Corporate governance system and rules
Corporate governance system
Snam issues shares that are listed on the MTA managed by Borsa Italiana S.p.A., and therefore fulfils all legislative and regulatory obligations related to stock market listing.
The Bylaws define the Company’s governance model and the main rules for the functioning of corporate bodies. Snam has adopted a traditional administration and control system.
The Bylaws outline the functions and activities of the following corporate bodies:
- Shareholders’ Meeting;
- Board of Directors;
- Board of Statutory Auditors.
Shareholders’ Meeting
The Shareholders’ Meeting is the shareholders’ decision-making body, and appoints the Board of Directors and the Board of Statutory Auditors. In addition to the matters irrevocably assigned to it by law, pursuant to Article 12 of the Bylaws, the Ordinary Shareholders’ Meeting is also exclusively responsible for passing resolutions concerning transfer, contribution, leasing, usufruct and any other act of disposal (including those that apply to joint ventures), or subjection to restrictions, of the Company or of strategically important business units related to gas transportation or dispatching activities.
The Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting passes resolutions on matters assigned to it by law, without prejudice to the descriptions given below, by means of a favourable vote from at least three quarters of the share capital represented at the Shareholders’ Meeting.
The Bylaws stipulate that the Board of Directors is responsible for passing resolutions on:
- mergers in the cases referred to in Articles 2505 and 2505-bis of the Italian Civil Code, as well as those mentioned for demergers;
- establishment, modification and elimination of secondary offices;
- the reduction in share capital when a shareholder withdraws;
- compliance of the Bylaws with regulatory provisions;
- the transfer of the registered office within Italy.
In accordance with the provisions of the Code of Corporate Governance, the Shareholders’ Meeting is governed by dedicated regulations that provide for the meetings to take place in an orderly, functional fashion and guarantee that each shareholder is entitled to express his/her opinion about the issues being discussed.
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is appointed by the Shareholders’ Meeting, in compliance with the applicable laws regarding a balance between genders and based on the lists presented by the shareholders in which the candidates are listed by progressive number, and in a number no greater than the members of the body to be elected.
The Shareholders’ Meeting of 26 March 2013 set the number of directors at nine and their term of office at three financial years, expiring on the date of the Shareholders’ Meeting called to approve the separate financial statements at 31 December 2015.
The following table lists the current members of the Board of Directors, indicating the lists from which they were elected and the directors for whom it was expressly indicated on the list that they meet the independence requirements pursuant to the TUF and the Code of Corporate Governance.
Download XLS (24 kB) |
Director |
Position |
List from which he/she was appointed |
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Lorenzo Bini Smaghi |
Non-executive director and Chairman |
CDP RETI list |
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Carlo Malacarne |
Chief Executive Officer |
CDP RETI list |
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Sabrina Bruno |
Non-executive director (1) |
List presented jointly by minority shareholders (2) |
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Alberto Clô |
Non-executive director (1) |
CDP RETI list |
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Francesco Gori |
Non-executive director (1) |
List presented jointly by minority shareholders |
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Yunpeng He |
Non-executive director |
Co-opted at the proposal of CDP RETI (3) |
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Andrea Novelli |
Non-executive director |
CDP RETI list |
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Elisabetta Oliveri |
Non-executive director (1) |
List presented jointly by minority shareholders |
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Pia Saraceno |
Non-executive director (1) |
CDP RETI list |
The Shareholders’ Meeting of 26 March 2013 confirmed Lorenzo Bini Smaghi in the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors72. The Chairman is not the Chief Executive Officer or a controlling shareholder.
At its meeting on 26 March 2013, the Board of Directors reappointed Carlo Malacarne as Chief Executive Officer73, assigning him the functions pertaining to that position and conferring on him all responsibilities and powers not reserved for the Board or the Chairman.
On the same date, the Board of Directors reappointed Marco Reggiani, the Head of Legal and Corporate Affairs and Compliance, as Secretary to the Board of Directors.
Finally, on 26 January 2015 the Board of Directors approved its own Regulations, which are intended to regulate procedures for (i) the convocation of meetings, (ii) the performance of directors’ duties, and (iii) the drawing up of meeting minutes.
The Board, at the time of its appointment and periodically thereafter, evaluates the independence and integrity of the directors, as well as the lack of grounds for ineligibility or incompatibility.
The Board of Directors is vested with the broadest powers of ordinary and extraordinary administration of the Company, and is authorised to carry out any acts that it considers expedient to the achievement of the corporate purpose. The Board of Directors may delegate powers to one or more of its members and may establish Committees.
At its meeting on 11 March 2015, pursuant to the Code of Corporate Governance, the Board of Directors expressed its opinion on the size, composition and functioning of the Board and its Committees.
Following the appointment of the Board of Directors and the Board of Statutory Auditors, board induction sessions were held, attended by the members of both of these boards. In February 2015, a board induction session was held for director Yunpeng He, co-opted on 26 January 2015.
Committees instituted by the Board of Directors
The Board of Directors has set up the following Committees, appointing their members and approving the related regulations, in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Corporate Governance and the Bylaws:
- Remuneration Committee;
- Appointments Committee;
- Control and Risk Committee
The composition of the Remuneration Committee is as follows:
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Member |
Position |
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|
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Elisabetta Oliveri |
Independent, non-executive(1); Chairman |
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Andrea Novelli |
Non-executive |
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Pia Saraceno |
Independent, non-executive(1) |
The Board of Directors has verified that at least one member has adequate knowledge and experience of financial matters or pay policies.
The composition of the Appointments Committee is as follows:
Download XLS (22 kB) |
Member |
Position |
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|
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Alberto Clô |
Independent, non-executive(1); Chairman |
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Lorenzo Bini Smaghi(2) |
Non-executive |
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Elisabetta Oliveri |
Independent, non-executive(1) |
The composition of the Control and Risk Committee is as follows:
Download XLS (22 kB) |
Member |
Position |
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|
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Francesco Gori |
Independent, non-executive(1); Chairman |
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Sabrina Bruno |
Independent, non-executive(1) |
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Andrea Novelli |
Non-executive |
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Pia Saraceno |
Independent, non-executive(1) |
Snam’s Board of Directors has verified that more than one member of the Committee has adequate experience in accounting and financial matters and risk management.
Board of Statutory Auditors
The Board of Statutory Auditors oversees compliance with the law and the deed of incorporation, as well as observance of the principles of proper administration in the performance of corporate activities; it also monitors the adequacy of the organisational, administrative and accounting structure adopted by the Company and the functioning thereof. Pursuant to Legislative Decree No. 39 of 27 January 2010, the Board of Statutory Auditors also performs supervisory functions in its capacity as “Committee for internal control and account auditing”.
In compliance with the provisions of the law and the Bylaws, Snam’s Board of Statutory Auditors is composed of three statutory auditors and two alternate auditors, who are appointed by the Shareholders’ Meeting for three-year terms and may be re-elected at the end of their term of office. As for the Board of Directors and in line with applicable provisions, the Bylaws provide for the auditors to be appointed by list vote, except when they are replaced during their term of office.
Statutory auditors are chosen from among those who meet the professionalism and integrity requirements indicated in Decree No. 162 of the Ministry of Justice of 30 March 2000. For the purposes of this Decree, the Company’s business areas are commercial law, business administration and corporate finance. Likewise, the sector strictly pertaining to its business is the engineering and geological sector.
The current Board of Statutory Auditors was appointed by the Shareholders’ Meeting of 26 March 2013 for a three-year term and, in any case, until the date of the Shareholders’ Meeting called to approve the separate financial statements for the 2015 financial year:
Download XLS (22 kB) |
Member |
Position |
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|
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Massimo Gatto(1) |
Statutory auditor and Chairman |
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Leo Amato(2) |
Statutory auditor |
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Stefania Chiaruttini(2) |
Statutory auditor |
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Maria Gimigliano(2) |
Alternate auditor |
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Luigi Rinaldi(1) |
Alternate auditor |
Independent auditors
As required by law, the Company’s financial statements are audited by independent auditors included in the relevant register and appointed by the Shareholder’s Meeting based on a proposal issued by the Board of Statutory Auditors.
On 27 April 2010, the Shareholders’ Meeting appointed Reconta Ernst & Young S.p.A to audit the Company’s accounts for the 2010-2018 period.
For more information and details, please see Section III of the 2014 Governance report.
Graphic summary of the corporate governance structure
The internal control and risk management system
Principal characteristics of the risk management and internal control system in the financial reporting process
Code of Ethics
Model 231 and the Watch Structure
Snam rules system
Shareholder and investor relations
72 The Board of Directors appointed Lorenzo Bini Smaghi as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the first time on 15 October 2012.
73 The Board of Directors appointed Carlo Malacarne as Chief Executive Officer for the first time on 8 May 2006.
74 During the course of 2013, to continuously improve the internal control and risk management system, the Enterprise Risk Management unit was established. This resulted from a specific project that enabled the implementation of an Enterprise Risk Management system comprising organisational rules, procedures and structures for the identification, measurement, management and monitoring of the main risks that could affect the achievement of strategic objectives.
75 Pursuant to application criterion 7.C.5 letter b) of the Code of Corporate Governance, taking advantage of the exclusive power reserved to itself by the Board of Directors to issue instructions to the Internal Audit Manager.
76 The international standards for professional internal auditing practice are available at the following address: http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/IOS/temp/IPPF_Standards%20ENG.pdf.
77 See the “Code of Ethics” paragraph below.
78 The Chief Financial Officer must be selected from among persons who do not hold any office on the control or management bodies of, nor any managerial post in, eni and its subsidiaries, and who do not have any relation, whether direct or indirect, of a professional or equity nature with such companies. As provided for in Article 16 of the Bylaws, the Chief Financial Officer must be chosen from among people who have performed in the following capacity for at least three years:
a) administration or control or management activity at companies listed on regulated markets in Italy, other States of the European Union or other countries belonging to the OECD which have a share capital of no less than €2 million;
b) auditing activity at the companies mentioned above under letter a);
c) professional or tenured university teaching activity in finance or accounting;
d) managerial functions at public or private entities with financial, accounting or control responsibilities.
The Board of Directors sees to it that the Chief Financial Officer has adequate powers and resources for performing the duties assigned to him, as well as for the effective observance of administrative and accounting procedures.
79 Reliability of information: information that is correct, complies with generally accepted accounting standards and fulfils the requirements of the applicable laws and regulations.
80 Accurate information: information without errors.
81 Dependability of information: information that is clear and comprehensive, enabling investors to make informed investment decisions.