Unilever 2015 Annual Report Download - page 60

OUR RISK APPETITE AND
APPROAH TO RISK MANAEMENT
Rsk management s ntegral to Unlever’s strategy and to the
achevement of Unlever’s long-term goals Our success as an
organsaton depends on our ablty to dentfy and explot the
opportuntes generated by our busness and the markets we
are n In dong ths we take an embedded approach to rsk
management whch puts rsk and opportunty assessment
at the core of the leadershp team agenda, whch s where
we beleve t should be
Unlever adopts a rsk profle that s algned to our vson to
accelerate growth n the busness whle reducng our
envronmental footprnt and ncreasng our postve socal mpact
Our avalable captal and other resources are appled to underpn
our prortes We am to mantan a strong sngle A credt ratng
on a long-term bass
Our approach to rsk management s desgned to provde
reasonable, but notabsolute, assurance that our assets are
safeguarded, the rsks facng the busness are beng assessed and
mtgated and all nformaton that may be requred to be dsclosed
s reported toUnlever’s senor management ncludng, where
approprate, the hef Executve Offcer and hef Fnancal Offcer
ORANISATION
The Unlever Boards assume overall accountablty for the
management of rsk and for revewng the effectveness of
Unlever’s rsk management and nternal control systems
The Boards have establshed a clear organsatonal structure
wthwell defned accountabltes for the prncpal rsks that
Unlever faces n the short, medum and long term Ths
organsatonal structure and dstrbuton of accountabltes
and responsbltes ensures that every country n whch we
operate has specfc resources and processes for rsk revew
and rsk mtgaton Ths s supported by the Unlever Leadershp
Executve, whch takes actve responsblty for focusng on the
prncpal areas of rsk to Unlever The Boards regularly revew
these rsk areas, ncludng consderaton of envronmental, socal
and governance matters, and retan responsblty for determnng
the nature and extent of the sgnfcant rsks that Unlever s
prepared to take to acheve ts strategc obectves
FOUNDATION AND PRINIPLES
Unlever’s approach to dong busness s framed by our Purpose
Our ode of Busness Prncples sets out the standards of
behavour that we expect all employees to adhere to Day-to-day
responsblty for ensurng these prncples are appled throughout
Unlever rests wth senor management across categores,
geographes and functons A network of Busness Integrty
Offcers and ommttees supports the actvtes necessary to
communcate the ode, delver tranng, mantan processes and
procedures (ncludng support lnes) to report and respond to
alleged breaches, and to capture and communcate learnngs
We have a framework of ode Polces that underpn the ode
of Busness Prncples and set out the non-negotable standards
of behavour expected from all our employees
For each of our prncpal rsks we have a rsk management
framework detalng the controls we have n place and who s
responsble for both managng the overall rsk and the ndvdual
controls mtgatng that rsk
Unlever’s functonal standards defne mandatory requrements
across a range of specalst areas such as health and safety,
accountng and reportng and fnancal rsk management
PROESSES
Unlever operates a wde range of processes and actvtes across all
ts operatons coverng strategy, plannng, executon and performance
management Rsk management s ntegrated nto every stage of ths
busness cycle These procedures are formalsed and documented
and are ncreasngly beng centralsed and automated nto
transactonal and other nformaton technology systems
ASSURANE AND REASSURANE
Assurance on complance wth the ode of Busness Prncples
and all of our ode Polces s obtaned annually from Unlever
management va a formal ode declaraton In addton, there
are specalst complance programmes whch run durng the year
and vary dependng on thebusness prortes These specalst
complance programmes supplement the ode declaraton
Our orporate Audt functon plays a vtal role n provdng to both
management and the Boards an obectve and ndependent revew
of the effectveness of rsk management and nternal control
systems throughout Unlever
BOARDS’ ASSESSMENT OF OMPLIANE
WITH THE RISK MANAEMENT FRAMEWORKS
The Boards, advsed by the ommttees where approprate,
regularly revew the sgnfcant rsks and decsons that could have
a materal mpact on Unlever These revews consder the level of
rsk that Unlever s prepared to take n pursut of the busness
strategy and the effectveness of the management controls n
place to mtgate the rsk exposure
The Boards, through the Audt ommttee, have revewed the
assessment of rsks, nternal controls and dsclosure controls and
procedures n operaton wthn Unlever They have also consdered
the effectveness of any remedal actons taken for the year covered
by ths report and up to the date of ts approval by the Boards
Detals of the actvtes of the Audt ommttee n relaton to
ths can be found n the Report of the Audt ommttee on pages
60 and 61
Further statements on complance wth the specfc rsk
management and control requrements n the Dutch orporate
overnance ode, the UK orporate overnance ode, the US
Securtes Exchange Act (1934) and the Sarbanes-Oxley (2002)
Act can be found on pages 50, 51 and 52
VIABILITY STATEMENT
The actvtes of the roup, together wth the factors lkely to affect
ts future development, performance, the fnancal poston of the
roup, ts cash flows, lqudty poston and borrowng facltes are
descrbed n the Strategc Report on pages 2 to 39 In addton, we
descrbe n notes 15 to 18 on pages 115 to 129 the roup’s
obectves, polces and processes for managng ts captal, ts
fnancal rsk management obectves, detals of ts fnancal
nstruments and hedgng actvtes and ts exposures to credt
and lqudty rsk
The Drectors have carred out a robust assessment of the
prncpal rsks facng the roup, ncludng those that would
threaten ts busness model, future performance, solvency or
lqudty These rsks and the ways they are beng managed and
mtgated by a wde range of actons are summarsed on pages
54 to 57
53Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2015 Governance
RISKS