Direction and Management by the Board of Executive Directors
The Board of Executive Directors is responsible for managing the company and represents BASF SE in business undertakings with third parties. BASF’s Board of Executive Directors is strictly separated from the Supervisory Board, which monitors the Board of Executive Directors’ activities and decides on its composition. A member of the Board of Executive Directors cannot simultaneously be a member of the Supervisory Board. As the central duty of company management, the Board of Executive Directors defines the corporate goals and strategic direction of the BASF Group as well as its individual business areas, including the sustainability strategy. In doing so, the Board ensures that the risks and opportunities associated with social and environmental factors for our company as well as the ecological and societal impacts of BASF’s activities are systematically identified and evaluated. In addition to long-term economic goals, the corporate strategy appropriately takes environmental and social objectives into account, too. The corporate planning defined on this basis comprises financial and sustainability-related goals.
Furthermore, the Board of Executive Directors determines the company’s internal organization and decides on the composition of management positions on the levels below the Board. It also manages and monitors BASF Group business by planning and setting the corporate budget, allocating resources and management capacities, monitoring and making decisions on significant individual measures, and supervising operational management.
The Board’s actions and decisions are geared toward the company’s best interests. It is committed to the goal of sustainably increasing the company’s value and developing the company over the long term, taking into account environmental and social goals as well as economic targets. The Board’s responsibilities include the preparation of the Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements of BASF SE and reporting on the company’s financial and nonfinancial performance as well as half-year and quarterly reporting. It must also ensure that the company’s activities comply with the applicable legislation and regulatory requirements, as well as internal corporate directives (compliance). This includes the establishment of appropriate systems for control, compliance and risk management as well as embedding a company-wide compliance culture with undisputed standards.
Decisions that are reserved for the Board as a whole by law, through the Board of Executive Directors’ Rules of Procedure or through resolutions adopted by the Board, are made and all important matters of the company are discussed at regularly held Board meetings called by the chair of the Board of Executive Directors. Board decisions are based on detailed information and analyses provided by the business areas and specialist units, and, if deemed necessary, by external consultants. The chair of the Board of Executive Directors leads the Board meetings. Board decisions can generally be made via a simple majority. In the case of a tied vote, the chair of the Board of Executive Directors gives the casting vote. However, the chair of the Board of Executive Directors cannot enforce a decision against the Board of Executive Directors’ majority vote. The chair of the Board also does not have the right to veto. Outside of matters that are assigned to the entire Board for consultation and decision-making, all members of the Board of Executive Directors are authorized to make decisions individually in their designated areas of responsibility.
The Board of Executive Directors can set up Board committees to consult and decide on individual issues such as proposed material acquisition or divestiture projects or to prepare decisions to be made by the entire Board. These must include at least three members of the Board of Executive Directors. For the preparation of important decisions, such as those on acquisitions, divestitures, investments and personnel, the Board has various commissions at the level below the Board. Independently of the affected business area, these committees thoroughly assess the planned measures and evaluate the associated opportunities and risks. Based on this information, they report and make recommendations to the Board.
The Board of Executive Directors informs the Supervisory Board regularly, without delay and comprehensively, of all issues important to the company with regard to planning, business development, risk situation, risk management and compliance. Furthermore, the Board of Executive Directors coordinates the company’s strategic orientation with the Supervisory Board.
The Statutes of BASF SE and the Supervisory Board have defined certain transactions that require the Board of Executive Directors to obtain the Supervisory Board’s approval prior to their conclusion. Such cases that require approval include the acquisition and disposal of enterprises and parts of enterprises, as well as the issue of bonds or comparable financial instruments. However, this is only necessary if the acquisition or disposal price or the amount of the issue in an individual case exceeds 3% of the equity reported in the most recently approved Consolidated Financial Statements of the BASF Group.
- For more information on risk management, see the Forecast
- Members of the Board of Executive Directors, including their areas of responsibility and memberships on the supervisory bodies of other companies
- More information on the compensation of the Board of Executive Directors
BASF SE’s two-tier management system
