Compliance areas are being strengthened and expanded
After the unbundling in 2020, RUAG had to rebuild all of its management and control instruments from scratch. Furthermore, there have been numerous changes at both CEO and CFO level since then. This lack of continuity at the highest management level made it extremely difficult to establish these instruments and processes. It is now the task of Ralf Müller, the new CEO since March, to restore continuity.
The essential guidelines in the area of compliance are in place and appropriate, however, they are not consistently implemented everywhere. In addition, the compliance team had to be rebuilt due to fluctuations. With Oliver Müller taking up the position of Head of Corporate Services on 1 October 2024, a proven expert has assumed responsibility for the areas of governance and compliance, among others. He will be particularly concerned with ensuring that these areas are strengthened and expanded, while also ensuring continuity.
Governance: business audits
In February 2024, the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) published its audit report on the Leopard 1 tank transactions. It reveals certain deficiencies in the processes of a former RUAG division. In order to eliminate existing weaknesses in the current compliance system and processes, the Board of Directors has taken initial measures.
Further development of compliance management and clear trade compliance processes
In 2024, RUAG refined and improved its basic company guideline for the Compliance Management System (CMS). It is based on the ISO 37301 standard and is in line with the strategic objectives that the Federal Council has for RUAG MRO Holding Ltd with regard to the CMS. Moreover, the compliance awareness of the entire staff was strengthened in 2024 by means of a company-wide compliance awareness training.
Since the introduction of the new ERP system SAP S4/HANA, RUAG has been working with an automated export control. All business processes in the Procurement, Sales and Logistics departments are checked against sanction lists, embargoes, any Swiss and/or US export licenses and in the Compliance Global Sales Board. Business documents that are missing valid licenses or audit-relevant information are automatically identified and can only be released for further processing after prior verification.
Further development of risk management
The company-wide risks are regularly discussed with the owner. The situation at the top risk level remained
the same in 2024. The risk descriptions are continuously reviewed and, where appropriate, refined or adapted to the new circumstances.
Implementation of data protection project
In May 2024, the “DATA PROTECTION@RUAG” project was launched. The aim is to further develop data
protection management maturity at RUAG and to ensure the implementation of the new Federal Act on Data Protection for RUAG MRO Holding Ltd and its group companies.
The sustainability report will be published separately in May 2025.