Anti-corruption and bribery matters

Anti-corruption, anti-bribery and antitrust

Ethically correct and legal conduct includes the prevention of corruption, bribery and antitrust violations. HUGO BOSS expects all employees to act lawfully in day-to-day business operations. For HUGO BOSS, corporate compliance is a key responsibility of the Managing Board and includes measures to adhere with legal and official regulations, and internal guidelines and codes. These include anti-corruption, anti-bribery and antitrust regulations.

The central Compliance department reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer in his function as Chief Compliance Officer and supports him in the monitoring of effective compliance management. It works together with the compliance officers in the Group companies to provide for the compliance program to be implemented and continually further developed. The Audit Committee is kept regularly informed of the Compliance department’s activities. Corporate Governance Report including the Corporate Governance Statement

Targets

Compliance management at HUGO BOSS aims at Group-wide legally compliant behavior. The target is to prevent legal violations such as corruption, bribery and antitrust violations which may result not only in reputational and financial risk but may also, in particular, lead to personal consequences under criminal and labor law.

Measures

All employees of the HUGO BOSS Group are required to comply with the Code of Conduct applicable throughout the Group and specific supplementary compliance rules. All Group companies are subject to regular risk analyses and detailed audits where applicable. Any infringements are reported to the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board. The Code of Conduct is available on the Company website. group.hugoboss.com

A Group-wide e-learning program to be completed by all employees with access to a PC should heighten awareness of the compliance rules. Staff in positions where compliance is particularly relevant receive face-to-face training courses on specific topics that are of relevance to them, such as antitrust law. HUGO BOSS does not tolerate any willful misconduct or persistent compliance infringements.

At HUGO BOSS, employees, suppliers and trading partners can notify an external ombudsman in confidence if there are any indications of fraud, infringements of antitrust law or other compliance breaches. If desired, it is also possible to do this anonymously. The ombudsman’s contact data can be found on the Company’s website. group.hugoboss.com

Performance indicators

As in the prior year, there were no corruption, bribery or antitrust cases identified in the Company in 2018.