Experian 2009 Annual Report Download - page 55

53Experian Annual Report 2009
Introduction 2 – 7
Governance Corporate governance statement Financial statements
73 – 148
Business review 8 – 43 Business review 8 – 43
Induction and training
Following appointment, directors
receive an induction programme,
which includes business presentations
from senior management, site visits
and receipt of information about
such matters as the operating
procedures and activities of the
Group, the governance structure of
the Group, information on the duties
and responsibilities of directors
and information on dealing in the
Company’s shares. The induction
process is continued throughout the
directors’ terms of ofce.
The board believes strongly in the
development of all Group employees
and directors and it is a requirement
of each director’s appointment that
they commit to continue acquiring
knowledge about the business.
To achieve this, directors are kept
briefed on Experian’s business, the
environment in which it operates and
other matters throughout their period
of ofce. The form that development
takes is subject to the requirements of
the directors. During the year, directors
received a number of induction
and training sessions ranging from
an external presentation on risk
management to internal presentations
on the nance function, the nance
systems of the Group, nancial
reporting and a number of the Group’s
businesses. The board made a visit
to the Group’s business in Brazil and
met and received presentations from
management and employees. Further
visits to Group business locations are
included in the board’s future meeting
programme.
There is a procedure in place whereby
directors may, in the performance
of their duties, seek independent
professional advice at the Company’s
expense if considered appropriate. No
director obtained any such independent
professional advice during the year
ended 31 March 2009.
Conicts of interest
The articles of association of the
Company were amended at the 2008
annual general meeting to give the
board the power to authorise conicts,
or potential conicts, of interest.
The authorisation procedure that
the board adopted involved the issue
of a questionnaire by the Company
Secretary asking directors to identify
any conicts or potential conicts,
which were considered by the board
at the next meeting. Directors are
also required to advise the Company
Secretary of any actual or potential
conicts as soon as they arise, so that
they can be considered by the board
at the next available opportunity. It is
the board’s view that the Company’s
procedures for ensuring that the
board’s powers of authorisation of
conicts are operating effectively
and that the procedures have been
followed.
Board committees
The principal board committees
are the nomination committee, the
remuneration committee and the audit
committee. The committees operate
within dened terms of reference
which cover the authority delegated to
them by the board. These can be found
on the Experian website
www.experianplc.com and are available
from the Company Secretary upon
request. The Company Secretary is
secretary to all three committees.
Throughout the year the chairman of
each committee provided the board
with a report of the issues considered
at the meetings of the committees and
the minutes of the committee meetings
were circulated to the board. Reports
of the activities of each of the principal
board committees are set out on the
following pages.