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At the end of the 2017 reporting year, the MCH Group had a total of 1,003 employees on permanent contracts and 1,192 employees and assistants on temporary contracts. During the reporting year, employee numbers within the group thus increased by 371 permanent employees (58.7%).

The details set out below include all the companies which belong wholly to the MCH Group, or in which it has a majority holding.

The MCH Group’s brands constitute a significant enterprise value. Brand protection provides legal security and is a clear indication that the intellectual property rights of the corresponding brand belong to the MCH Group and are also protected by the group.

At present, some 250 word and picture brands are registered for the MCH Group at the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE) in Bern.

Corporate Legal & Management Services checks the IGE report on the registered brands each week. In the event of MCH Group brands being violated, the protection afforded by these brands is enforced by legal means.

The MCH Group is a member of "Stop Piracy", the Swiss anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy platform that was set up by the Federal Institute of Intellectual Property in 2005.

For more than 30 years, the MCH Group has been committed to the protection of intellectual property in the context of the Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show and supports the fight against counterfeited and pirated goods. At Baselworld, anyone who considers that their intellectual property rights have been violated through the presentation of an object at the show can have recourse to the show's own arbitration board – the Baselworld Panel. The arbitration board decides within a single working day whether the rights to a design, brands or copyright-protected works have been violated.

The Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show is an official supporter of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC). The RJC campaigns for responsible practices in the jewellery industry – from the mining of the precious metals, via their processing, right through to the retail trade. The more than 700 companies that have been RJC-certified in the meantime guarantee compliance with the corresponding ethical, human-rights, and social and ecological principles.

Art Basel has made additions to its Exhibitor Regulations and defined a series of principles that set out Art Basel’s expectations of its exhibitors in terms of their responsibility towards artists, suppliers of works of art, buyers and their industry. At the same time, a new process has been defined for potentially criminal actions.

The “Art Market Principles and Best Practices” have been developed in cooperation with legal and art market experts from all over the world. These comprise, firstly, “Best Practice Guidelines”, setting out professional standards for the exhibitors. Compliance with these standards is then applied as a criterion by the Selection Committee when assessing applications to participate in the show. Secondly, the “Legal Compliance Process” defines the procedure to be adopted in the event of an exhibitor engaging in criminal acts in conjunction with their activities on the art market.

With these additions to its Exhibitor Regulations, Art Basel wishes to make a contribution towards strengthening the international art market – a contribution which is based on trust and provides support for the artists. These “Art Market Principles and Best Practices” are being employed for the first time in assessing applications to participate in Art Basel Miami Beach 2018.

The MCH Group adheres to the provisions of relevance to corporate governance in the current legislation, in the directives issued by the SIX Swiss Exchange and in the rules of conduct contained in the Swiss Code of Best Practice. The company's basic fundaments – namely its Statutes and Regulations, as well as its information and control instruments – include all the essential principles to ensure that the management, supervision and transparency of the company are in accordance with good corporate governance.

The MCH Group differs on one key point from many other companies quoted on the SIX Swiss Exchange: under the terms of its Statutes, the listed holding company, MCH Group Ltd., is a joint stock company with the participation of public-sector entities as per Art. 762 of the Swiss Code of Obligations. This means inter alia that the Cantons of Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft and Zurich, and also the City of Zurich, have the right to appoint delegates to the Board of Directors.

Details of Corporate Governance
Annual Report / Corporate Governance

In 2018, the MCH Group is introducing a new Code of Conduct which supports employees in adopting a legally and ethically correct and responsible form of behaviour. The Code sets out what the MCH Group, as an employer, expects of its employees and serves as a guide for the decisions taken in day-to-day business.

All the employees of the MCH Group and all those working on behalf of the MCH Group are obliged to comply with the “Code of Conduct”. Violations of the “Code of Conduct” are investigated and can entail consequences. These can be disciplinary measures or termination of the contract of employment or may lead to civil or criminal law proceedings being instigated against the person in question or, indeed, the employer.

The “Code of Conduct” describes the values and culture of the MCH Group and is based on the Corporate Principles and Core Behaviours. It sets out guidelines in respect of the local setting, bribery and unfair advantages, gifts and invitations, conflicts of interest, the award of contracts, competition law and anti-trust law, inside information and insider trading, data protection and behaviour towards coworkers. It also describes the procedure to be adopted in the event of alleged or actual infringements.

Exhibition and event organisers are fundamentally subject to a certain passive risk of corruption. In the exhibition business, it is possible, for example, for exhibiting companies and suppliers to want to obtain advantages (stand positioning, receipt of orders, etc.) by the corresponding means. Corrupt behaviour of this type would have a considerable influence on the configuration of an exhibition, impairing its quality and ultimately jeopardising its existence.

An anti-corruption agreement has been part of the General Terms of Employment of the MCH Group since 1992 and this is signed by all employees as part of their contract of employment.

The provisions governing the admission of exhibiting companies provide protection against the risk of passive corruption. Admission is based on clear-cut criteria that are set out in the Exhibitor Regulations. For Art Basel, where the selection of the exhibitors to be admitted to the show is performed by an international committee, a two-stage admission procedure has been introduced with the possibility of an appeal.

In the course of 2017, there were no suspicious circumstances which would have necessitated a check on the group's business locations or business practices with regard to an increased risk of corruption. There were no confirmed cases of corruption.

Compliance with the anti-trust law and the provisions of the Swiss Federal Competition Commission is actively supported and ensured by Corporate Legal & Management Services. In 2017, no proceedings were brought against the MCH Group on account of anti-competitive practices or the formation of cartels or monopolies.