Cathay Pacific 2015 Annual Report Download - page 45

Annual Report 2015
43
A number of Directors and senior staff with specialist skills
are employed directly by the Company on terms similar to
those applicable to the staff referred to above.
The Remuneration Committee reviewed the structure and
levels of remuneration paid to Executive Directors and
Executive Officers at its meeting in November 2015. At this
meeting the Committee considered a report prepared for it
by Mercer Limited, an independent firm of consultants,
which confirmed that the remuneration of the Company’s
Executive Directors and Executive Officers, as disclosed in
note 25 to the financial statements, was comparable with
that paid to equivalent executives in peer group companies.
No Director takes part in any discussion about his or her
own remuneration.
The following fee levels have been approved by the Board:
2015
HK$
2016
HK$
Director’s Fee 575,000 575,000
Fee for Audit
CommitteeChairman 260,000 260,000
Fee for Audit
CommitteeMember 180,000 180,000
Fee for Remuneration
CommitteeChairman 80,000 80,000
Fee for Remuneration
CommitteeMember 58,000 58,000
Accountability and Audit
Financial Reporting
The Board acknowledges its responsibility for:
• the proper stewardship of the Company’s affairs, to
ensure the integrity of financial information
• preparing annual and interim financial statements and
other related information that give a true and fair view of
the Group’s affairs and of its results and cash flows for
the relevant periods, in accordance with Hong Kong
Financial Reporting Standards and the Hong Kong
Companies Ordinance
• selecting appropriate accounting policies and ensuring
that these are consistently applied
• making judgements and estimates that are prudent and
reasonable; and
• ensuring that the application of the going concern
assumption is appropriate.
Risk Management and Internal Control
The Board acknowledges its responsibility to establish,
maintain and review the effectiveness of the Group’s risk
management and internal control systems. This
responsibility is primarily fulfilled on its behalf by the Audit
Committee as discussed on pages 44 and 45.
The foundation of strong risk management and internal
control systems is dependent on the ethics and culture of
the organisation, the quality and competence of its
personnel, the direction provided by the Board, and the
effectiveness of management.
Since profits are, in part, the reward for successful risk
taking in business, the risk management and internal control
systems are designed to manage rather than eliminate the
risk of failure to achieve business objectives, and can only
provide reasonable and not absolute assurance against
material misstatement or loss.
The key components of the Group’s control structure are
as follows:
Culture: The Board believes that good governance reflects
the culture of an organisation. This is more significant than
any written procedures.
The Company aims at all times to act ethically and with
integrity, and to instil this behaviour in all its employees by
example from the Board down. The Company has a Code of
Conduct, which is posted on its internal intranet site.
The Company is committed to developing and maintaining
high professional and ethical standards. These are reflected
in the rigorous selection process and career development
plans for all employees. The organisation prides itself on
being a long-term employer which instils in individuals, as
they progress through the Group, a thorough understanding
of the Company’s ways of thinking and acting.
Channels of communication are clearly established,
allowing employees a means of communicating their views
upwards with a willingness on the part of more senior
personnel to listen. Employees are aware that, whenever the
unexpected occurs, attention should be given not only to
the event itself, but also to determining the cause.
Corporate Governance Report