In addition, the internal control shall ensure with reasonable certainty that the external financial reporting is reliable and prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and shall 50 Report of the Directors - Responsibility and governance - Corporate governance report SSAB ANNUAL REPORT 2011 ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations and the requirements imposed on listed companies.
The Group Risk Manager has the task of developing and implementing a uniform risk management model regarding the Group’s risks, primarily relating to injury to individuals and damage to machinery and the environment. The Group Risk Manager has the task of identifying, evaluating and reporting these risks as well as compiling and updating SSAB’s risk profile and risk model. The work also involves assessing
which preventive measures should be taken in the internal control in order to reduce and prevent such risks. In addition, the Group Risk Manager shall ensure that the Group is sufficiently insured and shall prepare information as a basis for decisions by the Group Executive Committee, the business areas and subsidiaries. The Group Risk Manageris functionally responsible for the Group’s risk work and collaborates with a number of local risk managers on the business area and subsidiary level. All risk managers are members of the Company’s Risk Council, which is convened each quarter by the Group Risk Manager.
The Group Risk Manager reports directly to the Company’s General Counsel. Financial risks are managed by the Group’s treasury function and are thus outside the mandate of the Group Risk Manager.
In order to further strengthen the internal control and risk management, in 2010 SSAB decided to establish a whistleblower function through which serious improprieties and violations of the Company’s Code of Business Ethics can be reported. This function is aimed, among other things, at guaranteeing safety in the workplace, maintaining sound business ethics and curbing economic irregularities within SSAB, to the benefit of employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders.