held three meetings lasting around four hours and one telephone conference of just under one hour. Additional details can be found in the Report of the Audit Committee.

BU Committees

In 2019, as part of the strategic transformation of the Group, the Board of Directors formed three new committees for the business units Bystronic, FoamPartner and Mammut Sports Group (hereafter “BU Committees”). The three BU Committees each comprise the Group CEO, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, an additional member of the Board of Directors, and other individuals as required. The three committees have consisted of the following members since they were formed:

• Bystronic Committee: Michael Willome (Chairman), Ernst Bärtschi and Roland Abt

• FoamPartner Committee: Michael Willome (Chairman), Ernst Bärtschi and Michael König

• Mammut Committee: Michael Willome (Chairman), Ernst Bärtschi and Urs Riedener

The main responsibilities of the BU Committees are as follows:

• Supporting the new strategic focus of the Conzzeta Group;

• Determining and providing support for all appropriate measures necessary to achieve in a timely fashion the business unit strategy adopted by the Board of Directors, the budget and the strategic financial planning;

• Reviewing progress in implementing the business unit strategy, achievement of the budget, and compliance with the strategic financial planning;

• Assessing the composition of the management of the relevant business unit and its cooperation; and

• Additional responsibilities delegated to them by the Board of Directors.

According to the Organizational Regulations, the BU Committees meet at least three times each year. Their meetings will normally also be attended by the head of the business unit and, in relation to individual agenda items, the members of the management of the relevant business unit. The FoamPartner Committee and the Mammut Committee each had three meetings and the Bystronic Committee had two meetings during the reporting year, each lasting around four hours.

3.6 Definition of Areas of Responsibility

The Board of Directors of Conzzeta AG bears responsibility for the overall management, supervision and control of the Group and its management and monitors compliance with the provisions of applicable legislation. It decides on the strategic targets of the Group and the financial and human resources necessary in order to achieve the targets. In addition, the Board of Directors determines the values and standards of the Group and ensures that duties towards shareholders and other stakeholders are complied with. Specifically, the Board of Directors is vested in particular with the following tasks:

• Overall management of the company and the setting of targets relating to corporate policy and culture, approval of Group strategy and the strategic priorities of individual business units;
• Approval of the strategic and financial targets of the Group and the business units;
• Risk assessment for the Group;
• Decisions on the creation of new business units or the abandonment of existing business units. Approval of significant acquisitions, mergers, sales, or individual projects;
• Adoption of resolutions relating to contracts under which Conzzeta AG acts as a party to mergers, spin-offs, transformations or transfers of assets under the Mergers Act;
• The organization of the accounting, financial control and financial planning for the Group and the business units and the organization of a comprehensive reporting system in line with strategy;
• Approval of the applicable accounting standards, the framework conditions for financial control and the internal control system along with any significant changes to the same;
• Annual assessment and approval of the budget and the strategic financial planning for the Group and business units;
• Examination and approval of the (annual and half-year) financial statements and Group and business unit reporting;
• Compilation of the Annual and the Compensation Report;
• Notification of the court in the event that the company is overindebted;
• Assessment of liquidity with reference to Group goals;
• Determination of the organization and the issuance of organizational regulations for the Group;
• Examination and approval of management principles, Group guidelines and the Group management structure;
• Overall supervision of the persons entrusted with managing the company, including with regard to compliance with laws, the Articles of Association and regulations and the implementation of the resolutions of the Board of Directors and of the general meeting;
• Appointment and removal of members of the Executive Committee;
• Calling of annual and extraordinary general meetings;
• Adoption of resolutions on proposals presented to shareholders;
• Implementation of resolutions adopted by shareholders.

On the basis of the Organizational Regulations, the Board of Directors has delegated the operational management of business to the heads of the business units, who are also members of the Executive Committee, under the leadership of the Group CEO. The heads of the business units are responsible for the comprehensive operational management of their business units. They manage them in accordance with the strategy approved by the Board of Directors, strategic financial planning, and the annual budget. Important transactions that exceed a particular financial threshold must be presented to the Board of Directors in advance for approval, such as in particular decisions concerning the incorporation or sale of subsidiaries, the acquisition or sale of equity interests, restructuring projects, investments, acquisitions, divestments, the purchase and sale of real estate, the conclusion of rental agreements and leases, consultancy contracts, cooperations and strategic partnerships, major projects (e.g. in the area of IT, development, organization) and financial obligations, the threshold values for which lie between CHF 3 and 10 million, depending on the transaction.

3.7 Information and Control Tools vis-à-vis the Executive Committee

The Conzzeta Group has a well-developed planning and information system. It is built from the bottom up with increasing consolidation. The Board of Directors is informed in writing and orally of the strategies, plans and results of all business units. The Board of Directors receives a consolidated monthly statement containing the key figures on Group level and for the business units and a commentary on the most important occurrences. In addition, the Board of Directors is also provided on a quarterly basis with further detailed reports containing the consolidated accounts for the business units and the Group. Each year the Board of Directors is presented with strategic financial planning and operational annual plans for approval.

The Group CEO normally informs the Board of Directors at every meeting of the current development of the business activities of the Group along with important developments, projects and risks. The heads of the business units inform the Board of Directors at every meeting of the most important key performance indicators and the development of their business unit, as well as any deviations from the budget and strategic financial planning based on analyses of the performance of the principal markets as well as measures to ensure that targets are achieved. In an emergency, the Board of Directors is informed immediately.

The Board of Directors engaged intensively with the 2025 Strategy of Bystronic during the reporting year, which was finally presented on November 10, 2020 on a digital capital markets day. As announced in December 2019 structured sales processes were launched for the two other business units, FoamPartner and Mammut Sports Group, following which on November 10, 2020 Conzzeta was able to report the sale of FoamPartner to the Belgian Recticel Group. At the time of publication of this Annual Report, the share purchase agreement has not yet been implemented.

The Conzzeta Group applies methodological processes, which the Board of Directors uses as a basis for assessing the business outlook and strategic, financial and operational risks. Alongside the financial reports and analyses, these constitute the internal control system and the strategic and operational risk management. The Board of Directors receives an annual report concerning the risk situation drawn up by the Group CEO in consultation with the Group CFO and the General Counsel, which is based on the written risk reports of the business units following the discussions of the same. As regards the risk management process, reference is made to the statements “Risk Management and Corporate responsibility” in the Business Review. In addition, the Board of Directors receives a report on the internal control system, the management letter from the external auditors, the comprehensive report of the external auditors for the Board of Directors each year along with a report on the employee pension funds in Switzerland.

The internal audit function was carried out by the auditing company Deloitte. The internal auditors perform the internal operational audit function within the Group. They report to the Chairman of the Audit Committee. Coordination of the implementation of auditing tasks is delegated to the Group CFO. The internal auditors carry out audits within the Group in accordance with the auditing plan proposed by the Audit Committee and determined by the Board of Directors. The audits cover the following areas on a rolling basis:

• effectiveness of selected operational processes on the level of the Group, business units and selected Group companies, in particular with regard to the requirements of the Group and the business unit concerned;
• effectiveness of governance and risk management re­quire­ments and processes;
• effectiveness of internal control processes;
• reliability and comprehensiveness of financial and operational information;
• compliance with provisions of law, the Articles of Association and internal regulations.

The internal auditors draw up reports containing recommendations for the local management and the Audit Committee. The local management states its position regarding the recommendations and, where it agrees with the recommendations, implements corrective measures promptly. If local management rejects a recommendation whilst the internal auditors and the Group CEO wish to pursue it, it is implemented on the instructions of the Audit Committee. During the reporting year, nine internal inspections were carried out by Deloitte. The internal auditors attended three out of the four meetings of the Audit Committee.

With regard to participation by the Group CEO and the Group CFO at meetings of the committees of the Board of Directors, reference is made to Section 3.5.