Our group is headed by GeoPark Limited, a company incorporated in Bermuda and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Its legal and regulatory framework is governed by local law, regulations of the NYSE, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), establishing reporting, compliance and internal control guidelines.
The mission of the Board of Directors and the Management Team is to promote and protect a culture based on collaboration and the development of all our employees. With the same conviction, they seek to lead the Company sustainably in accordance with environmental, social and corporate governance practices that allow GeoPark to achieve its long-term objectives through a clear business plan and awareness of the risks inherent to the industry.
In 2020 the Board of Directors adopted corporate governance measures to increase its levels of independence and improve its governance practices and processes. It also updated the bylaws of each of its committees, created the Risk Committee, reviewed the composition of each committee, and appointed Sylvia Escovar and Somit Varma as independent directors.
Together with the Management Team, the Board supervised sustainability management and health and safety training, as well as the relationship between operations and the social environment and our neighbors through environmental, social and human capital development indicators.
GeoPark shareholders annually elect the members of the Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting convened according to the Company’s Bylaws and the criteria defined for the nomination and election of directors.
The fundamental directive of the Board of Directors is to maintain and continuously enhance corporate governance structures and processes to meet the Company’s objectives. In doing so it always acts within the framework of the Bylaws and the Corporate Governance Guidelines, approved at end-2020 and according to which the Board is responsible for establishing GeoPark’s strategic goals, including the establishment and monitoring of environmental, social and corporate governance goals.
It must also review and approve Financial Statements, supervise the control and risk mitigation systems of the financial report, review the Company’s ethical values, supervise compliance with the Code of Ethics, and define and approve the remuneration and succession plan of key members of the Company’s Management Team and of the Board of Directors itself.
The Board of Directors has established four committees that define guidelines and recommendations for the proper implementation of its resolutions. They are the Audit, Compensation, Nomination and Corporate Governance, and Risk Committees, the latter of which was constituted in November 2020.