NWG Annual Report 2019 - EN NWG Annual Report 2019 - EN | Page 44

NWG // CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
IT policy
The Group’s IT policy describes the Group’s principles
for application and safety within IT.
Information policy
The Group’s Information policy is a document that
describes the Group’s rules for handling and commu-
nication of information, both internally within the
Group as well as externally.
Insider policy
The Group’s Insider policy sets out rules for handling
and communication of insider information.
Environmental policy
The Group’s environmental policy sets out guidelines
for the environmental work within the Group.
Anti-corruption policy
The Group’s anti-corruption policy describes the
Group’s principles for work against corruption.
Control activities
Follow-up
Finance personnel and management at company
and Group level analyze the financial reporting in
detail every month. New Wave Group’s decentra-
lized corporate structure means that each company's
financial department is responsible for ensuring that
the financial reporting from each unit is correct,
complete and on time. Processes and risk elements are
evaluated by means of self-assessment, internal Board
meetings and via the company’s external auditors.
Several processes are fully or partly centralized at
Group level, such as purchasing, logistics, payments,
financing, IT, consolidation and reporting. The Group’s
central finance organization is responsible for imple-
menting, further developing and maintaining the
Group’s control routines, and for performing internal
controls of business critical matters. The Board
receives financial reports on an ongoing basis, and
at each Board meeting the financial situation facing
the Group and the various companies is discussed.
During the year the Board also receives reports from
the company’s auditors detailing their observations.
In order to ensure the internal control, there are
both automatic controls in IT systems, which handle
authority and authorization rights, as well as manual
controls in the form of reconciliations and physical
counts. Detailed economic analyses of the result
plus follow-up of plans and forecasts supplement the
controls and provide a general confirmation of the
quality of the reporting.
The Group performs reviews of the companies’
accounting, which are reported to Group management.
No CEO is permitted to appoint or dismiss a finance
manager, and finance managers’ report directly to the
Group’s CFO. The Group’s risks with regard to financial
reporting lay in the risk that material misstatements
may occur when reporting the company’s financial
position and results. The company’s accounting
instructions and manuals, together with established
follow up routines, serve to minimize these risks. The companies
Information and communication Operating segments
The most important control documents in the form
of policies and instructions are updated regularly
and communicated via relevant channels electro-
nically and/or in printed form. For communication
with external parties, there is an Information policy
which specifies guidelines for how this communi-
cation should take place. The purpose of the policy is
to ensure that all information obligations are fulfilled
correctly and in full.
044 // ANNUAL REPORT
New Wave Group’s organization is decentralized,
with a high degree of independence and self-determi-
nation being delegated to company management. The
objective is for the companies to be run in an entre-
preneurial spirit, while at the same time enjoying the
benefits of belonging to a large group of companies. The
Group therefore consists of a large number of opera-
tional companies, approximately 70 in total. Board
meetings are normally held three times a year in each
company or sub-group. The composition of the Boards
depends on the company’s direction and its stage of
development. In addition to Group management, the
expertise of CEOs in “mature” companies are utilized
in the Boards of local subsidiaries. The organiza-
tional model chosen by New Wave Group provides for
effective benchmarking of profitability, capital tied up
and growth between companies, brands and markets.
The Group divides its operations into three operating
segments: Corporate, Sports & Leisure, and Gifts &
Home Furnishings. Within Group management there
are managers with responsibility for each operating
segment in order to coordinate operations. The
products for each brand follow the operating segments,
but have separate sales teams for the different sales
channels, promo and retail.