Governance

We continue to strengthen our governance structure and management system through the appointment of independent external directors of cooperation among the Audit Committee, the external auditor and the Internal Audit Department to support the strategic management and oversight functions of our Board of Directors. 

At the same time, we strive to increase the integrity and transparency of our management governance structure by maintaining accountability to and communication with all stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, business partners, customers, creditors, consumers and local communities.

We employ a governance structure comprising the Nomination Committee, Audit Committee and Compensation Committee as stipulated by the Companies Act of Japan in order to strengthen our Board of Directors’ oversight, increase transparency and speed up the decision-making of management, among other reasons. Under this structure, we have separated the oversight function and business execution function of management and have largely delegated business decision-making authorities to our Executive Officers and Executive Vice Presidents ("EVPs") to increase management oversight and efficiencies. Our key principles are set out in our Corporate Governance Guidelines.