Compliance
Compliance policy
Overview of policy
Companies aiming for sustainable growth need employees who fulfill their social responsibilities and who carry a strong sense of ethics. They also need to earn the trust of stakeholders. Based on this belief, Advantest has established The ADVANTEST Way — the fundamental handbook which lays out our management direction and policy, and which comprises our Corporate Mission (“Technology Support on the Leading Edge”), Corporate Mantra (“Quest for the Essence”) and CSR Policy — as well as The Advantest Code of Conduct, which provides specific guidelines for employees to enhance their ethical awareness.
Compliance system
If there is any violation of — or any act that employees think unacceptable under — The ADVANTEST Way & Code of Conduct, employees are advised to first report this to their supervisors and, if necessary, to the managers of any other departments involved. However, with the understanding that in some cases employees may feel uncomfortable reporting to their supervisors, in 2006 Advantest opened a Corporate Ethics Helpline, which employees can use to discuss or report any compliance issues. Since the Corporate Ethics Helpline was set up seven years ago, it has received various reports, and, while respecting the privacy of reporting employees, has notified the Corporate Ethics Committee, which works with senior management and outside lawyers to address such problems. We will continue to deal earnestly with every employee report to ensure sound Group operations.
Moreover, our global team of auditors posted in locations worldwide conduct periodic compliance audits to ensure that we, as a member of the international community, abide by different laws and regulations of respective nations and conduct business properly.
Contact point for reports
Compliance promotion system
Compliance training
We have distributed The Advantest Way & Code of Conduct booklet to all Group company employees, and have also elicited their agreement to abide the principles set forth in that document. Still, the increasingly global nature of our development and manufacturing operations, particularly in the wake of our full integration of Verigy Ltd. in April 2012 and the launch of overseas manufacturing centers, has prompted an ever greater need for us to remind employees group-wide of the importance of compliance based on their understanding of varying laws and regulations of respective nations, while at the same time making certain that the company abides by laws and regulations worldwide.
Against that backdrop, Advantest provided employees of Verigy Ltd., ahead of the integration, with The Advantest Way & Code of Conduct booklet in February 2012, while also giving them instruction in that regard and eliciting agreement of all employees to abide by principles set forth in the document. Additionally, we have been taking steps since fiscal 2012 to build on our efforts to heighten awareness of laws and regulations in respective countries, through collaborative initiatives between the legal division and our global team of auditors posted in various regions. In line with that, we began offering periodic e-learning sessions covering The Advantest Way & Code of Conduct to all Group employees, who in turn pledge to abide by the principles set forth in that document.
