Policy for the Nomination of Candidates for Directors, etc.

In order for the Board to objectively and multi-dimensionally deliberate on management policies and execution of specific matters, and to appropriately supervise the execution status of operation by Executive Officers, it shall be important that the appropriate number of Directors, internal or outside, with diversity in terms of knowledge, experience, expertise and background, engage in vigorous discussions from a variety of perspectives. To this end, candidates for Directors shall be nominated.

In accordance with the above nomination policy, the independence and diversity of the Board shall be ensured as follows.

In order to strengthen the supervisory function of the Board, the majority of Board members shall be Outside Directors. Furthermore, in order to fulfill their duties from an independent and objective standpoint, at least one-third of the Directors shall be Independent Directors, and consideration shall be given to their total term of office. In addition, the majority of the Nomination, Compensation, and Audit Committees, respectively, shall be Outside Directors, and in principle, the chairperson of each committee shall be an Outside Director.

Outside Directors shall be nominated based on their diverse knowledge, experience, and expertise, which cannot be obtained from Internal Directors alone, for example, specialists in law, accounting, finance, etc., persons with management experience at global companies above a certain size, and persons with a wealth of knowledge of world affairs or social and economic trends, etc. Importance shall be placed on their eagerness to devote the necessary time and efforts to understand the business of the Company as a group, and discuss the direction the Company as a group should take, and to express their opinions to the management without hesitation. In addition, the diversity of backgrounds such as gender, age, and internationality shall be also taken into account, as it shall be recognized that multiple perspectives contribute to business promotion and appropriate supervision and auditing.
As for Internal Directors, Executive Officer, President & CEO, and a person who can appropriately serve as a member of the Audit Committee based on his or her execution experience of operation at the Company shall be nominated.

It shall be ensured that the Board is composed of the number of people who can openly and constructively discuss and exchange opinions.