From 2002 through early 2005 the companies committed cartel infringements in the heavy-duty detergent powder segment. These infringements were detected in 2008 during internal compliance audits carried out by Henkel. The company immediately informed the authorities and contributed substantially to clearing up the issue.   

“In 2008, we had to acknowledge concrete evidence of misconduct by employees in several Western European countries. For us, living Corporate Compliance means actively dealing with this issue. This is why we have intensively investigated internally and have made our findings available to the authorities promptly and in an unrestricted manner. This is our obligation vis-à-vis our employees, customers and shareholders”, says Dirk-Stephan Koedijk, Chief Compliance Officer at Henkel.

With the change from a decentralized Compliance organization to a central one in 2007 and the establishment of the position of a globally responsible Chief Compliance Officer who directly reports to the CEO, Henkel has taken effective activities in order to uncover and avoid future misconduct.

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA