Corporate Governance and bod role: Webuild General Manager Massimo Ferrari - Create greater applicative homoegeneity in Europe

Milan, April 29, 2021 - 'We are experiencing a very important moment of change, throughout Europe, which propels us to rethink how Boards of Directors function. For example, the Chairman's role, thus, becomes increasingly essential for managing meetings in a disciplined manner. In carrying out its activities, defined by the Italian Civil Code, the Board of Directors is called first of all to focus mainly on financial sustainability, liquidity risk and reputational matters. And with these, there are also new strategic aspects, like sustainability, digitalization, cybersecurity, which must be seen in a long-term perspective'. This is how Webuild General Manager Massimo Ferrari intervened in the 'EY Board Agenda 2021 | Five priorities for boards to shape the organization's strategy' webinar.

'In Italy, we need to bring order to the legislation, and to the self-regulatory code, to pursue greater homogeneity at the European level. To make works in meetings more effective, optimizing time management and ensuring that the Board is as focused as possible on business issues and vital strategies for the company, it is mandatory to enhance the role of committees and work tasks that carry out preliminary and in-depth functions on behalf of the Board. One of these topics, is certainly the safety of workers: the first sustainability goal must, in fact, always be aimed at workers, and work-related matters. For Webuild, which will see its BoD renewed with the Shareholders' Meeting, on April 30, the Health & Safety issue is a fundamental one. It is, in fact, tackled, in a practical manner, at the opening of every BoD meeting ' explained Ferrari.

'The ability to react and be resilient to the Covid virus is very important for every company' he added. 'Yet, it is necessary for the Board to focus on strategic and business issues, also by means of informal meetings, and valid investigations of the internal Board Committees. The current pandemic has, in fact, also highlighted how risk management is a dynamic process. The experience gained by each one of us, in recent months, will guide our company, also improving the Board's risk supervision and management, in the years to come. Assigning responsibilities within the Board itself, and its committees is also very important, while also coordinating with the management, and the acquisition of information regarding individual issues, by the expert management, which must provide all the elements needed by the Board to quickly make conscious resolutions. And let us not also forget that the Chief Executive Officer must always be the real protagonist, managing the entire operational machine on which all priorities are to be declined'.