Fujio Furukawa Outside Director
Message from Chair of Audit & Supervisory Committee
It has been one year since the transition to a company with an Audit & Supervisory Committee was approved in the Shareholders Meeting in June 2024. The purpose of this change is to enhance corporate value and ensure the transparency of corporate behavior. Additionally, the authority for audit work, which had previously been vested in individual Board of Corporate Auditors under the statutory auditor system, has now come to reside with the Audit & Supervisory Committee, making it even more important for the three directors serving as Audit & Supervisory Committee members to reach consensus. Furthermore, they came to have voting rights as a member of the Board of Directors and play a part in the Board of Directors’ monitoring function. Looking back on the past year, I am proud to say that the activities and performance of each Audit and Supervisory Committee member have been generally good.
Based on our audit policy, which includes (1) establishing and operating a system for compliance with laws and regulations and the Articles of Incorporation, (2) preventing specific risks, and (3) enhancing the internal control system, including the Group companies, we have conducted intensive audits through regular operational audits and on-site inspections, as well as dialogue with each department of the Group companies. With regard to cooperation with other organizations, we have made efforts to attend Board of Directors meetings and communicate with directors, receive reports from and exchange opinions with the Internal Auditing Department, etc., and regularly exchange information and opinions with Accounting Auditors and directors of subsidiaries, etc.
The Audit & Supervisory Committee consists of three directors who are Audit & Supervisory Committee members, and the General Manager of the Audit and Supervisory Committee Office also attends meetings. One Audit and Supervisory Committee member and the General Manager are full-time employees within the Company, and they work on auditing service based on their extensive work experience in various departments within the Company. The other two members are outside directors, who leverage the track record, experience, and knowledge they have accumulated in their respective specialized fields in their audit work. In addition, we strive to improve the role of outside officers by exchanging views with outside directors at the Independent Outside Director Council.
This fiscal year, the first year of our 14th Mid-Term Management Plan, with the Company’s structure reorganized, we will continue to work closely with various organizations, both inside and outside the Company, to ensure that we can conduct even more comprehensive audits and maintain a cool-headed perspective to give high priority to the protection of the interests of all stakeholders.