BMW 2008 Annual Report Download - page 139

140
134 Corporate Governance
134 Members of the Supervisory Board
137
Members of the Board of
Management
138 Corporate Governance in the
BMW
Group
140 Compliance in the BMW Group
141 Compensation Report
147 Declaration of the Board of
Management and of the Supervisory
Board pursuant to § 161 AktG
Compliance in the BMW Group
Responsible and lawful conduct provides the basis for the
success of the BMW Group. This approach is integral to
the Group’s corporate culture and it is the reason why cus-
tomers, shareholders, business partners and the general
public place their trust in the BMW Group. The Board of
Management and the employees of the BMW Group are
obliged to act responsibly and in compliance with the law.
This principle has been embedded in the Group’s internal
guidelines for many years now. All departments can avail
themselves of assistance from designated experts from
the relevant Legal and Patents, Group Internal Audit and
Group Security departments to ensure that legal provisions
are complied with.
In order to ensure better protection against compliance-
related and reputational
risks, the Board of Management
created a Compliance Committee in 
which is man-
dated to establish a worldwide Compliance Organisation
throughout the BMW Group.
The BMW Group Compliance Committee comprises the
heads of the following departments: Legal and Patents,
Corporate Communication and Governmental Affairs, Group
Internal Audit, Group Financial Reporting, Organisation /
In-house Consulting and Group Human Resources. It
manages and monitors activities necessary to avoid non-
compliance with the law (Legal Compliance). These ac-
tivities
include training, information and communication
measures, following up potential cases of non-compliance
and implementing compliance requirements. The Com-
pliance Committee reports regularly to the Board of
Management on all compliance-related issues, including
the
progress made in setting up the Compliance Organi-
sation,
details of investigations performed, identified
cases of non-compliance, sanctions imposed and
correc-
tive / preventative measures implemented. The BMW
Group Compliance Committee operates through the
newly established Compliance Committee Office which
is in organisation terms to
the Chairman of the Board of
Management.
The Board of Management keeps the Audit Committee
(i. e. a part of the Supervisory Board) informed on the up-
to-date status of compliance activities within the BMW
Group – both on a regular basis and on a case-by-case
basis where necessary. The Compliance Organisation was
implemented at BMW AG and a number of German sub-
sidiaries in  and will be rolled out internationally in .
A whole new landscape of principles, guidelines and in-
structions was also put in place in . To some extent,
these internal rules stipulate processes that reflect current
legislation and thus supplement the Group’s compliance
activities.
The Compliance Organisation comprises the whole set
of measures taken to ensure that the BMW Group, its
representative bodies, its managers and its staff act lawfully.
The various elements of the Compliance Organisation are
shown in the diagram below and are valid throughout the
BMW Group. To the extent that additional compliance re-
quirements apply to individual countries or for specific lines
of business, this is covered by local compliance measures.
The BMW Group Legal Compliance Code (“LCC”) forms
the centre of the Compliance Organisation. This document
explains the significance of legal compliance and provides
an overview of the various legal areas that are relevant for
the BMW Group. The LCC is available for download to
employees in German and English. Translations into seven
other languages will be available from  onwards.
Managers in particular bear a high degree of responsibility
and must set a good example in the process of avoiding
incidences of non-compliance. All managers are required
to inform the staff working for them of the content and
significance of the
LCC and to draw attention to legal
risks. Managers must, at regular intervals and on their
Compliance Committee
Code of
conduct
Training
Implementation with
appropriate personnel
Compliance
contact
Reporting
Identification and
monitoring
Communi-
cation
Compliance
Committee Office
Compliance
Committee
BMW AG Board of Management
Annual Status Report