Kim S v ensson, pre viously Senior V ice President Corpor ate Finance , and Aime L y a gre , formerly the C OO of Securit y Ser vices Europe , ha v e s tepped do wn from Securit as ’ Group M ana g ement on October 25, 2012. Kim S v ensson has been appointed R e g ional President of Securit as China and South Eas t Asia. Aime L y a gre has been appointed CT O (Chief T echnology Ofcer) Securit y Ser vices Europe . Risk and uncert ainties M ana g in g risk is necessar y for Securit as to be able to fulfll its s tr ate g ies and achie v e its corpor ate objectiv es. Securit as ’ approach to enterprise risk mana g ement is described in more det ail on pa g es 40–44. Securit as ’ risks fall into three main cate g ories: contr act risks, oper ational assignment risks and fnancial risks. Contr act risks This cate g or y encompasses the risks related to enterin g into a cus tomer contr act and also those risks related to the acquisition of a new business. When enterin g into a contr act with a cus tomer a balanced division of responsibilities and risks bet w een Securit as and the cus tomer is essential. St andar diz ed contr acts are the norm. R ea- sonable caps on potential liabilit y and indemnifcation for thir d- part y claims are import ant . Signifcant focus is de v oted to con - tr act risks and the mana g ement of contr act risks. Each se gment has de v eloped policies and procedures t ailored to their specifc needs. These policies are all based on the contr act policies appro v ed b y the Boar d of Director s in the Group policies and guidelines. In addition to or ganic gro wth resultin g from new and / or increased cus tomer contr acts the Group has gro wn b y a signif - cant number of acquisitions o v er the y ear s and will, as part of the Group ’ s s tr ate gy , continue to acquire securit y companies. The inte gr ation of new companies alw a ys carries cert ain risks. T o a hig her de gree than pre viously , such acquisitions are also t akin g place in new mark ets such as L atin America, the Middle Eas t , Asia and Africa. The proft abilit y of the acquired compan y ma y be lo w er than e xpected and / or cert ain cos ts in connection with the acquisition ma y be hig her than e xpected. The acquisitions and div es titures made durin g 2012 are described under the headin g Acquisitions and div es titures abo v e and in note 16. Oper ational assignment risks Oper ational assignment risks are risks associated with daily oper - ations and the ser vices w e pro vide to our cus tomer s, for e xam - ple , when ser vices do not meet the required s t andar ds and result in loss of propert y , dama g e to propert y or bodily in jur y . Proper recruitment , tr ainin g and super vision of securit y ofcer s are import ant to mitigate these risks. Another t ype of oper ational assignment risk which ma y impact proft abilit y is the risk that Securit as will not be able to increase prices to be paid b y cus tomer s in or der to compensate fully for increases in w a g es and related cos ts. Financial risks Financial risks are mainly mana g ed throug h continuous measure - ment and follo w -up of fnancial per formance , with the help of Securit as ’ fnancial model. This model identifes cert ain k e y fgures that are vit al to the proft abilit y of the oper ations, and facilit ates the detection and handlin g of risks. The fnancial model is described in more det ail on pa g es 50–51. In addition, fnancial risks (other than relatin g to fnancial reportin g ) arise because the Group has e xternal fnancin g needs and oper ates in a number of foreign currencies. The risks are mainly interes t r ate risk, foreign currenc y risk, fnancin g and liquidit y risk and credit / counterpart y risk. The cus tomer credit risk, that is the risk of Securit as ’ cus tom - er s not bein g able to fulfll their obligation of pa yin g in v oices for ser vices bein g pro vided, increased durin g the current recession. The risk is reduced b y the fact that the numerous cus tomer s are spread o v er man y business sector s and g eo gr aphies, and b y es t ablished routines for monitorin g and collectin g of accounts receiv able within Group companies. f urther information re gar din g fnancial risk mana g ement is pro vided abo v e under the section Capit al emplo y ed and fnancin g / Financin g and in note 6. The prepar ation of fnancial reports requires the Boar d of Director s and Group M ana g ement to mak e es timates and jud g - ments. Es timates and jud gments will impact both the s t atement of income and the balance sheet as w ell as disclosures such as contin g ent liabilities. Actual results ma y difer from these es timates and jud gments under diferent circums t ances and conditions. f urther information re gar din g critical es timates and jud gments is pro vided in note 4. F or the forthcomin g t w elv e month period, the fnancial impact of cert ain items afectin g compar abilit y , pro visions and contin g ent liabilities, as described in note 11, note 32, note 35 and note 37 respectiv ely , ma y v ar y from the current fnancial es timates and pro visions made b y mana g ement . This could afect the proft abilit y and the fnancial position of the Group . P er sonnel With more than 300 000 emplo y ees in 52 countries, Securit as number one responsibilit y is to be a solid, trus t w orth y and s t able emplo y er to all our emplo y ees, s trivin g to ofer g ood w orkin g conditions, fair w a g es and opportunities for per sonal de v elop - ment . Our basic requirement is to act within the fr amew ork of la ws and international con v entions. This means that w e respect and comply with labor mark et la ws, a greements and safet y requirements and other pro visions that set the par ameter s for our oper ations. The foundation for our w ork with responsibilit y issues is our ethic s code , Securit as ’ V alues and Ethic s, which upholds and pro - motes hig h ethical business s t andar ds. Securit as ’ v alues and Ethic s is based on our three fundament al v alues: Inte grit y , V ig i - lance and Helpfulness. Inte grit y means bein g hones t and also the rig ht to openly e xpress one ’ s opinion. V ig ilance ent ails s trivin g to be at tentiv e and able to obser v e , lis ten and e v aluate . Helpfulness is about our emplo y ees alw a ys bein g ready to assis t within the conte xt of a particular assignment . 64 Securit as Annual R eport 2012 Annual R eport R eport of the Boar d of Director s