Corporate Governance

Veolia Water, Veolia Environmental Services, Veolia Energy (Dalkia) and Veolia Transport in Australia and New Zealand are ultimately controlled by Veolia Environnement S.A., which is listed on the Paris and New York Stock Exchanges. Although we are not listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and are not legally required to meet ASX reporting requirements, the group is committed to annual public reporting of our economic, social and environmental activities and performance.

In Australia and New Zealand, the four businesses each have a board of directors and chief executive officer/managing director to help ensure we have a deep understanding of the local markets and societies we serve. The board of each business division aims to serve the interests of the shareholders and other stakeholders including customers, employees and local communities. Each business division board meets regularly to review financial performance, operational issues and business risks (such as environmental issues) and to also oversee the implementation of safety initiatives.

Regulatory compliance

Veolia Environnement has strict respect for the law and strives to ensure compliance with all applicable laws or regulations affecting its activities. This includes compliance with all competition and consumer legislation that promotes competition in business and protection of consumers. These laws prohibit anti-competitive behaviour, misuse of market power, and misleading and deceptive conduct.

Veolia Environnement is experienced in handling personal information confidentially and complies with all relevant legislation including the Australian Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 and New Zealand Privacy Act 1993. These Acts contain key principles that regulate, among other things, how organisations collect, store and protect the quality of personal information and use and share personal information with other organisations.

Although there is no formal company structure between the boards of the Veolia companies and Veolia Environnement in Paris, there is a strong collaboration amongst the Chief Executive Officers and Managing Directors under the leadership of the Chairman of Veolia Environnement Australasia, Doug Dean. This group works to develop synergies in the group for the purposes of devising better shared solutions for clients; cost efficiencies; knowledge management; stakeholder engagement and intelligence sharing.

No corrupt practices

Full compliance is required from all of Veolia Environnement's employees and consultants with applicable laws designed to prevent corrupt practices, including bribery of government officials. Globally, Veolia Environnement has mandated procedures designed to prevent corrupt practices and adheres to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Officials in International Business Transactions of December 1997.

Conflicts of interest

Veolia Environnement has ethical business guidelines that address how potential conflicts of interest situations concerning employees should be handled. The guidelines cover:

• Financial relationships with or investments in other businesses
• Private development of intellectual property
• Giving or receiving benefits from customers or suppliers
• Conduct of private business
• Private use of company property

Risk management

Effectively managing material operational, financial and other risks in the context of its business strategies is vital to Veolia Environnement's sustainability performance worldwide. Risk management structures have been developed that involve business and operational specialists, with reporting structures determined by the board of directors in each business division.

Veolia Environnement's risk management system focuses on identifying, analysing, evaluating and managing risk. Key risks identified for management cover operational, market, insurance, credit and reputation. The board of each division is responsible for risk management and reviews the corporate risk register periodically, or as required for high-priority risk areas. Once a risk is identified and evaluated, corrective actions are communicated to the appropriate managers for action.