Stabilization, strengthening, and expansion of compliance areas
With the establishment of the “Corporate Services” Group Functionat Executive Board level, RUAG has significantly strengthened its secondline- of-defense functions. Among others, these include Legal, Compliance, Risk, as well as Information Security and HSSE. In the area of Compliance in particular, extensive measures were implemented to establish organizational stability and embed compliance within the daily consciousness of the workforce. Awareness-raising measures among employees were intensified and Group-wide cooperation was consolidated.
New structures and standardized processes
With the election of a new Director, RUAG has managed to stabilize the area of Compliance. In addition, the area was strengthened further by creating two new positions and by bringing in external staff who can provide flexible, temporary support as needed. These additional capacities made it possible, among other things, to review and standardize central processes alongside day-to-day business.
Several key directives were revised during the reporting year, including those on third-party management, management of suspicious compliance cases and data protection. These revisions provided the institutional basis for the consistent investigation of suspicious cases and potential misconduct. Moreover, the management of reputational risks in the area of Trade Compliance was also strengthened.
Another point of focus was the stronger integration of subsidiaries, both domestically and abroad. To this end, RUAG implemented targeted measures, such as holding a Group management conference at the end of the year, which was attended by the heads of all subsidiaries. One of the aims was to standardize future management and reporting processes. Particular emphasis was placed on compliance and the consistent prosecution of misconduct in line with a zero-tolerance policy. The conference marked a milestone in the complete integration of subsidiaries into RUAG’s governance and compliance system.
Increasing compliance awareness
Back in fall 2024, the Head of Corporate Services had already initiated measures to raise employee awareness of compliance issues and position the topic as a point of focus. These activities were intensified and systematically expanded in 2025. RUAG’s workforce was made aware of the issue in a variety of ways, including mandatory workshops for managers at all levels, a communication campaign in which the CEO and Executive Board played a key role and mandatory training courses. In addition, regular training courses in other areas of compliance, including data protection and trade compliance, were continued.
Outlook
With the global rollout of a new learning management system, compliance awareness training can in the future be delivered in an even more targeted manner. The campaign launched in 2025 will continue in the first half of 2026. In addition, the strengthening of all second-line-of-defense functions will be consistently pursued in 2026.