The foundation for the Equinor group’s governance structure is Norwegian law, and the General Meeting is the company’s supreme body. The Board of Directors has overriding responsibility for managing Equinor and supervising the company’s operations and business in general.
Governing bodies
Photo: Øivind Haug
Organisation
Equinor’s Articles of Association and the Norwegian Public Limited Liability Companies Act stipulate the General Meeting’s role and mandate. Pursuant to the company’s Articles of Association, an Annual General Meeting (AGM) must be held by the end of June each year.
All shareholders who are registered in the Norwegian Central Securities Depository (VPS) will receive an invitation to the general meeting. They are entitled to submit proposals and vote, directly or by proxy. Shareholders may also cast their vote electronically in a period before the general meeting.
The Equinor organisation is structured to be able to respond to our current and future business needs.
President and CEO
The President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is responsible for day-to-day operations, and presents proposals for strategy, goals, actions and financial statements, as well as important investments.
Anders Opedal is our President and CEO.
Board of Directors
The Board has overriding responsibility for managing the Group and supervising its day-to-day management and operations.
The work of the Board is based on rules of procedure and applicable legislation which describe the Board’s responsibility, duties and administrative procedures.
The rules of procedure also describe the duties of the Chief Executive Officer and his/her duties vis-à-vis the Board of Directors.
Equinor’s Board of Directors has three sub-committees which act as preparatory bodies.
Nomination Committee
The company’s Nomination Committee is composed and elected in accordance with Equinor’s Articles of Association.
The committee is independent of both the Board and the company’s management. The duties of the Nomination Committee are:
- to present a recommendation to the Annual General Meeting regarding the election of shareholder-elected members to the Corporate Assembly
- to present a recommendation to the Corporate Assembly regarding the election of shareholder-elected members to the Board of Directors
- to present a proposal for the remuneration of members of the Board of Directors and the Corporate Assembly.
Members of Equinor’s Nomination Committee are elected for a term of two years.
External auditor
The company’s external auditor is independent in relation to Equinor and is elected by the Annual General Meeting.
The fee for the company’s auditor must be approved by the company’s Annual General Meeting.
Pursuant to the instructions, the Board’s Audit Committee is responsible for ensuring that the company is subject to an independent and effective external and internal audit.
When evaluating the external auditor, emphasis is placed on the firm’s competence, capacity, local and international availability and the size of the fee.
The Board’s Audit Committee assesses and makes a recommendation concerning the choice of external auditor, and it is responsible for ensuring that the external auditor meets the requirements set by the authorities in Norway and in other countries in which Equinor is listed on the stock exchange. The external auditor is subject to the provisions of US legislation requiring that a responsible partner must not hold the office for more than five consecutive years.
The Board’s Audit Committee considers all reports from the external auditor before they are considered by the board of directors. The Audit Committee holds regular meetings with the external auditor without the company’s management being present.
For more information on Equinor’s external auditor and their compensation, please see the minutes from our annual general meeting.
Corporate Assembly
One of the main duties of the Corporate Assembly is to elect the company’s Board of Directors.
Pursuant to the Norwegian Public Limited Liability Companies Act, companies with more than 200 employees must elect a corporate assembly unless otherwise agreed between the company and a majority of its employees. Two-thirds of the members shall be elected by the AGM and one-third by the employees.
The most important duties of the Corporate Assembly are to elect the Board of Directors, to oversee the Board and the CEO’s management of the company, to make decisions on investments of considerable magnitude in relation to the company’s resources and to make decisions involving the rationalisation or reorganisation of operations that will entail major changes in or reallocation of the workforce.
The duties of the corporate assembly are defined in section 6-37 of the Public Limited Liability Companies Act.
Corporate Executive Committee
The Chief Executive Officer is responsible for day-to-day operations, and presents a proposal for strategy, goals, actions and financial statements, as well as important investments.
Annual general meeting
The annual general meeting is the company’s supreme body.
All shareholders who are registered in the Norwegian Central Securities Depository (VPS) will receive an invitation to the general meeting. They are entitled to submit proposals and vote, directly or by proxy. Shareholders may also cast their vote electronically in a period before the general meeting.
Annual general meeting
For more information about the AGM and to access the archive of previous AGM meetings, follow the link below.
Corporate Audit & Investigation (CAI)
Corporate Audit & Investigation is the independent control body of the company with responsibility for monitoring that the business is continuously subject to adequate management and control as well as operated in an efficient and appropriate manner.
Corporate Audit & Investigation is responsible for all internal auditing within the Equinor group and also audits of partnerships, contracts counterparts and other entities dependent on contractual audit rights.
Corporate Audit & Investigation’s main responsibilities are:
- Establish risk-based annual audit plans
- Planning, accomplishment and communication of audits
- Provide consulting services related to management and control
- Conduct accident and misconduct investigations
- Prepare quarterly reports for executive committee and the board’s audit committee
- Examine compliance with Equinor’s code of ethics and anti-corruption laws and regulations
- Perform audit activities in order to generally accommodate prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities
The Chief Audit Executive of Corporate Audit & Investigation:
- is directly subordinated to the board of directors and the chief executive officer
- acts as secretary for the audit committees of the board of directors
- participates in executive committee’s ethics committee meetings