Attaching great importance to corporate governance and pursuing sustainable growth and ethical management, Oneness Biotech continues to strengthen the corporate governance structure with an effective internal control system and adheres information transparency. In 2020, the Company appointed the “Human Resource Department” as the unit of ethical management. The department is responsible for the formulation and implementation supervision of the ethical management policy and the related preventive solutions. It shall provide education and training courses regarding ethical management and the prevention of corruption and insider trading. It shall, at least once a year, report to the Board of Directors about how the ethical management policy and solutions for preventing unethical conduct have been executed in that year.
The Corporate Governance Officer is appointed by the Board of Directors and is responsible for affairs related to corporate governance, safeguarding shareholders’ rights and interests, and strengthening the functions of the Board of Directors. The Officer shall also arranges for Board members to participate in relevant training programs, and promotes the Ethical Corporate Management Best Practice Principles and the related regulations.
Report on the Implementation of the Ethical Management Policy
- Based on the “Ethical Corporate Management Best Practice Principles” and the “Codes of Ethical Conduct”, all members of the Company, including the Board of Directors and the managers, are required to implement the ethical management policy actively.
- To ensure the legitimacy of collaborating agents, suppliers, customers, or other counterparties, and that none of them engage in unethical conduct, the related reviews shall be performed before signing the contracts. If any unethical conduct is found after the contract is signed, the contract shall be terminated or rescinded at once. In 2023, there was no corruption or unethical conduct, and the Company made no political donation.
- Each department conducts self-check and evaluation of legal compliance. Internal Audit Department conduct audits to ensure the whole operation mechanism works effectively, manage and prevent unethical jointly.
- The execution of ethical management in 2023
- (a) The Finance Department assisted in arranging for directors and managers to participate in courses related to corporate governance and ethical management , including the "Action Plan for Sustainable Development of Listed Companies Seminar," "Insider Shareholding Explanation Seminar for OTC and Emerging Stock Companies," "Legal Responsibilities of Directors and Supervisors under ESG," the "14th Taipei Corporate Governance Forum," "Corporate Governance and Securities Regulations," and "Practical Development and Compliance of Corporate Governance." These courses totaled at least 6 hours. Additionally, directors and managers will be invited to participate in internal courses organized by the Company in 2023 related to the integrity management policy.
- (b) When getting onboard, for duty, new recruits receive an hour education and training on the Ethical Corporate Management Best Practice Principles. Policies related to ethical management are announced as early as new employee orientation in order for employees to understand the Company’s Ethical Management Policy and the related regulations.
- (c) Education and training on the Ethical Management Policy are conducted annually. In 2023, education and training were carried out to all employees in October on the topic "Personal Data Protection and Smartphone Security”, and in November “Corporate Risk Management and Crisis Handling from a Corporate Governance Perspective”. Total duration of the training courses is 3.5 hours, and a total of 223 employees were trained. During the courses, actual cases were used to strengthen the concept of ethical management, to encourage the management and prevention of unethical conduct, and to emphasize the obligation of confidentiality concerning the Company’s intellectual property. To ensure that all the employees know and follow the related laws and regulations, an examination was applied to all. Only those with a score of 80 or above were deemed as passing the examination.
- (d) The contents of the education and training courses on the Ethical Management Policy are available on the internal training website for employees to receive make-up training or be retrained at any time, so the related concepts and matters that must follow can be propagated and emphasized to employees.
- According to “Performance Management Policy” and the Performance Appraisal System, “Integrity” is one of the appraised items. All the colleagues are required to follow the Employee Code of Conduct and ethical management related policies and procedures. (e.g. Extract of Employee Performance Appraisal)
- According to “Employee Reward and Disciplinary Policy”, any unethical action and violation against Employee Code of Conduct or company policies and procedures, the disciplinary action will be proposed accordingly. The disciplinary action result will negatively impact the annual performance appraisal (Article 5.8 of the Policy) and the compensation of the employee.
Prevention of Insider Trading
Oneness Biotech has established the "Regulations for Prevention of Insider Trading", which specifies the scope of application, the people and matters being regulated, and the related operating procedures. The regulation is intended to prevent Directors, managerial officers, and other insiders from violating regulations related to insider trading either accidentally due to ignorance of such regulations or intentionally, in order to protect investors’ and the Company’s rights and interests.
In January of each year, Oneness informs the Directors of the date of the regular Board meetings and reminds the Directors not to trade Oneness shares during the closed period 15 days prior to the announcement of the quarterly financial statements and 30 days before the announcement of the annual financial statements.
Oneness Biotech has also adopted the “Whistleblowing Regulations”. According to the above, a whistleblower may report to the Company through reporting channels such as email (ONENESS_Audit@onenessbio.com.tw) and regular mail. The regulation further specifies the reporting process, protection of the reported data, punitive measures, and an award system for whistleblowers. Ethical related policies, explanations, and operating results are periodically disclosed in the ESG Report and on the Company’s website.
