SBN HOLDINGS LIMITED Annual Report 2022
OUR ACCOUNTABILITY
38
SBN HOLDINGS LIMITED
Annual report 2022
39
Board people & culture (BPC) committee
The role of the BPC subcommittee is to:
■provide oversight on the compensation of senior management and other key personnel and ensure that compensation is consistent
with the group's culture, objectives, strategy and control environment
■ perform other duties related to the bank's compensation structure in accordance with applicable laws, rules, policies and regulations.
The term 'compensation' includes salaries, allowances, long-term incentives, bonuses, severance arrangements and other benefits,
rights or remuneration received under the group's policies.
The goal of the subcommittee is to maintain compensation policies, which will attract and retain the highest quality senior managers,
which will reward the senior managers for the group's progress and enhancement of shareholder value. Another objective of the
subcommittee is to consider and evaluate nominations made for the appointment of independent, non-executive and/or executive
directors to sit on the board of directors and to recommend fees for the directors.
BPC COMMITTEE ATTENDANCE 2022
H Maier (chairperson)
J Muadinohamba¹
N Bassingthwaighte²
M Dax
21 February
2022
Q1
20 May
2022
Q2
19 August 18 November
2022
2022
Q3
Q4
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
✓
N/A
✓
✓ Attended
N/A Not available 1 Retired 22 April 2022.
2 Appointed May 2022.
Going concern
Board corporate social investment (CSI)
committee
The role of the board CSI committee is to:
■ratify the group CSI strategy, policy and guidelines
■ratify alignment of the CSI strategy to the business strategy
■ratify proposed amendments to the focus area of CSI policy
from time-to-time
■ note the CSI decisions made by the relevant social investment
committees of SBN
■take overall accountability for the reputation management of
all CSI initiatives that impact the Standard Bank brand.
BOARD CSI COMMITTEE ATTENDANCE 2022
M Dax (chairperson)
Dr N Hamunime
J Muadinohamba¹
I Tjombonde
9 February
2022
Q1
✓ Attended N/A Not available
Community upliftment
N/A
9 November
2022
Q4
N/A
Retired 22 April 2022.
SBN Holdings pledges 1% of net profit after tax generated by its
business operations to CSI initiatives through its SEE strategy.
The strategic focus is to invest in entrepreneurship development,
education, environmental matters, and health and wellness.
Company secretary
The role of the company secretary is to ensure the board remains
cognisant of its duties. In addition to guiding the board on
discharging its responsibilities, she keeps the board abreast of
relevant changes in legislation and governance best practices.
The company secretary also oversees the induction of new
directors, including directors of subsidiary companies, as well as
the ongoing education of directors. To enable the board to
function effectively, all directors have full and timely access to
information that may be relevant to the proper discharge of their
duties. This includes information such as corporate
announcements, investor communications and other
developments which may affect the group and its operations. All
directors have access to the services of the company secretary.
On the recommendation of the BAC, the board considers and
assesses the going concern basis in the preparation of the annual
financial statements annually at year end. At the interim
reporting period, a similar process is followed to enable the board
to consider whether or not there is sufficient reason for this
conclusion to be affirmed.
Relationship with stakeholders
Regular, pertinent communication with stakeholders is part of the
group's fundamental responsibility to create shareholder value
and improve stakeholder relationships. In addition to the ongoing
engagement facilitated by the company secretary, the chairman
encourages shareholders to attend the annual general meeting
(AGM) where interaction is welcomed. The chairmen of the BAC
and BPC committees are available at the meeting to respond to
questions from shareholders. The group proposes separate
resolutions on each issue put forward to shareholders.
Connecting with our stakeholders
SBN Holdings' relevance to the markets and society in which it
operates depends on continued and meaningful engagement
with all stakeholders. Stakeholder management involves the
optimal employment of the organisation's resources to build and
maintain good relationships with stakeholders. This helps the
group to manage the expectations of society, minimise
reputational risk and form strong partnerships, which all
underpin business sustainability.
Sustainability
The Namcode recommends that a company integrates financial
and non-financial reporting. This means that the annual report to
stakeholders must reflect how economic, social and
environmental issues impact on the company's business strategy
and, in turn, how these are considered when making business
decisions. This evolution in reporting stems from the growing
realisation that environmental and social issues have material
costs impacts and could directly impact a company's long-term
viability. Building on the group's previous non-financial disclosure
in its annual reports, this year the group has improved its
reporting to include more information on the issues that are
material to stakeholders and the group's long-term sustainability
which can be found in the SBN Holdings Limited ESG report.
Ethics and organisational integrity
The group's code of ethics is designed to empower employees
and enable effective decision-making at all levels of the business
according to defined ethical principles. It also aims to ensure
that, as a significant organisation in the financial services
industry, the group adheres to the highest standards of
responsible business practice.
The code interprets and defines the group's values in greater
detail and provides value-based decision-making principles to
guide its conduct. It is aligned with other SBN Holdings policies
and procedures and supports the relevant industry regulations
and laws. The code specifies acceptable and unacceptable
practices and assists in making ethical infringements easy to
identify. It also promotes awareness of, and sensitivity to, ethical
issues.
The chief executive and ethics officer are the formal custodians
of the group code of ethics and ultimately responsible for its
implementation. Ethics incidents are reported via the ethics and
fraud hotline, human resources department, risk department,
financial crime control department and the ethics officers.
Reported incidents include fraud, harassment, ethical dilemmas
in procurement and abuse of authority. Quarterly ethics reports
are presented to the BAC.
Conflict of interest
The board has a detailed process in place to ensure that outside
business interests and conflicts of Interest are declared by all
directors on the board. We are comfortable that during the period
under review there were no conflicts of interests declared which
would have an impact on any of the decisions made in relation
to matters put before the board for discussion and/or approval.
Remuneration
Remuneration philosophy
The group's remuneration philosophy aligns with its core values,
including growing our people and delivering value to our
shareholders. The philosophy continues to emphasize the
fundamental value of our people and their role in ensuring
sustainable growth. This approach is crucial in an environment
where skills remain scarce. The group's board of directors sets
the principles for the remuneration philosophy in line with
approved business strategy and objectives. The philosophy aims
to maintain an appropriate balance between employee and
shareholder interests. A key success factor for the bank is its
ability to attract, retain and motivate the talent it requires to
achieve its strategic and operational objectives in Namibia.
Remuneration governance
The following key factors have informed the implementation of
reward policies and procedures that support the achievement of
business goals:
■the provision of rewards that enable the attraction, retention
and motivation of employees and the development of a
high-performance culture
■ maintaining competitive remuneration in line with our markets,
trends and required statutory obligations
■rewarding people according to their contribution
allowing a reasonable degree of flexibility in remuneration
processes and choice of benefits by employees
■ educating employees on the full employee value proposition.
Board remuneration structure
Non-executive directors
Terms of service
All independent non-executive directors are provided with a letter
of appointment setting out the terms of their engagement.
Directors are appointed by the shareholders at the AGM and
interim board appointments are allowed between AGMs.
One-third of the longest serving, non-executive directors are
required to retire at each AGM and may offer themselves for
re-election. If recommended by the directors and supported by
the board, the board then proposes their re-election to
shareholders.
Fees
The remuneration of board members is reviewed by the board of
directors and approved and ratified at the AGM. Non-executive
directors receive fixed fees for service on boards and board
committees. This includes a retainer that has been calculated in
line with market practices. There are no contractual
arrangements for compensation for loss of office. Non-executive
directors do not receive short-term incentives, nor do they
participate in any long-term incentive schemes. The fees for
non-executive directors are reviewed on an annual basis to
ensure that such fees at all times remain market-related.
Executive directors
Executive directors receive a remuneration package and qualify for long-term incentives on the
same basis as other employees. The components of a remuneration package are as follows:
guaranteed
remuneration
- based on market
value and the role
they play
Transformation
annual bonus and
pension incentive
- used to
incentivise the
achievement of
group objectives
share-based
incentives
- rewards the
sustainable creation
of shareholder value
and aligns behaviour
to this goal
pension
- provides a
competitive
post-retirement
benefit in line with
group employees
executive directors
are not subject to
retention
agreements
The group through the Bankers Association of Namibia is a signatory to the Namibia Financial Sector Charter. The group is committed
to achieving full compliance with the minimum targets set out in the Charter. This is tracked by the board and management at the
highest level.
Details of non-executive directors'
fees can be found in Annexure C.View entire presentation