Sony Corporation continuously strives to strengthen its corporate governance system in a way that is suitable for Sony and increases corporate value over the mid- to long-term. To operate Sony effectively, Sony Corporation approaches its corporate governance through two basic precepts:
(a) The Board of Directors (the "Board") , a majority of which is comprised of independent outside Directors, focuses on effective oversight of management's operation of the business and maintaining a sound and transparent governance framework by utilizing the Nominating Committee, the Audit Committee and the Compensation Committees; and
(b) The Board determines Sony's fundamental management policies and other material matters and delegates to each of the Senior Executives that assume important roles for the management of Sony, including the Corporate Executive Officers, decision-making authority to conduct Sony's business operations broadly in line with their respective responsibilities, as defined with a view to promoting timely and efficient decision-making within Sony.
In furtherance of these efforts, Sony Corporation has adopted a "Company with Three Committees" corporate governance system under the Companies Act of Japan (Kaishaho) and related regulations (collectively the "Companies Act") as the most appropriate system for the company. In addition, Sony Corporation has introduced its own requirements to help improve and maintain the soundness and transparency of its governance by strengthening the separation of the Directors' function from that of management; maintaining what the company believes is an appropriate Board size, which enables the members of the Board to actively contribute to discussion; and advancing the proper functioning of the statutory committees.