The Board of Directors

(Updated April 12, 2023)

The Board of Directors is responsible for the Company´s governance and proper organization of the operations. The Board of Directors comprises of three to seven (3–7) members and in addition it may have one to three (1–3) deputy members. The Annual General Meeting shall elect the members of the Board of Directors for a term which expires at the end of the following Annual General Meeting. The number of terms for the members of the Board of Directors is not limited. The Board of Directors selects a Chairman among its members.

The Board conducts an annual evaluation of the independence of its members following recommendation 10. A member of the Board is required to submit to the Company the information necessary to evaluate independence. A Board member is also required to notify the Company of any changes in information relating to independence.

The Annual General Meeting held on April 12, 2023, decided that the Board of Directors shall comprise five (5) members. Mr. Erkki Veikkolainen, Ms. Riitta Tiuraniemi, Mr. Veli-Pekka Paloranta, Mr. Petri Toljamo, and Mr. Pekka Kemppainen were re-elected as members of the Board of Directors for a term of office expiring at the end of the next Annual General Meeting.

At its organizing meeting held on April 12, 2023, the Board of Directors elected Mr. Erkki Veikkolainen as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Further, the Board of Directors resolved that it will continue to have an Audit Committee. Ms. Riitta Tiuraniemi (Chairman of the Committee), Mr. Petri Toljamo, and Mr. Veli-Pekka Paloranta were elected as members of the Audit Committee.

Description of Activities

The Board of Directors has defined a working order and evaluates its performance annually. The Board of Directors shall implement the decisions of the General Meeting. The Board of Directors supervises the operations and management. The Board of Directors makes decisions on the Company´s guiding principles for operation, strategy, and budget. The Board of Directors decides on mergers and acquisitions and other strategic alliances as well as significant investments and significant matters regarding organization and finance. The Board of Directors supervises that the control of the Group companies´ accounting and financial affairs is duly organized. The Board of Directors appoints the CEO and possible Deputy for him or her as well as approves the Company´s organizational structure.

The CEO, CFO, and CLO (who acts as secretary of the Board of Directors) attend the meetings of the Board of Directors. Other management attends the meetings when necessary or upon invitation by the Board of Directors. The Chairman of the Board approves the agendas of the meetings of the Board of Directors. The agendas are prepared by the CEO and the CLO.

An annual clock, according to which the regular subjects to be handled are determined, is applied in the Board´s work. In addition to the regular subjects of the annual clock, the most important subjects of the Board during the year were the corporate structure changes, ensuring growth and profitability, and the change of CEO.

The Annual General Meeting decides on the compensation of the members of the Board of Directors and the compensations can be publicly reviewed on the Company´s website at Salary and Remuneration Report.

In 2022, the Board convened 13 times. The Board members attended to the meetings as follows:

Diversity Principles of the Board of Directors

In the Company, diversity is seen as an essential part of corporate responsibility and as a factor in success that enables the achievement of strategic targets and continuous improvement of customer intimacy.

In planning the composition of the Board of Directors, the requirements of the Company´s business operations, the phases of development, and the competence requirements of the Board committees are taken into account. In appointing members of the Board the target is to ensure that the Board as a whole supports the development of the Company´s current and future business operations. Diversity plays a part in supporting this goal, so the Company aims to reach a situation where the facts supporting diversity are taken into account as significant criteria in planning the composition of the Board of Directors.

Diversity of the Board is considered from different perspectives. From the Company´s point of view, it is important to have Board members with diverse backgrounds in terms of competence, training, and experience in different business operations,  varying stages of business development, and leadership as well as diverse personal characteristics. Experience in international business environments and different cultures in addition to consideration of age and gender will support the diversity of the Board. The objective is that both genders are represented on the Board and the Company aims to maintain a good and balanced distribution of genders.

To fulfill the diversity principles, the diversity principles are taken into account in the process of finding and assessing member candidates, and representatives of both genders are looked for to the process. The status of diversity and progress of the goal mentioned above is monitored in the self-assessment discussions of the Board. A person elected as a Board member of the Company must have the competence required for the position and be able to devote a sufficient amount of time to the duties required. In forming the composition of the Board long-term needs and successor planning will be taken into account.

According to the Articles of Association of the Company, the Board of Directors comprises three to seven (3–7) members, and in addition, it may have one to three (1–3) deputy members. The composition of the Board and the number of members shall be such that they enable the Board to perform its duties efficiently. The members of the Board are appointed annually at the Company´s Annual General Meeting.

During the financial period of January 1, 2022–December 31, 2022, the Board of Directors has comprised five members. Four of the members have been males and one female. The self-assessment discussions of the Board have concluded that the members of the Board are so different in their special skills, backgrounds, and age, and gender that the Board as a whole has therefore been able to effectively support the business of the Company and its development.