Earned Trust

Zhanna Rakitina: Transparency is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of corporate governance. It gives stakeholders access to key information about the company, including its operations, decisions and financial health. When a company is transparent, it stays accountable and it ensures that it’s acting in the best interests of everyone involved, its shareholders, clients and other stakeholders. In addition, having independent third parties verify the information that the company shares makes a difference. It has credibility because it shows that the details are accurate and trustworthy.

Morgan Lavanchy: We do this through comprehensive reporting and open communication. We publish a detailed Corporate Governance Report in line with the standards set by the SIX Swiss Exchange. Additionally, we provide a Remuneration Report in accordance with the requirements of the Swiss Code of Obligations and a Sustainability Report outlining our commitment to responsible business practices. These extensive reports are complemented by well-structured websites and active engagement on social media platforms, ensuring accessibility and transparency for all stakeholders.

Z.R.: Our clients really appreciate how transparent we are. That’s something that we hear regularly in the feedback that we collect through service and interviews. For example, when it comes to pricing transparency, they’ve consistently given us high scores, averaging close to 6.0 out of 7.0. But it’s not just about the pricing. Swissquote openly shares information about its corporate practices, pricing and operations. As a result, customers place their trust in us and they feel confident in our brand.

M.L.: Institutional investors share their views via our annual engagement programme: every year, our Chairman accompanied by a management team meet with key institutional investors for a two-way discussion. The same is done with proxy advisers, which are large firms advising shareholders across the world. We appreciate their feedback, which we use to continue improving our corporate governance practices. The good results we have secured at the Annual General Meetings in recent years also give a fair view of what our shareholders think. 

Z.R.: We carefully apply our values. There are six in total but two really stand out in terms of trust: “Do the right thing” and “Always say it how it is”. Those values accompany us in all our actions. Trust is legally, but also ethically essential to support reputation and to build long-term customer relationships

M.L.: Key trends include a growing emphasis on diversity within corporate bodies, as well as increasing demands for board members to possess specialised skills. Governance and risk management in critical areas such as cybersecurity and, more recently, artificial intelligence, have become focal points for organisations. Additionally, environmental and social considerations have been gaining prominence.

Z.R.: We will seek to obtain more feedback from our shareholders, our clients and other stakeholders and will integrate it in our continuous efforts to apply corporate governance best practices, especially in terms of transparency.

M.L.: This is a never-ending story: we must continuously strive for improvement to uphold the highest standards of corporate governance. By doing so, we ensure that we continue to earn and cherish what is most important from our shareholders, clients and other stakeholders: their trust.