Governance

Basic stance and policy

Aisin believes that compliance means more than adhering to laws and regulations and that it is equally important to meet the expectations and trust of all stakeholders as a responsible corporate citizen. To this end, we have positioned the AISIN Group Charter of Sustainability and the AISIN Group Code of Conduct as our fundamental policies and, in the priority domains of antitrust and anti-corruption law, have developed and rolled out groupwide compliance policies and guidelines.
To ensure compliance procedures are practiced as second nature, we emphasize integrity (sincerity, honesty, and high moral character) and strive to instill in every employee high ethical standards that encourage decisions and actions we can be proud of before anyone and discourages flight from misdeeds, dishonesty, and deception.”

Aisin aims to maintain strong compliance awareness and to eliminate serious legal violations by implementing a global Group legal and compliance framework. We believe that an open workplace culture in which people can freely express themselves is the very foundation of compliance. Accordingly, we are fostering an environment where employees can first turn to their supervisors for advice when in doubt, and we are thoroughly raising awareness of internal reporting channels. Moreover, through workplace visits and ethics surveys that measure individual and collective compliance awareness, we gather authentic feedback from the workplace. By sharing both joys and concerns, we are promoting a thriving workplace culture of mutual respect and consideration.

AISIN Group Legal and Compliance Status

Promotion Structure

Aisin has established the Business Ethics Committee, chaired by the head of the Group HR Division, as the body charged with governing key compliance policies and structures. The presidents of the 13 Group companies, along with relevant executives and audit & supervisory board members, attend to review the status of and issues in compliance activities and to determine our compliance policy directives for the following fiscal year.
Matters decided by the Business Ethics Committee are reported to and overseen by the Board of Directors.
To ensure consistent compliance across the entire Group, the Legal Affairs Department was established in January 2018 within the Group Head Office by consolidating the legal functions of each Group company. As the Group's sole specialized legal department, it exclusively plans and promotes compliance activities for Group companies both domestically and internationally. Concurrently, a compliance officer and compliance managers have been appointed at each Group company in an effort to build a framework for ensuring compliance globally.

Business Ethics Committee Organization

PDCA Cycle for Compliance Activities

Strategy

In light of changes in the business environment, societal expectations, and the growing diversity of compliance risks accompanying globalization, Aisin sets and pursues priority areas on a risk basis, aiming to maintain zero serious legal violations and serious compliance violations—a materiality KGI.
Each year, the Business Ethics Committee comprehensively evaluates and identifies compliance risks in light of changes in the business environment and societal expectations (FY2027: integrity, harassment, fair trade, antitrust, and bribery and corruption).

Key initiatives

Initiatives to maintain zero serious legal and compliance violations

Creating an open and transparent workplace culture

Aisin promotes an open and transparent workplace culture to enable the early detection, correction, and prevention of issues. Management personally visits work sites to hear employees’ candid and unfiltered expressions of concern and anxiety, recognize issues, and take direct responsibility for addressing them. Each workplace promotes frank discussions based on the results of the Group’s ethics surveys.

Early detection and remediation of issues via a whistleblowing system

Aisin has established a compliance reporting and consultation office that accepts inquiries from a broad range of stakeholders, including domestic and international officers, employees, retirees, their families, business partners, and local residents. These channels can address a wide range of consultative topics, including misconduct, violations of laws and rules, harassment and bullying, and human rights issues. When responding, we thoroughly prioritize privacy and the prevention of disadvantaging the reporting party. In this way, we strive for the early detection and correction of misconduct.
To accommodate different types of report and inquiry, multiple channels are available: company-specific consultation offices, a groupwide external legal office staffed by attorneys, and the Aisin Business Ethics Consultation Desk managed by the Group Head Office Legal Affairs Department. For external stakeholders, reports and inquiries are accepted via the web-based Aisin Global Hotline. Internal reports are consolidated at the Legal Affairs Department. For material cases, the Legal Affairs Department leads the response, establishing a process to enable early detection and correction of issues. Furthermore, regular reports are made to Aisin's auditors to monitor operational factors. Additionally, third-party attorneys are engaged to incorporate objective, specialized expertise, enabling swift handling of critical cases. Reports and consultations are analyzed by type and by trends in their occurrence, and the results are reflected in education and awareness programs and in reviews of internal rules.

Aisin Global Hotline

Whistleblower system framework

Reporting routes within the AISIN Group

Use of internal reporting system

Number of reports received via internal channels

Total reports and consultations
(domestic and international)

Primarily inquiries about internal rules/procedures and concerns about workplace relationships. While these are not compliance or misconduct reports, we address them in collaboration with relevant departments to alleviate employee concerns and enhance the work environment.

Ethics Survey

To assess the adoption of compliance initiatives, the probability that potential compliance risks exist, and the level of awareness of the internal reporting channels, Aisin conducts a unified compliance-related ethics survey every year for all employees in Japan and overseas, including at Group companies and covering contract employees, employees seconded to Aisin, post-retirement rehires, fixed-term employees, temporary staff, and others. The response rate for FY2026 was 88.7%. In addition to being reported to the Business Ethics Committee, the survey results are fed back to internal departments and to Group companies in Japan and overseas. Moreover, focused education and awareness activities and individualized support are provided to workplaces and Group companies where the survey results reveal issues. The Audit Department selects audit themes based on the survey results and conducts internal audits every year.

Education and awareness initiatives

So that each employee embraces proper compliance behavior as second nature, Aisin administers a range of education and awareness programming every year for all employees in Japan and overseas, including at Group companies and covering contract employees, employees seconded to Aisin, post-retirement rehires, fixed-term employees, temporary staff, and others. In FY2026, 92.9% of eligible employees participated.
For training, we hold domestic and international group sessions and e-learning classes tailored to rank, job function, and responsibilities both. In addition, on-demand training videos are posted on the internal portal covering topics such as harassment, the Act on Optimization of Subcontracting Transactions with SMEs, antitrust law, bribery and corruption, export transaction control, insider trading, product liability, disguised contracting, copyright, labor affairs, contracts, and clear communication. This ensures that employees can avail themselves of training materials whenever it suits them, making compliance feel more accessible.
To raise awareness, we issue reports on legal developments and case studies every month to provide the latest information, and we roll out discussion sheets based on a variety of cases, including instances of compliance failure, to encourage employees to see these matters as their own concern. We raise each individual’s awareness of personal integrity through activities such as the Integrity Reflection Meeting, in which executives hold group discussions based on real cases, and workplace meetings, in which discussions take place at the worksite level.

List of key education and awareness initiatives

Category	Training program/tool		Main content	Frequency
Education	By rank	Executive compliance seminar	Latest compliance topics	1time/year
		Training for new executives	Executive responsibilities, key themes	When appointed
		Human Skills & Empathetic Communication Training	Essential Human Skills & Communication Abilities for Executives and Managers	1time/year
		Compliance Training for Department Heads	Importance and role of compliance, key themes	1time/year
		CSR Management Training (for New Managers)	Importance of compliance, key themes	Upon Promotion to Management
		New hire orientation	Compliance fundamentals, charter, and Code of Conduct	At hiring
	By job function	Compliance officer training	Role of corporate officers, key themes	1time/year
		Export control officer training	Laws and company rules	1time/year
		Overseas assignment training	Importance of compliance, key themes	Upon assignment
		Overseas Top management training	Importance and role of compliance	When appointed
		Whistleblowing Contact Person Training	Investigation Methods, Points to Note	1time/year
	By theme	Antitrust law compliance training	Laws, company policies, and guidelines	As needed
		Anti-corruption training	Real-world examples reflecting operational risks	1 time/3 years
			Laws, company policies, and guidelines	6 times/year
		Insider Trading Prevention Training	Laws and company rules	As needed
		On-demand training videos	Laws and company rules	Available on demand
Awareness	Articles	Economic security information	Legal and regulatory developments and latest trends	As needed
		Legal News	Introduction to laws, regulations, relevant compliance cases, and Legal Affairs Department initiatives	1 time/2 months
	Comics	Workplace discussion sheets	Theme-based instruction and key considerations	1 time/month