What we stand for

To us, compliance is a central component of good corporate governance. It means much more than just obeying rules and regulations. It is a question of mindset. It concerns every one of us at thyssenkrupp, every day, everywhere.

Values such as reliability, honesty, credibility, and integrity are not empty words to us, but permeate our corporate DNA. This is the standard we apply when developing our strategic compliance measures, creating a value culture which must be jointly supported and consistently lived by all employees – and in particular our managers. A written code of values provides the basis for our decisions.

At thyssenkrupp this value culture is embedded in our Group Mission Statement. Through our compliance commitment the Executive Board takes a firm stance, rejecting compliance violations of all kinds. This unequivocal commitment is supported by a code of conduct and various Group Policies, in particular in the areas of anticorruption and antitrust law.

thyssenkrupp stands for fair and straight business

What's important to us is that our corporate philosophy is lived at all levels of the Group in the interests of “good corporate governance.” We strive to ensure that there are no systemic weaknesses and deficits, in the area of compliance or anywhere else.

At the same time we want to support entrepreneurial courage within a clearly defined framework. While it is part of our philosophy to take calculable entrepreneurial risks and make and accept mistakes, we will not take risks with compliance.

Deliberate violations of the law and internal rules are unacceptable both legally and in our understanding of compliance.

So we have three rules:

1. We investigate all reports of legal violations and clarify the facts.
2. Any violations identified are stopped immediately.
3. All violations identified are systematically and appropriately sanctioned on the basis of a zero-tolerance policy.

People make mistakes. If an employee who has unintentionally violated the law admits his mistake and seriously tries to make amends, he deserves a second chance – the circumstances of the concrete individual case permitting. This too is a question of value culture and fairness in our dealings with each other.

thyssenkrupp stands for fair and straight business – this is the standard we resolutely pursue. We would rather sacrifice a contract than win it by breaking the rules.