Reebok 2009 Annual Report Download - page 41

TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS Declaration on Corporate Governance including the Corporate Governance Report 37
Compliance with working Compliance with working
and social standardsand social standards
The development of company guidelines
with regard to social minimum stand-
ards, work safety as well as health and
environmental protection and the moni-
toring thereof at the production facilities
of the adidas Group and its business
partners is an integral component of
our global company policy. Our Group
has an individual supply chain code of
conduct, the “Workplace Standards”.
These standards see www.adidas-Group.
com/sustainability are oriented towards the
conventions of the International Labour
Organization (ILO) and follow the code of
conduct of the World Federation of the
Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI). They
help us to only choose such business
partners who fulfil the Group’s Work-
place Standards and business practices
in accordance with our values. Together
with our business partners, we actively
work on positive changes and have
appointed an expert team especially for
the coordination of compliance with and
control of the Workplace Standards. We
report on our sustainability programme
at www.adidas-Group.com/sustainability and
publish sustainability reports regularly.
Handling insider informationHandling insider information
The provision of transparent and reliable
information to the capital market and
shareholders is an important element
for the success of our Group. Hence,
proper handling of insider information is
indispensable. For this purpose, we have
established an insider committee which
examines the existence of insider facts,
provides for the observance of obliga-
tions in connection with insider facts and
prepares the required decisions. Our
employees are trained with regard to
the proper handling of insider informa-
tion and treat such information in strict
confidence.
Transparency and protection of Transparency and protection of
shareholders’ interestsshareholders’ interests
It is our goal to provide all institutional
investors, private shareholders, financial
analysts, employees and the interested
public with the same information at the
same time, in both English and German,
by regular, open and up-to-date commu-
nication, and to thus create the greatest
possible transparency. As an up-to-date
platform for publications, we mainly use
our website www.adidas-Group.com. In
addition, we publish corporate and capital
market information subject to disclosure
regulations Europe-wide. All documents
and information on our Annual General
Meeting are available on our website
to all interested persons. Through our
Investor Relations activities, we are also
in close contact with our shareholders
see Our Share, p. 42.
At the Annual General Meeting, our
shareholders who do not wish to exer-
cise their voting rights themselves have
the opportunity to have these rights
exercised by an authorised person or
a proxy appointed by the company and
bound by instructions. All shareholders
can follow the Annual General Meeting
live and in full length online. In addition,
we are available for answering ques-
tions of our shareholders by phone or
electronically. At our next Annual General
Meeting, taking place on May 6, 2010 in
Fuerth (Bavaria), we will again provide
our shareholders with the best possible
service.
Directors’ Dealings in 2009Directors’ Dealings in 2009
Pursuant to § 15a of the German Securi-
ties Trading Act (Wertpapierhandels-
gesetz – WpHG), Executive Board and
Supervisory Board members, other key
executives as well as persons in close
relationship with them are obliged
to disclose the purchase or sale of
adidas AG shares or related financial
instruments (Directors’ Dealings) if the
value of the transactions in the finan-
cial year reaches or exceeds € 5,000.
In 2009, we received two Directors’
Dealings’ notifications relating to adidas
shares (ISIN DE0005003404), which were
published at www.adidas-Group.com/
directors_dealings.
Share ownership of the Executive Share ownership of the Executive
Board and Supervisory BoardBoard and Supervisory Board
At the end of the financial year 2009, the
total number of shares held by the mem-
bers of the Executive Board of adidas AG
amounted to less than 1% of the shares
issued by the company.
At the same time, the members of
the Supervisory Board owned 2.15% of
the shares issued by the company.
Accounting and annual auditAccounting and annual audit
The statutory annual financial statements
of adidas AG relevant for the distribution
of dividends are prepared in accordance
with the provisions of the German Com-
mercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch - HGB)
and the AktG. The annual consolidated
financial statements and the interim
financial reports of the adidas Group
are prepared by the Executive Board in
accordance with the principles of the
International Financial Reporting Stand-
ards (IFRS) as applicable in the European
Union. The annual accounts are audited
and adopted by the Supervisory Board.
The financial statements of adidas AG are
therewith adopted.
KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungs-
gesellschaft, Frankfurt am Main, was
appointed as auditor for the adidas AG
annual financial statements and the con-
solidated financial statements for 2009
by the Annual General Meeting after the
Supervisory Board had confirmed the
independence of the auditor.