The overall purpose of foundation governance is to support the management of commercial foundations and its work to safeguard the purpose and interests of the foundation and administer the foundation in accordance with best practice.
The Recommendations are a supplement to the legislation on commercial foundations, including the Commercial Foundations Act and the Financial Statements Act, which set the framework for the needs of the outside world for transparency with regard to the governance of commercial foundations as well as foundation activities and distributions.
The Recommendations enable the individual commercial foundation to organise its governance optimally in accordance with the 'comply or explain' principle. Thus, non-compliance is not inconsistent with the spirit of the recommendations, but merely a result of the fact that the commercial foundation has chosen a different approach.
The Recommendations are not an exhaustive list for good governance of commercial foundations. The challenges and circumstances for the foundations and their boards of directors are far too diverse for this.
Reporting
This form is meant as a tool for commercial foundations who wish to report on the foundations compliance with the Recommendations on foundation governance in a standard reporting format, cf. section 77a of the Financial Statements Act.
The report on foundation governance must be published in the management commentary, in the notes to the annual report, or on the foundation’s website with a reference to the website in the management commentary or in the notes.