Corporate Social Responsibility

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility demands that companies comply with ethical standards with regard to human rights and the protection of the environment wherever they are active and that they, in general, respect the interests of society at large in their business. This concept is promoted by the UN in the UN Guiding Principles of Business and Human Rights. While Swiss law obliges the Board to ensure that the company complies with applicable law, it does not oblige companies to comply with ethical guidelines or to engage in other activities which benefit society. According to Swiss law, the Board has the obligation to increase shareholder value. This forbids, in principle, to spend corporate resources on the pursuit of ethical standards and on other activities that do not increase shareholder value. Today however, many customers demand, as a pre-condition for purchasing goods or services from a company, that its worldwide activities comply with ethical standards as to…