Corporate governance Singapore

The Risk Committee is responsible to ensure the implementation of the risk strategy, following the mandate of the Board of Directors. It is chaired by the Chief Executive who is assisted by the management team in the respective areas – risk, finance, operations and compliance.

The Risk Committee has the following roles and responsibilities:

• Identification of the relevant risks within the Company and assignment of the responsibility for their measurement, management and controlling; 
• Development of a collection of risk management policies in compliance with the regulatory requirements in enterprise risk management; 
• Quarterly assessment with respect to the current solvency regime in force in Singapore and adequate anticipation of upcoming new frameworks; 
• Approval of the reinsurance strategy and programs; 
• Proposal regarding risk organization and risk tolerances in the insurance activities for further approval by the Board of Directors; 
• Approval of Directives and Guidelines in the area of Risk; 
• Preapproval of insurance contracts over a series of risk tolerance limits.

The day-to-day activity and the overall strategy of the Company are led by quantitative risk tolerance limits mainly based on net profit, statutory solvency adequacy and sum at risk retained.
Qualitative tolerance rules are focused on sound solicitation and distribution guidelines and strict policies in terms of assessment, acceptance and monitoring of insurance business partners. 

Effective risk responsiveness and feedback loop are ensure through frequent meetings of our Board of Directors and the Risk Committee since these take place, at least, on a quarterly basis. 

Description and exposures to insurance, currency, interest rate, credit and liquidity risks are disclosed in our Annual Report. 

As disclosed in the Annual Report, the Company offers investment- linked products without financial guarantees where policyholders bear the investment risk. Assets and liabilities are exactly matched in amount, currency and duration. 

The Company monitors the soundness of the financial stability of the Swiss Life Group. The credentials of the strong financial health of Swiss Life Group are confirmed through net profit, net equity, solvency ratio, Market Consistent Embedded Value, and share price. You may find out more information about Swiss Life Group at www.swisslife.com

There is at present no nominating, remuneration and audit committees within the Board of Swiss Life (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. The responsibilities on nominations for appointments, remuneration and audit functions rest with the Board, which delegates the responsibility to oversee the establishment and operation of an internal control system to the Chief Executive of the Company, assisted by the management team.

The organizational regulations of the Company provide for the comprehensive delegation of the executive management responsibilities to the Chief Executive and the management team, with the exception of those duties reserved for other bodies in accordance with the law, the Articles of Association or the organizational regulations themselves.

The management team bears responsibility in particular for the implementation of the business strategy, for the conditions governing business operations and for financial guidance.

The Board ensures that the Company’s related party transactions are conducted on reasonable commercial terms. Directors with conflicts of interests are excluded from the approval process of granting and managing related party transactions. Material related party transactions are disclosed in the Annual Report.

The Board and all employees of the Company are committed to promote and maintain the values, principles and comply with the rules and guidelines as set out in the Code of Conduct of Swiss Life Group. 

The principles underlying the Code of Conduct are:  

• We take personal responsibility and implement the values, principles, rules and guidelines of the Code of Conduct in our daily activities. 
• We stand firm, even if there is strong pressure from within the company or from outside. We never breach the values, principles, rules and guidelines of Swiss Life to achieve a goal. We have the courage to do the right thing. 
• We take advice from others. We seek advice when we have any questions or doubts. 
• We keep up-to-date. We ensure that we understand the Code of Conduct, the standards of Swiss Life and the applicable laws and regulations and that we act accordingly. We attend the ethics and compliance training sessions in order to keep up with current standards and requirements. 
• We immediately report any concerns regarding non-compliance with the Code of Conduct or applicable laws and regulations to our line manager or the compliance officer at our location.