Business ethics

Social responsibility is essential to sustainable business, alongside economic and environmental accountability. BOBST sees it as a duty to respect fundamental human rights and corporate values. The Group’s anti-corruption policy and the Employee Code of Conduct maintain the highest ethical standards in professional life.

To a very large extent, the reputation and image of a company are determined by compliance with the law and the ethical behavior of its managers and employees. Long before the launching of its Worldwide Code of Employee and Business Conduct in 2017, Bobst Group had always interacted with its stakeholders – colleagues, customers, suppliers, and authorities – as a responsible business actor.

The same principles guide BOBST in selecting its business partners and are the basis for evaluating a supplier’s performance and deciding whether or not to maintain a relationship. As a multinational corporation with operations in many countries on several continents, BOBST sees that the respect of aligned and coherent values throughout its brands and local entities can be a real asset for the Group’s image and a key to all its future success.

Group Compliance Program

BOBST’s core values do not tolerate any activity related to corruption in any part of its value chain. To this end, anti-corruption is essential to the Group’s overall compliance program (see more details on page 44).

BOBST’s due diligence process helps identify any related risks arising from using third parties and concerns all local entities covered by this sustainability report. Group Compliance is ultimately responsible for the review and approval or rejection of third parties based on the results of the performed checks.

Risks management and anti-corruption policy

BOBST continuously analyses its value chain and takes appropriate measures to prevent identified corruption risks. The Group Compliance Officer is in charge of leading the fight against corruption. However, the ultimate responsibility lies with management and employees. Relevant policies and procedures are in place for bribery and corruption.

Sustainability report 2022

> Strategy >Operations reporting

> Equipment reporting

> Packaging use & end-of-life reporting

> TCFD

> GRI index

BOBST’s supplier code of conduct touches upon several key RBI (counterproposal to the Responsible Business Initiative adopted by the Swiss Federal Council) topics, and includes anticorruption, antitrust, employment, human rights, environment, health and safety, IP and data protection, global trade compliance, responsible sourcing of minerals, management system, supply chain monitoring and reporting line. It also provides information about Bobst Group Integrity Line, the internal reporting channel for potentially unethical behaviors in the organization, which is also open to suppliers.

The Supplier Code of Conduct is part of every contractual relationship and exists in more than ten languages.

BOBST’s anti-corruption policy and global compliance training

It has been rolled out, in addition to the guidelines in the Employee and Business Conduct Code. The Group Compliance Officer also conducted in-person training attended by 398 employees, and created an e-learning module on anti-corruption followed by 1 379 people. 61% of managerial staff (142 managers) have followed the course during the year with the objective to have trained all of them by the end of 2023.

Furthermore, all agents and intermediaries receive the policy as part of their contracts and are subject to a compliance due diligence before being hired by BOBST (and upon renewal).

Accomplishments 2022

In 2022, Group compliance completed the Supplier Code of Conduct, which the purchasing department is responsible for deploying and monitoring within the supply chain, in collaboration with an internal audit (see more details on page 45). In addition, all agents and intermediaries were trained on BOBST’s anti-corruption policy. Group Compliance also evaluated its governance framework (done by an external law firm) and will implement measures to improve certain areas during 2023.

Targets 2023-2025

BOBST aims to increase business ethics awareness by periodically (re-)training the target population on relevant topics such as bribery, conflicts of interest, and ethical decision-making.

– Review and update the Worldwide Employee Code of Conduct – wherever needed – during 2023;

– Roll out new guidelines and specific processes in conflict of interest, gifts and entertainment, and competition law;

– Ongoing training for agents, intermediates, and BOBST employees, to increase awareness and understanding of compliance-related topics.

Group Compliance reports bi-annually on training to the Audit Committee of the Supervisory Board. Nevertheless, at this point, it is not possible to publish complete figures due to the multiplicity of processes and systems used globally. However, Group Compliance is in contact with the owners of such processes/systems to find a harmonized way of recording and reporting data in the future.

Sustainability report 2022

> Strategy

>Operations reporting

> Equipment reporting

> Packaging use & end-of-life reporting

> TCFD

> GRI index