Thorough Compliance and Corporate Ethics

Basic Concept

The Nisshinbo Group is working to establish corporate governance based on its corporate philosophy to ensure sustainable growth and enhance corporate value.

Also, the Nisshinbo Group included "Thorough-Going Compliance" in its Business Conduct Guidelines, which clearly states that the Group will act in constant fairness and sincerity across a broad range of issues, respecting social norms and corporate ethics, and in addition to establishing a system, will provide education to all employees.

Promotion System

Based on the "Nisshinbo Group Code of Corporate Ethics," Nisshinbo Holdings Inc. has established a "corporate ethics committee" as an organization directly under the president and the director, with the president as the chief officer for corporate ethics, to handle matters related to compliance throughout the Nisshinbo Group. The Business Ethics Committee Chairman is appointed from its executive board, and the Business Ethics Committee members are appointed from among the senior manager and above of the Corporate Strategy Center.

The Nisshinbo Group also established a "Corporate Ethics Reporting System" for the purpose of early detection of suspected violations of laws and regulations and the prevention of recurrence of such violations and has put in place a system to receive reports from both inside and outside the company. The Group employees can file reports directly with internal Corporate Ethics Committee members as well as to outside counsel. The Group strictly protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and takes care not to cause any disadvantage to whistleblowers. The Corporate Ethics Committee takes appropriate action in response to the content of the report.

In the Sustainability Promotion Plan, the Nisshinbo Group set the goals of "Raising awareness of compliance" and "Operating the corporate ethics reporting systems," and the Group will monitor progress by setting targets and Key performance indicators (KPIs).

Specific Initiatives of The Nisshinbo Group

In FY2023, in accordance with the "Fifth Sustainability Promotion Plan," The Nisshinbo Group focused on thorough compliance as a priority activity item and promoted activities with the KPIs of ① Participation rate of compliance training for managers, 100% ② Response rate to corporate ethics reporting system, 100%.

Compliance Training

In order to ensure fair and honest business practices, the Nisshinbo Group conducts a variety of compliance training, such as training for different employee levels and work sites and training for employees who will receive assignments abroad.

New educational videos are released and repeated every year through the Learning Management System introduced in 2021. In the FY2023 compliance training, Nisshinbo Group incorporated content that it wanted managers to pay particular attention to (examples of potential compliance problems, preventive measures, internal rules, etc.), and developed videos to strengthen governance and raise managers' awareness of ethics once again.

In addition, export control education videos were developed for those in charge to introduce cautions and countermeasures using specific case studies as subjects. E-learning and other educational videos are regularly reviewed to ensure that the content does not become obsolete, and that the education itself does not become a mere shell.

Anticorruption Efforts

In recent years, international legislation on bribery and corrupt practices have been strengthened, and detection has grown more rigorous. Nisshinbo Holdings Inc. formulated the "Guide to Prevent Corruption" in response to related legislation in other countries. The Group has rolled out the guide across the Group, including all subsidiaries in other countries. This guide encompasses Article 18 of Japan’s Unfair Competition Prevention Act (Prohibition to Provide Illicit Gain, etc. to Foreign Public Officers, etc.), the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and related guidelines, and the United Kingdom Bribery Act, Unfair Competition Prevention Law of the People’s Republic of China, and other international anti-corruption treaties and laws, including criminal laws and anti-corruption laws in Asian countries. The Group reviews the content of the guide as necessary and uses it for group-wide anticorruption efforts.

Adhering Strictly to a Policy of Confidentiality

The Group has entered into confidentiality agreements with its partners to prevent leaks of intellectual property, technology and expertise disclosed throughout the supply chain from the design and development stages. To ensure appropriate trade secrets management, the Group conducts annual internal audits.

Corporate Ethics Reporting System

Guided by its Corporate Philosophy, the Nisshinbo Group endeavors to instill and firmly establish corporate ethics among all employees in all aspects of its business activities. The Group has established a "Corporate Ethics Reporting System" with the aim of promptly discovering and preventing violations of laws and regulations and alleged violations of corporate ethics.

This system accepts reports not only from employees of the Group but also from a wide range of stakeholders inside and outside the company. Employees who become aware of any violation of laws or corporate ethics by the Group, or of any conduct that raises suspicions of such violation, are advised seek consultation and report the matter. The Group will respond appropriately after investigating the facts. Concerned parties are free to consult and report anonymously; however, if they leave a name and contact information, the Group will contact them with an outline of countermeasures.

Group employees can file reports directly with internal Corporate Ethics Committee members as well as to outside counsel. The Group strictly protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and takes care not to cause any disadvantage to whistleblowers.

Compliance-related matters for the entire Nisshinbo Group are addressed by the "Corporate Ethics Committee," which reports directly to its president. The Board of Directors receives and reviews periodic reports on important matters related to corporate ethics, including whistleblowing matters.

In the future also, through such sincere efforts, the Nisshinbo Group will strive to fulfill its social responsibility as a company and further enhance its corporate value.

Contact for consultation and report

Reception Desk, Corporate Ethics Committee
fax:+81-3-5695-8851

Consultation / Report Form

Number of Compliance Violations and Corporate Ethics Reports

The number of reports made to the Corporate Ethics Reporting Desk of Nisshinbo Holdings Inc. in the past three years is as follows. The Corporate Ethics Committee responds to all reports appropriately, while ensuring that confidentiality is strictly maintained and that the whistleblower is not disadvantaged. If a violation is found, the whistleblower will be punished in accordance with the Company's employment regulations.

Corporate Ethics Reporting Desk Number of Reports

2021 2022 2023
The number of cases Disciplinary action for facts The number of cases Disciplinary action for facts The number of cases Disciplinary action for facts
Harassment Related 3(1) 0 3(3) 0 3(1) 0
Violation of Law 0(0) 0 3(0) 0 0(0) 0
Labor Issues 1(1) 0 2(1) 0 1(1) 0
Accounting Irregularities 3(2) Disciplinary Action 2 1(0) 0 0(0) 0
Others (Moral Violations, etc.) 2(0) 0 8(2) 0 7(2) Disciplinary Action 1
Total number of reports 9 17 11
Total number of reports handled by the committee 9(4)
100%Responded
17(6)
100%Responded
11(4)
100%Responded

* The number of reports in parentheses is the number of confirmed violations and other specific facts.

Specific Activities of the Group Companies

Raise Employee Awareness of Compliance

Every year, Japan Radio Co., Ltd. conducts the JRC Code of Conduct and Compliance Training (e-learning) as part of its compliance education.

In 2023, the training was held from November to December. The content of the training incorporates actual cases and topics that may be in conflict, and the text and tests are developed each year, changing the content slightly each year. In order to take past cases seriously and to keep the awareness of compliance with the law from fading, Japan Radio designated the third Tuesday of November each year as Compliance Day (November 21 in 2023) and conducts awareness-raising activities. In 2023, in addition to the usual messages from the president and posters, the company conducted a whistleblower survey among employees and made it available on the company website. Japan Radio plans to use the responses obtained in this survey to improve the level of its whistleblower system in the future.

It is important for each and every employee to be aware of the importance of raising compliance awareness. Japan Radio will continue its efforts to achieve this goal.

Compliance Awareness Poster
Compliance Awareness Poster

Compliance Training for Employees Through Training Day

Nisshinbo Mechatronics (Thailand) Ltd. holds a Training Day every October as a company event.

In the morning, a presentation of improvement activities was made mainly by mid-level Thai employees, and awards were presented to the best teams, with Thai managers serving as judges. The event has been a great success every year and has served to motivate employees. In the afternoon, in addition to an explanation of the Nisshinbo Group's corporate philosophy, compliance education, and education on environment-related laws, IT education was also provided in FY2023. Using PowerPoint presentations, the company provides explanations that are easy to understand even for first-time listeners.

Although Nisshinbo Mechatronics (Thailand) changes these education themes every year, the company basically selects education themes in line with the Nisshinbo Group's corporate philosophy and tries to raise employee satisfaction as well as awareness of legal compliance and social contribution, and environmental issues.

Nisshinbo Mechatronics (Thailand) will continue the Training Day activities in the future as an opportunity to clearly demonstrate the company's standards of conduct.

Training Day
Training Day
Training Day
Training Day

Joint Anti-Fraud Statement by Company, Union and Shareholders

At PT. Standard Indonesia Industry, the company, union, and shareholders make a joint statement to prevent fraud, and the statement is disseminated internally by posting it on the company's website.

While Indonesia is experiencing remarkable economic growth, corruption, bribery, and other forms of misconduct have become social problems, and problems of accounting irregularities and internal fraud have become apparent in private companies as well. In response to this situation, the company expects that a joint statement by the three parties will play an important role in accelerating fraud prevention efforts, as follows

  • ① Enhancement of fraud prevention awareness: By demonstrating that the three parties are working together to prevent fraud, it will be possible to further enhance fraud prevention awareness throughout the entire company.
  • ② Enhancement of corporate image: This will be an effective means of demonstrating the strengthening of the corporate governance system and improvement of transparency, leading to a higher reputation among clients.
  • ③ Deterrent effect on fraud: It is clear that fraudulent acts will be strictly dealt with by the three parties, which can be expected to have a deterrent effect on fraudulent acts.

Introduction of a Corporate Ethics Reporting System Using QR Codes

Nisshinbo Do Brasil Industria Textil LTDA. has introduced a corporate ethics reporting system using QR codes.

By scanning the QR code from their cell phones, anyone can easily report a concern. The purpose of this system is to lower the hurdle for reporting and to enable whistleblowers to do so without worrying about their surroundings. For this reason, the QR codes are posted in locations where they can be read without concern for others.

At the same time as explaining this new reporting system to all employees, compliance training was provided to managers, and sexual harassment training was provided to supervisors. Nisshinbo Do Brasil Industria Textil also added an explanation of this reporting system and sexual harassment training to the training for new employees.

Nisshinbo Do Brasil Industria Textil will continue to strive for a comfortable work environment for everyone and further enhance our corporate ethics.

Basic Training for Seconded Employees at the Time of Assignment

Nisshinbo Business Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. offers Basic Training for Transferred Staff at the Time of Assignment to help new Group employees posted to China acquire the knowledge necessary for business and daily life.

The training consists of two main parts: health and safety and business manners and living know-how in China.

  • ① Health and Safety
    Safety management focuses on the legal knowledge necessary for staying in China. In addition to the basic necessity of carrying a passport and registering for lodging, the training also covers traffic rules and what to do in the event of an accident. In addition, since last year, Nisshinbo Business Management (Shanghai) also started explaining the types of restraints and how to respond to emergencies. Regarding health, the company explains points to keep in mind regarding food and alcohol, as well as the status of the emergency medical treatment system.
  • ② Business manners and living know-how in China
    In addition to the general situation in China and the characteristics of its people, business manners are explained, including basic dining etiquette and unique anniversaries that everyone should know. In the area of lifestyle know-how, Nisshinbo Business Management (Shanghai) introduces essential cell phone applications and explain how to use them, as well as local communities.