III. RESULTADOS
3.3. Objetivo específico 3:
In 2013, our directors met in person or passed resolutions by unanimous written consent a total of nine times. No director is entitled to any severance benefits upon termination of his directorship with us. Our board of directors has also concluded that Mr. Kheng Nam Lee meets the criteria for an "audit committee financial expert" as established by the SEC.
Board committees
Our board of directors has established an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominations committee.
Audit committee. Our audit committee currently consists of Kheng Nam Lee, Rongquan Leng and Neo Chee Beng. Our board of directors has determined that all of our audit committee members are "independent directors" within the meaning of Nasdaq Listing Rule 5605(a)(2) and meet the criteria for independence set forth in Section 10A(m)(3) of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act. Our audit committee is responsible for, among other things:
· recommending to our shareholders, if appropriate, the annual re-appointment of our independent registered public accounting firm and pre-approving all auditing and non-auditing service fees permitted to be performed by the independent registered public accounting firm;
· annually reviewing an independent registered public accounting firm's report describing the independent registered public accounting firm's internal quality-control procedures, any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality control review, or peer review, of the independent registered public accounting firm and all relationships between the independent registered public accounting firm and our company;
· setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered public accounting firm;
· reviewing with the independent registered public accounting firm any audit problems or difficulties and management's response;
· reviewing and approving all proposed related-party transactions, as defined in Item 404 of Regulation S-K under the U.S. securities laws;
· discussing the annual audited financial statements with management and the independent registered public accounting firm;
· discussing with management and the independent registered public accounting firm major issues regarding accounting principles and financial statement presentations; reviewing reports prepared by management or the independent auditors relating to significant financial reporting issues and judgments;
· reviewing reports prepared by management or the independent registered public accounting firm relating to significant financial reporting issues and judgments;
· discussing earnings press releases, as well as financial information and earnings guidance provided to analysts and rating agencies;
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· reviewing with management and the independent registered public accounting firm the effect of regulatory and accounting initiatives, as well as off-balance sheet structures on our financial statements;
· discussing policies with respect to risk assessment and risk management;
· reviewing major issues as to the adequacy of our internal controls and any special audit steps adopted in light of material control deficiencies;
· timely reviewing annual reports from the independent registered public accounting firm regarding all critical accounting policies and practices to be adopted by our company, all alternative treatments of financial information within U.S. GAAP that have been discussed with management and all other material written communications between the independent registered public accounting firm and management;
· establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received from our employees regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing matters and the confidential, anonymous submission by our employees of concerns regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters;
· annually reviewing and reassessing the adequacy of our audit committee charter;
· such other matters that are specifically delegated to our audit committee by our board of directors from time to time;
· meeting separately, periodically, with management and the independent registered public accounting firm; and
· reporting regularly to the full board of directors.
Compensation committee. Our current compensation committee consists of Rongquan Leng and Neo Chee Beng. Our board of directors has determined that all of our compensation committee members are "independent directors" within the meaning of Nasdaq Listing Rule 5605(a) (2). Our compensation committee is responsible for:
· determining and recommending the compensation of our senior management;
· reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors regarding our compensation policies and forms of compensation provided to our directors and officers;
· reviewing and determining bonuses for our officers and other employees;
· reviewing and determining share-based compensation for our directors, officers, employees and consultants;
· administering our equity incentive plans in accordance with the terms thereof; and
· such other matters that are specifically delegated to the compensation committee by our board of directors from time to time.
Nominations committee. Our current nominations committee consists of Rongquan Leng and Neo Chee Beng. Our board of directors has determined that all of our nominations committee members are "independent directors" within the meaning of Nasdaq Listing Rule 5605(a) (2). Our nominations committee is responsible for, among other things, selecting and recommending the appointment of new directors to our board of directors.
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Corporate governance
Our board of directors has adopted a code of ethics, which is applicable to our senior executive and financial officers. In addition, our board of directors has adopted a code of conduct, which is applicable to all of our directors, officers and employees. Our code of ethics and our code of conduct are publicly available on our website.
In addition, our board of directors has adopted a set of corporate governance guidelines. The guidelines reflect certain guiding principles with respect to our board's structure, procedures and committees. The guidelines are not intended to change or interpret any law, or our memorandum and articles of association.
Duties of directors
Under Hong Kong law, our directors have a duty of loyalty to act honestly in good faith with a view to our best interests. Our directors also have a duty to exercise the care, diligence and skills that a reasonable person with that director's qualifications and experience would exercise in comparable circumstances. In fulfilling their duty of care to us, our directors must ensure compliance with our memorandum and articles of association.
The functions and powers of our board of directors include, among others:
· convening shareholders' meetings and reporting its work to shareholders at such meetings;
· implementing shareholders' resolutions;
· determining our business plans and investment proposals;
· formulating our profit distribution plans and loss recovery plans;
· determining our debt and finance policies and recommending proposals for the increase or decrease in our share capital and the issuance of debentures;
· formulating our major acquisition and disposition plans, and plans for consolidation, division or dissolution;
· proposing amendments to our articles of association; and
· exercising any other powers conferred at shareholders' meetings or under our memorandum and articles of association.
Terms of directors and executive officers
We have a staggered board, which means certain number of our directors (excluding our chief executive officer), retire at every annual general meeting and the vacancies created by such retirement stand for election. Our chief executive officer will at all times be a director, and will not retire as a director, so long as he remains our chief executive officer. Accordingly, our directors, excluding our chief executive officer, hold office until the second annual meeting of shareholders following their election, or until their successors have been duly elected and qualified. Our board has adopted a policy providing that no director may be nominated for re-election or re-appointment to our board after reaching 70 years of age, unless our board concludes that such person's continued service as our director is in our best interest. Officers are elected by and serve at the discretion of the board of directors.
D. Employees.
As of December 31, 2011, 2012 and 2013, we employed approximately 1,300, 590 and 1,700 employees. China enacted a new Labor Contract Law, which became effective on January 1, 2008. We have updated our employment contracts and employee handbook and are in compliance with the new law. We work with the employees to insure that the employees obtain the full benefit of the new Labor Contract Law and its implementary rules. We consider our relations with our employees to be generally good. However, as our operations and employee base further expand, we cannot assure you that we will always be able to maintain good relations with all of our employees. See "Item 3.D. Key Information – Risk Factors – Risks relating to doing business in the People's Republic of China – PRC's new labor law restricts our ability to reduce our workforce in the PRC in the event of an economic downturn and may increase our labor costs ".