DOUGLAS corporate culture has a fundamental influence on the perception of Compliance in our organization. Internal policies provide guidance on ethical and lawful business activity, therewith safeguard compliance within the company. The DOUGLAS Code of Conduct outlines the group´s commitment to responsible business practice and applies to all employees.

DOUGLAS considers fair competition and a commitment to ethical and lawful business practice as essential to its long-term success as a retail company. Accordingly, DOUGLAS Compliance Management System contains standards and processes to ensure the group´s adherence to applicable laws and internal policies and to prevent violations of law. The Compliance Management System therewith serves to protect the company from potential risks and from financial and reputational damage.

Foundation of the Compliance Management System is a risk-based approach deriving from the company´s own risk landscape to enable early identification and mitigation of potential compliance risks. Such risk assessment provides the opportunity to establish an individual compliance program tailored to DOUGLAS.

Based on the risk evaluation, adequate compliance processes and measures support DOUGLAS in implementing certain corporate governance principles and standards. This applies specifically to the provisions on the fight against bribery and corruption as well as on competition and antitrust violations. DOUGLAS applies due care to the choice of its business partners. The DOUGLAS Supplier Code of Conduct serves to ensure that our suppliers acknowledge generally accepted compliance standards. Identification and management of compliance violations are essential to protect DOUGLAS from financial liability and reputational damage. Confidential ways to report potential compliance violations and adequate follow-up measures guarantee a proper case management.

Besides a central Compliance Organization headed by the Chief Compliance Officer, with a direct reporting line to the Chief Financial Officer, Compliance Officers in the countries support the entities in implementing compliance measures to adequately address potential risks.

Communication and training serve to enable continuous awareness and understanding of compliance topics and policies. Additionally, the group-wide compliance organization provides employees with the opportunity to seek advice from their compliance contacts at any time and in critical situations.

Compliance monitoring measures safeguard a consistent implementation of DOUGLAS´ Compliance Management System across the countries. The performance of compliance audits serves to detect potential compliance violations and helps identify adequate process improvement.