86
DP Eurasia N.V.
Annual Report and Accounts 2022
Strategic report Corporate governance Financial statements Additional information
Appointment, dismissal and suspension
Pursuant to the Company’s articles of association, the Board
must consist of at least one Executive Director and one
Non‑Executive Director. The Board determines the total
number of Directors. The General Meeting appoints,
suspends and dismisses each Director. As long as there is a
controlling shareholder (for the purposes of the Listing
Rules), the Board rules allow for the election or re‑election of
any independent Director to be approved by separate
resolutions of: (i) the Company’s shareholders; and (ii) the
Company’s shareholders excluding any controlling
shareholder. If either of the resolutions is defeated, the
Company may propose a further resolution to elect or
re‑elect the proposed independent Director, which (a) may
be voted on within a period commencing 90 days and
ending 120 days from the original vote, and (b) may be
passed by a vote of the shareholders of the Company voting
as a single class.
Each Executive Director may at any time be suspended by
the Board.
The General Meeting determines the term of appointment for
each Director. A Director’s appointment may be renewed at
General Meetings, with due observance to the rules and
regulations as applicable to the Company. Ultimately, the
Directors’ main responsibility is to promote the long‑term
success of the Company, acting in shareholders’ best
interests. All of our Directors submit themselves for
re‑election at each AGM and we provide shareholders with
sucient information in the meeting papers for them to
decide whether their commitment and performance warrant
a further year in oce. At the 2022 AGM, each serving
Director was re‑elected.
A resolution of the General Meeting to appoint, suspend or
dismiss a Director requires an absolute majority of the votes
cast. The General Meeting can suspend or dismiss a Director
at any time.
Jubilant will be able to nominate up to three Non‑Executive
Directors to the Board for appointment, for as long as it and
its associates are entitled to exercise or to control the
exercise of 10% or more of the votes cast on all, or
substantially all, General Meetings. More information relating
to the nomination rights of Jubilant can be found on page
86.
Executive Directors
The Board has delegated the operational running of the
Group to the Executive Directors with the exception of the
following matters which are reserved for the full Board:
structural and constitutional matters; corporate governance
matters; dividend proposals; developing and approval of the
overall strategy and decisions on managing the corporate
portfolio; approval of the business plan and budget;
oversight of the operational and financial performance of the
business; review and approval of any publication by the
Company of any information required by applicable laws and
regulations; approval of significant transactions or
arrangements in relation to mergers, acquisitions, joint
ventures and disposals; approval of changes made to
franchise agreements or other significant agreements;
settlement of material litigation issues, significant financial
injections and capital expenditures; and approval of material
changes to pension liabilities.
Non-Executive Directors
The Non‑Executive Directors share full responsibility for
the execution of the Board’s duties. Within this broad
responsibility, the Non‑Executive Directors are essentially
supervising and advising the Board and management
regarding the strategy, the implementation of the strategy
and the principal risks associated with it, and focus on the
eectiveness of the Company’s internal risk management
and control systems and the integrity and quality of the
financial reporting.
Further, the Non‑Executive Directors scrutinise the
performance of management in meeting the agreed goals
and objectives and supervise the relations with shareholders.
The Board acknowledges that it is important that the
Non‑Executive Directors develop an understanding of the
views of major minority shareholders about the Company.
In relation herewith, the Non‑Executive Directors are
regularly provided with analysts’ updates and briefings and
are invited to join meetings with major minority shareholders.
In carrying out their duties, the Non‑Executive Directors are
guided by the Dutch Civil Code, the Dutch Corporate
Governance Code, the UK Corporate Governance Code, the
Company’s articles of association, and the overall interests of
the Group, its business and stakeholders.
Each Non‑Executive Director has committed to the Company
that they are able to allocate sucient time to the Company
to discharge their responsibilities eectively. At the 2023
AGM, it is proposed that the current Executive Directors
and Non‑Executive Directors will be reappointed. Mr Peter
Williams will retire from the Board at the end of the 2023
AGM. He will be succeeded by Mr Ahmet Ashaboğlu who
was appointed as an Independent Non‑Executive Director in
September 2022.
As discussed in the 2021 Annual Report and Accounts, the
Board recognised that it would require additional
independent Non‑Executive Directors to comply with the
applicable corporate governance best practice principles.
Following the 2022 AGM and the EGM in September 2022,
two new independent Non‑Executive Directors were
appointed. Taking into account that Mr Williams will not be
up for re‑election, the Selection and Appointment
Committee has started the search for another independent
Non‑Executive Director.
Corporate governance report con tinued