RWS AR 23 Final Single pages - Flipbook - Page 74
Corporate Governance Report
Good governance and business standards are essential
to the success and prosperity of RWS.
RWS is committed to promoting transparent, fair and
timely decision making that considers the needs of all
our stakeholders – colleagues, shareholders, clients,
suppliers and our community.
BUSINESS ETHICS
We take a zero tolerance approach to bribery, corruption, and other
昀椀nancial crime.
TAX TRANSPARENCY
RWS is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen within each
jurisdiction in which it operates and does not use 'tax haven' countries or
other tax avoidance arrangements as part of its tax planning.
RWS is straightforward, transparent and co-operative in all its dealings
with tax authorities, ensuring that it is in compliance with all local taxation
legislation and meets all applicable 昀椀ling and payment deadlines.
As an employer of more than 8,000 colleagues across 33 countries and
67 o昀케ces globally, RWS also makes signi昀椀cant tax payments in respect of
payroll taxes, value-added taxes and business/premises taxes.
The RWS tax strategy is available to read on our website www.rws.com.
THE BOARD
The Board is committed to providing an environment and
opportunities that encourage and reinforce the corporate culture of
the Group. It is committed to extending the values that it promotes to
include all stakeholder groups. The Board recognises the importance
of, and is committed to, ensuring that e昀昀ective corporate governance
procedures are in place that are appropriate for a public company of
RWS’s size and complexity.
The Board is committed to providing speci昀椀c training to Directors, be it
internally-sourced or via external advisers, to ensure their skillset remains
relevant for the Group’s requirements.
During the reporting period, the Board comprised the CEO, CFO and the
Interim Deputy CFO as Executive Directors, the Chairman and 昀椀ve Nonexecutive Directors. The Executive Directors have direct responsibility
for business operations, whilst the Independent Non-executive Directors
have a responsibility to bring independent, objective judgement to bear
on Board decisions. Candida Davies, was appointed as Chief Financial
O昀케cer with e昀昀ect from 3 October 2022, replacing Interim Deputy CFO,
Rod Day who left the business as planned on 31 December 2022. On 2
October 2023, Julie Southern, who has served as a Non-executive Director
and Chairman Designate since July 2022, was appointed independent,
Non-executive Chairman. Having stepped down as a Chairman on 2
October 2023, Andrew Brode will remain on the Board as a Non-executive
Director. The other Non-executive Directors are Lara Boro, David Clayton,
Frances Earl and Gordon Stuart.
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RWS Holdings plc — Annual Report 2023 GOVERNANCE REPORT
