The Foundation’s Trust Deed states that the Board is a self-electing entity. Elections take place annually. Board members appointed by the Foundation are elected for a three-year term, and may be re-elected. The three-year term is stipulated in the Trust Deed, with a view to maintaining satisfactory continuity in the Board's activities.

Board members must be no more than 65 years of age when elected for the first time. The age limit for Board members elected by the Foundation is 70 years, subject to an extension to 75 years under special circumstances.

The members appointed by employees are elected under Danish legislative provisions for employee representation on boards of directors, and accordingly are elected for a term of four years.

Under the Trust Deed, the following requirements apply to Board members appointed by the Foundation:

A majority cannot at the same time be board members of Hempel A/S
A majority should preferably be current or former Hempel employees or persons who have somehow been involved with the Hempel Group over many years
At least two of the members must have international financial and business experience

The Board of Trustees has additionally set targets for gender representation for members elected by the Foundation. In April 2018, a new female Board member joined the Board of Trustees and a declared target was achieved in that minimum two of the Board members appointed by the Foundation are female members.

The Chairman and Deputy Chairman are elected from among the Board members for a three-year term. The Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Board monitor and assess the composition of the Board and its performance on an ongoing basis, in consultation with individual Board members and the Board as a whole. This evaluation aims to ensure that the required commercial and investment and personal skills, as well as competences regarding charitable donations, are available among the Board members appointed by the Foundation.

All new Board members appointed by the Foundation are selected through a structured process based on the above mentioned evaluation and specific need for additional competencies on the Board. A professional executive search firm is used for external searches. To meet the specific requirement, stipulated in the Trust Deed, that certain Board members preferably should have been involved with the Hempel Group, the Chairman and Deputy Chairman use a regularly updated list of potential candidates to be presented to the members appointed by the Foundation for evaluation and selection.

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