Integrated Report 2019

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63LINTEC INTEGRATED REPORT 2019Utmost Sincerity —The Foundation of GovernanceNishioThese days, corporate misconduct is a frequent occur-rence. I believe that compliance is a fundamental prem-ise of business activities, and that daily operations must be conducted in a serious and sincere manner. I have always called on employees to implement the Company motto—Sincerity and Creativity. Nevertheless, an objective, external viewpoint is neces-sary to identify and address issues and areas requiring improve-ment that Company insiders do not notice on their own. We are regularly receiving valuable comments from our two independent officers, and today I would like to continue that practice with a frank discussion.OhokaI think that the word “sincerity” in the Company motto is the essence of LINTEC’s well-established corporate culture. In recent years, many companies have faced issues in complying with the corporate governance code. For LINTEC, however, the spirit of “sincerity” has been embraced throughout the Company, and compliance with the code is simply a part of everyday activities.OsawaI also believe that everyone at LINTEC is working very seriously to follow the Company motto. Top manage-ment has strongly stressed the implementation of the motto, and an awareness of the issues has spread throughout the Company. It seems that LINTEC is carrying out a distinctive form of man-agement with rigorous compliance. The corporate governance code itself does not involve penalties. I have a sense that LINTEC is addressing the objectives of the corporate governance code by working from the basic level of the motto to independently recon-sider issues that are significant for the Company. On that basis, the Company is tackling those issues one by one in a conscien-tious manner.Effectiveness of the Board of Directors is Enhanced by Outside OfficersNishioAs independent officers, what are your thoughts about the composition of the Company’s officers from the perspective of governance?OhokaThere is a viewpoint that the number of independent officers should be increased, but personally I am not aware of any particular problems with the current situation. However, in LINTEC’s case, I have a sense that perhaps it might be a good idea to reconsider the division of duties among the directors and executive officers and to reevaluate the overall size of the Board. Then, I think there is a need to discuss the number of independent officers.OsawaCurrently, when I am expressing my opinion in meetings of the Board of Directors, I am very reassured by the presence of another independent officer. In brief, Mr. Ohoka and I are both independent officers, but we have very different back-grounds. Accordingly, there are times when my understanding is enhanced when I hear Mr. Ohoka’s opinion. In addition, there are two outside officers who, although they are not independent, are providing opinions from diverse viewpoints.OhokaBased on my experience up to this point as an outside director at another company for more than 20 years, if two outside directors express the same objective opinion, then it is easy to obtain the agreement of the inside officers. From the perspective of ensuring the objectivity of communications, a larger number of people might be desirable, but as stated by Ms. Osawa, the Company’s non-independent outside officers offer opinions with the same degree of objectivity as ours, and as such I believe that the current system of four outside directors is func-tioning well.I think that the word “sincerity” in the Company motto is the essence of LINTEC’s well-established corporate culture.Financial InformationESGStrategyOverview