The Board of Directors
emphasizes on shareholders’ rights and ensures
equitable treatment to all as prescribed in
the Company’s rules and regulations and relevant
laws. Shareholders hold the right to attend
annual meeting, the right to appoint their proxy
to vote at the meetings, the right to vote on
the appointment or removal of directors, the
right to cast votes in significant matters,
the right to receive dividend, the right to
raise opinions and questions at the meetings
and the right to have sufficient and timely
information.
The Board sets the annual
shareholders’ meeting (AGM) once a year which
is to be held within 4 months after the end
of each accounting year.
In organizing the AGM,
the Board puts emphasis on the shareholders’
rights. Notice to meeting contains agenda in
details along with Board’s opinions is dispatched
at least 14 days prior to the meeting date.
With timely information, shareholders can make
decisions prior to the meeting date or could
appoint independent directors as their proxy.
The notice of AGM is published in daily newspapers
for 3 consecutive days at least 3 days ahead
of the meeting. The meeting details and agenda
are also posted on the Company’s website so
that shareholders or investors can submit their
questions in advance.
During the meeting, the
Board facilitates shareholders’ attendance and
voting and refrains from any actions which will
limit their attendance. All shareholders are
given full freedom to raise their questions
and opinions.
The Company received a
“Good” rating for the shareholders’ annual general
meeting (AGM) of 2010 by Thai Investors Association
and receive a “Good” rating for corporate governance
report of Thai Listed Companies 2010 by IOD
with the SEC and SET.
The Company extends care
and considerations to every group of stakeholders.
Treatment of each stakeholder is clearly defined
for employees to follow and is considered an
important duty for all employees. This can be
summarized as follows.
Shareholders
The Company is committed
to be the representative of the shareholders
in conducting business with transparency, putting
in place reliable financial and accounting systems,
creating optimum satisfaction for shareholders
by considering the Company’s long-term
growth and appropriate levels of s sustainable
returns.
Customers
The Company is committed
to customer satisfaction by delivering quality
products at reasonable price and excellent services
that meet requirements of customers.
Business Partners - The Company is dedicated
to operate its business with integrity, transparency
and fairness. The Company values equality and
common interest with its business partners.
Creditors
The Company implements
the conditions of all its loans and its other
obligations to creditors to enhance confidence
and trust in the Company’s commitment.
Employees
The Company nurtures its
human resources and helps them improve their
knowledge and skills. All employees are treated
equally and compensated fairly in line with
their performance. The Company also cares about
health and safety of its employees and organizes
many programs to promote the same.
Community
and Environment
The Company places great
importance of conserving natural resources
and protecting the environment. Accordingly,
the Company is committed to ensure compliance
with relevant laws and regulations including
adherence with ISO 14001 standard for environment
management. The Company works closely with provincial
authorities and surrounding community and supports
maintaining the quality of environment.
Government Sector
The Company is committed
to strictly comply with all laws and regulations
from the relevant authorities.
The Board puts emphasis
on information disclosure and transparency,
with sufficient information released to all
stakeholders and measures to ensure the disclosure
of accurate, complete and credible information
in a timely manner for equal access.
The Company disseminates
financial and non-financial information in compliance
with related laws in a correct, complete, timely
and transparent manner via the Stock exchange
of Thailand. In addition, the Company’s information
is disclosed in information disclosure report
(form 56-1), annual report (form 56-2) and the
Company’s website. Furthermore, the Company
reports on the responsibility of the Board of
Directors for financial statements, which appear
together with the report of the independent
auditors in the annual report.
The Company has pursued
the Stock Exchange of Thailand’s rules and regulations
governing connected transactions or acquisition
and disposal of assets. Besides, the Company
has set policies and guidelines to prohibit
executives and related persons from using inside
information for their own interests.
The Company has assigned
the company secretary to liaise and serve to
answer inquiries from shareholders and investors.
For more information, company secretary can
be contacted at Tel. 0-2253-6745 (ext. 2250)
or send e-mail to suwanna.c@adityabirla.com
and corporate website at www.thairayon.com
5.1 The Structure
of the Board of Directors
The Board of Directors
consists of qualified individuals who are knowledgeable,
experience, and skill in various professions
with the leadership, vision and independence
in judgment. The Board of Directors is overseeing
that the operations of the Company are conducted
according to the defined policies in compliance
with the framework of laws, objectives, regulations
and shareholders’ resolutions. Directors discharge
their responsibilities accountably, honestly,
and discretely according to principles of best
practices to perform effectively, capable of
adding maximum economic value to the business
and providing maximum return to the shareholders.
In 2010, the Board of
Directors comprises 9 directors as follow:
-
Non-executive directors 6 persons
-
Independent
directors 3 persons
The role of Chairman is
clearly separate from executive management.
All directors possess full independence in giving
opinions. The Board of Directors oversees that
the operations of the Company are conducted
according to defined policies in compliance
with the framework of laws, objectives, regulations
and shareholders’ resolutions. Directors discharge
their responsibilities accountably, honestly
and effectively according to the principles
of good corporate governance.
Company Secretary
To comply with the good
corporate governance principles of listed companies,
under the category of directors’ responsibility
and the terms of the Securities and Exchange
Act, the Company has appointed Company Secretary
to provide the Board with legal advice and remind
them of all regulations that they need to know
and comply with. The company secretary shall
also help in conducting meetings of Board to
enable them to perform efficiently and effectively
for the maximum benefit to the Company and prepare
& maintain critical documents including directors
registration, Board meeting notices and minutes,
annual reports, shareholders meeting notices
and minutes and filing of reports as per regulations
with Stock Exchange of Thailand.
5.2 Committees
Even though the Company
has not set up other committees besides the
Audit Committee, which must be established in
compliance with the regulations of the SET,
all of the Company’s practices in other areas
such as determination of remuneration and election
of directors are carried out in a careful, transparent,
and honest manner.
The Audit Committee consists
of 3 independent directors. The qualifications
of the members meet the requirements stipulated
in the announcement of the SET regarding qualifications
and scope of work of the audit committee. The
Committee is assigned to perform checks and
balances of the management of various business
activities to ensure reliability and integrity
and that the best interests of all stakeholders
are served.
In 2010, the Audit Committee
convened 4 meetings. Records of meeting attendance
of individual directors are as follows.
| Name
|
Position |
Audit
Committee
Attendance |
Remark
|
| 1. Mr. Shyam Sundar
Mahansaria |
Chairman
of
the Audit Committee |
4/4 |
|
| 2. Mr. Vinai Sachdev |
Member
of
the Audit Committee |
4/4
|
|
| 3. Mr. Ramakant Rathi
|
Member
of
the Audit Committee |
0/4 |
Being
foreign Director |
5.3 Responsibilities
of the Board
The Board consists of
knowledgeable, capable, skilled and experienced
persons who realize the importance of their
roles and responsibilities. The Board takes
part in formulating the vision, mission, strategies,
goals, business plans and resource allocation
The Board values good
corporate governance to instill trust among
shareholders, investors and all other stakeholders
The Code of Conduct is in place for employees
to perform in accordance with the corporate
governance policy.
To prevent conflicts of
interest or connected transactions, the Board
takes serious note of audit committees’ opinions.
There are policies, code of practices and the
procedure to approve transactions which might
carry conflict of interest, as guidelines to
executives, employees and relevant parties.
The Board also ensures that the management regularly
assesses business risks and formulates risk
preventing and mitigation measures and report
them to the Board all significant issues. These
also include the risks that may affect the Company’s
performance, as specified in item “Risk Factors”.
5.4 Meeting of
the Board
The Board holds quarterly
meetings, aside from extra meetings as necessary,
with clear and prepared agenda, to review the
quarterly results as well as monitor progress.
The Group Executive President will review the
issues before brining them up to the Board’s
meetings. Each director is allowed to propose
their own agenda.
In each meeting, the chairman
allocates sufficient and ample time for discussion.
The Board’s Meeting is convened once in 3 months
and an additional meeting may be held if necessary.
Each meeting will be with clearly informed agenda
both for acknowledgement and for consideration.
Notice of the meeting is delivered to directors
at least 7 days prior to the meeting except
in the event of an emergency to protect the
rights or benefits of the Company. An agenda
is set for each meeting and adequate supporting
documents are distributed sufficiently in advance
to allow directors adequate time for a thorough
review. At the meeting, each director is entitled
to freely discuss and comment on matters. The
minutes of the meeting are prepared, approved
by the Board and filed at the Company Secretary
Office for future reference and verification
by directors and related person.
In 2010, the Board of
Directors convened 4 meetings. Records of meeting
attendance of individual directors are as follows.
| Name
|
Position |
Board
Meeting
Attendance |
Remark
|
| 1. Mr.
Kumar Mangalam Birla |
Director
and Chairman |
0/4 |
Being
foreign director |
| 2. Mrs.
Rajashree Birla |
Director
|
0/4
|
Being
foreign director |
| 3. Mr.
Shyam Sundar Mahansaria |
Independent
Director |
4/4 |
|
| 4. Mr.
Vinai Sachdev |
Independent
Director |
4/4
|
|
| 5. Mr.
Ramakant Rathi |
Independent
Director |
0/4 |
Being
foreign director |
| 6. Mr.
Amolat Thakral |
Director |
4/4 |
|
| 7. Mrs.
Rachani Kajiji |
Director
|
3/4
|
|
| 8. Mr.
Shailendra Kumar Jain |
Director
|
1/4 |
Being
foreign director |
| 9. Mr.
Pooranmal Bajaj |
Director
|
4/4
|
|
5.5 Assessment
of Board’s Performance
The Company’s Board of
Directors has not yet set up a system for assessing
the Board member’s performance. However, the
Board will give due consideration to this matter
in due course.
5.6 Remuneration
It is the Company’s policy
to compensate directors and management at reasonable
levels to motivate and retain quality directors
and management or at levels comparable to Industrial
practices. Board’s remuneration is reported
to the Board and is approved at the shareholders’
meeting.
5.7 Continuing
Education of Directors and Management
The Company promotes and
facilitates training and the continuing education
of those who are associated with the corporate
governance system such as directors, Audit Committee
members, management and company secretary. This
enables continuous improvement to work performance.
In addition, every new appointee receives introduction
documents and materials beneficial to performing
the new duties. An introduction session is also
organized to introduce new directors to the
Company’s business, strategies and plans.
Five of the Company’s
directors have attended Directors Certification
Program which is organized by Thai Institution
of Directors (IOD).