Ethics Management
Jeong-Do Management refers to LG’s unique code of conduct based on ethical management, which targets steady cultivation of competence to run fair competition.
The LG Code of Ethics, the standard for proper behavior and value judgment that all LG members must abide by, and Compliance Guidelines for understanding and responding to legal risks that may arise in the course of business, are all based on Jeong-Do Management. It also serves as the foundation for all LG Energy Solution’s business activities conducted by employees across all global business sites. With a view to ensuring Jeong-do Management in a systematic and coherent manner, we have a designated organization called the Ethics Secretariat. The secretariat is mandated to promote awareness and conduct ethics trainings to all employees across global sites, investigate and communicate on reported cases, and conduct ethics trainings for suppliers. Further, it identifies major ethical issues and conduct audits annually of employees for violations of ethical standards, such as misconduct, sexual and/or workplace harassment. In line with the compliance management system, we also monitor compliance related to ethical issues for all global business sites regularly and as needed.
LG Group, including LG Energy Solution, operates the Jeong-Do Management website. It serves as a channel for external stakeholders to report on customer complaints regarding product, service and quality, as well as for employees and partner companies to report on any unethical or illegal behavior, including bribery, solicitation/graft, embezzlement/misappropriation of assets, environmental and safety accidents, unfair trade practices, document manipulation, and sexual/workplace harassment and abuse.
Under the principle of informant protection, any information that exposes the ID of the informant or suggests it is not disclosed without consent of the informant, and we are held liable for any disadvantage incurred by failure to observe this by making restitution or equivalent action.
Further, we have put in place a whistleblower reward program to enhance the transparency and accountability of our business, as well as eliminate unethical or illegal behavior that undermines customer value.
Compliance Management
LG Energy Solution operates compliance control regulation and compliance management system (CMS) to identify and prevent compliance risks in major areas related to business activities such as fair trade, product quality, environment and safety, information security, and anti-corruption. A compliance officer, designated by the Board of Directors, is responsible for overseeing compliance controls and monitoring the company-wide compliance management system. The compliance officer is mandated to report, biannually, to the Board of Directors and its ESG Committee on the progress of key compliance risks control, improvement plan and key findings from regular audits of effectiveness of the CMS to ensure the CMS meets evolving requirements of global standards and customers’ demands.
In November 2021, LG Energy Solution became the first in the global battery industry to obtain ISO37301, an international certification for compliance management systems. We will continue to enhance transparency and reliability for our customers and stakeholders and acquire solid competitive advantage in global compliance.
Key roles and responsibilities of a Compliance Officer include:
· Monitoring compliance controls on a regular / ad-hoc basis and reporting key findings to the Board of Directors;
· Providing training and education to employees to promote awareness and understanding of compliance obligations;
· Identifying and assessing legal and compliance risks;
· Handling non-compliance cases from identification of non-compliance, consultation to advising on the appropriate actions; and
· Executing disciplinary actions for employee non-compliance.
Ensuring Business Resilience
LG Energy Solution operates a company-wide risk management system to identify, prevent and respond to risks in the areas of quality, occupational safety, supply chain, business, finance, and social and environmental risks. A Chief Risk Officer (CRO) is appointed to prioritize the safety of employees, local communities and customers, and a dedicated organization is responsible for proactive risk management. In particular, quality, environment and safety, and compliance have been identified as core risk areas, and to address related issues, we conduct various activities including enhancement of quality control system, expanding environment and safety improvement activities in new business sites, and building partnership to stabilize the supply chain.
We plan to continuously improve the risk management system to minimize risks that may arise in our business activities.
Information Security
LG Energy Solution protects important information assets not only for the company but also for stakeholders including employees, customers, and suppliers in accordance with the ISO/IEC27001-based information security management system. While ensuring compliance with respective laws and regulations related to information security in countries where we operate, we implement various activities to raise awareness of stakeholders on information security. We also build alertness to detect and respond to cyber threats on a real time basis and prevent accidents.