Compliance

BASF is committed to upholding a high standard of legal compliance and business ethics. Our group-wide Compliance Program aims to ensure adherence to legal regulations, the company’s internal guidelines, and ethical business practices. Our Code of Conduct firmly embeds these mandatory standards into the day-to-day operations of our employees.

Compliance Program and Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct as the core of our Compliance Program
Systematic further development of our compliance management system

BASF’s Compliance Program is based on our corporate values and voluntary commitments, as well as international standards. It describes our commitment to responsible conduct and our expectations of how all BASF employees will interact with business partners, officials, co-workers, and the community. At the core of our Compliance Program is the global, standardized Code of Conduct. All employees and managers are obligated to adhere to its guidelines, which cover topics ranging from corruption and antitrust laws to human rights, labor and social standards, conflicts of interest and trade control, and data privacy protection. The online version of our Code of Conduct is designed to be user-friendly and easy to understand, which includes features such as case studies, FAQs and additional references.

Abiding by compliance standards is the foundation of responsible leadership. This has also been embedded in our values. We are convinced that adhering to these standards will be critical in ensuring our company’s long-term success. Our efforts are principally aimed at preventing violations from the outset.

Our Code of Conduct firmly embeds these mandatory standards into the day-to-day operations of our employees.

Compliance culture at BASF Greater China

We firmly believe that for corporate responsibility to be successful, there must be an active and high standard compliance culture within the company that lives by these guidelines. We expect all employees to act in line with the principles as embedded in our Global Code of Conduct. Managers play an important role here – they serve as examples, communicating our values and culture both internally and externally. In line with this, special workshops on integrity as a leadership task were again conducted in 2023 for newly appointed senior executives in Greater China.

Monitoring adherence to our compliance principles

At the global level, BASF’s Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) reports directly to the Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors and manages the further development of our global compliance organization and our Compliance Management System. The CCO is supported in this task by the Corporate Compliance unit and more than 100 compliance officers and representatives worldwide in the regions and countries as well as in the operating divisions, service units and in the Corporate Center, including Greater China.

We encourage our employees (should they be in doubt) to seek guidance actively by consulting with their managers and specialist departments (e.g., legal department, compliance officers and representatives of the company). Employees can report compliance issues or allegations through the compliance phone hotline or online compliance reporting system. Each concern is documented according to specific criteria, properly investigated in line with standard internal procedures and answered timely. The outcome of investigations, and any measures taken is documented and reported accordingly.

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