The Company’s Board comprises:
- Non-executive Chair,
- 1 executive Director,
- 7 non-executive Directors.
Excluding the Chair, six members of the Board are independent non-executive Directors.
The Company’s corporate governance framework safeguards against any conflict of interest, including the complete independence of the Audit and Risk, Nomination and Remuneration Committees and disclosure of any related party transactions in the financial statements, as well as preventing any individual from having unfettered powers of decision-making.
The Company considers that the Board and its Committees have the appropriate balance of skills, experience, independence and knowledge of the Company to enable them to discharge their respective duties and responsibilities effectively. All Directors have access to the advice and services of the Company Secretary, and are able to take independent professional advice, if necessary, at the Company’s expense.
The Board has approved the division of responsibilities between the Chair and the Group CEO and defined the role of the The Senior Board Independent Director.
The Chair reports to the Board and is responsible for the leadership and overall effectiveness of the Board and for setting the Board’s agenda. Mr Cockerill has been able to commit sufficient time to his role as non-executive Chair of Polymetal International and the Board believes that other commitments did not adversely affect his contribution to the Company.
Chair’s responsibilities include:
- Effective running of the Board
- Ensuring that there is appropriate delegation of authority to executive management
- Promoting a culture of openness and debate between the executive and non-executive Directors
- Ensuring that the Directors receive accurate, timely and clear information
- Ensuring that the views of the shareholders are communicated to the Board as a whole.
The Group CEO exercises his role through his executive and/or Director positions in the Group sub-holding companies. He reports to the Chair and the Board directly and upholds the Group’s responsibilities to its shareholders, customers, employees and other stakeholders.
The Group CEO’s responsibilities include:
- Developing Group strategy, including communicating annual plans and commercial objectives to the Board
- Identifying and executing strategic opportunities
- Reviewing the operational performance and strategic direction of the Group
- Making recommendations on remuneration policies, terms of employment and effective succession planning for senior employees
- Ensuring effective communication with shareholders and that appropriate, timely and accurate information is disclosed to the market, with issues escalated promptly to the Board.
Non-independent non-executive Directors include Mr Yanakov (who is a representative of Powerboom Investments Limited). Mr Nesis is the brother of the beneficial owner of Powerboom Investments Limited. Save for the potential conflicts inherent in these relationships, there are no potential conflicts of interest between the duties owed by the Directors or senior management to the Company and their private interests or other duties.
In 2018, Mr Oliveira was appointed Senior Independent Director (SID). He attended a series of one-onone meetings with institutional shareholders and investors, arranged as part of the Company’s roadshow, and the investor events organised by the Company’s brokers. The Board is regularly updated on shareholders’ opinions following meetings with the Directors and management.
SID’s responsibilities include:
- Being available to major shareholders in order to listen to their views and help develop a balanced understanding of their issues and concerns
- Acting as an intermediary for the other Directors if necessary.
The independent non-executive Directors are determined to be independent in character and judgement, and free from relationships or circumstances that may affect or could appear to affect heir judgement. Their role is to challenge the strategy and scrutinize the performance of management in meeting agreed goals and objectives, to monitor the reporting of the Company’s performance, to review the integrity of financial information and ensure that internal financial controls and risk management systems are robust and defensible.
They determine the appropriate level of remuneration for the Group CEO and have a primary role in appointing and, when necessary, removing him.