The Suntory Group aims "To inspire the brilliance of life, by creating rich experiences for people in harmony with nature," and we are promoting the enhancement of corporate governance in order to improve management efficiency, maintain good relationships with stakeholders such as local communities, customers, business partners, and fulfill our social responsibilities as a company.
Promoting Structure
Boards Responsible for Group Management
The Suntory Group is introducing a holding-company system. The holding company, Suntory Holdings' Board of Directors is made up of 11 directors, including 1 external director (as of April 2023). The Board of Directors engages in concrete discussions, debates and makes decisions regarding management issues of the entire Group and also performs an auditing function of the business administration practiced by all Group companies. The adoption of the Executive Officer system helped to separate the business administration decision-making process from the execution of business operations and to make decision-making process more agile.
The Management Auditing System
Suntory Holdings' Board of Auditors is made up of 4 auditors, including 2 independent auditors (as of April 2023). It audits the execution status of business operations as well as the status of the internal control system. Audit & Supervisory Department was established to aid the audits performed by the Board of Auditors. In addition, the Suntory Group has established Group Auditing Department that acts as an internal auditing division that audits and inspects the execution status of business operations of all Group companies. The external auditors also audit accounts, verifying the appropriateness and legality of accounts and the internal accounting systems from an objective perspective.
Corporate governance structure
Strengthening Internal Control Systems
We are aiming to build a more effective governance structure by strengthening efforts such as compliance, information management, and risk management based on the Basic Policy on Internal Control Systems enacted by Suntory Holdings' Board of Directors.
For more information, see Basic Concepts and Operations for the Internal Control System
Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd.'s Corporate Governance
Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd., which is listed on the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is an Audit and Supervisory Committee company. This structure was established for the purpose of improving the effectiveness of auditing and supervision through audits by directors who are committee members approved by the Board of Directors in addition to introducing audits that utilize an internal auditing division to facilitate more highly-transparent governance. Three of the nine directors (including directors who are members of the auditing committee) that make up the Board of Directors are independent directors (as of February 2023).
Furthermore, Suntory Beverage & Food has also stipulated the ability to appoint directors for some or all decisions necessary for executing operations with approval at the Board of Directors Meeting. This measure realizes management strategy and achieves management indicators set as goals by conducting more comprehensive and practical deliberation such as debate about management strategy, medium- and long-term plans, and management challenges. It is also for the purpose of allowing for faster decision-making while enhancing supervision functions at the Board of Directors Meeting through decision-making based on the management committee and internal rules for executing each operation. We also disclose compliance status of the corporate governance code on our homepage.
For more information, see Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd.'s Corporate Governance