The story of Tom Vasterd

In November 2020, I began in the role of Ethics and Compliance Officer. I took over the position from Jan Tiddo Bresters and have been entrusted with further developing the worldwide compliance programme. As a lawyer and certified Ethics and Compliance professional at Witteveen+Bos, I was already providing advice on wide-ranging national and international legal matters, including compliance. So the transition to my new role was very natural.

At the moment, the most important topics are information security, privacy, anti-corruption policy and fair competition. Although we’ve made significant progress in our compliance programme at Witteveen+Bos in recent years, there’s still more to be done. It’s my ambition to get us to a point where we see Ethics and Compliance as an asset – one that offers added value to us, our business relations and society. What helps at our organisation is that, even though we have a global presence, we’re still kind of a family business in which setting a good example can make a real difference. A culture exists in which employees are listened to and supported when dilemmas relating to Ethics and Compliance arise. But compliance and people’s awareness of it require constant maintenance. We achieve that by keeping the lines of communication open – and also, for instance, through e-learning modules, a range of training courses, and dilemma sessions.

My involvement with the Netherlands’ International Chamber of Commerce ensures that I keep up to date with all national and international developments in compliance regulations and legislation. As well as providing input based on our knowledge and experience, my involvement gives me the chance to learn from others too. This helps me implement our field’s best practice in the activities of Witteveen+Bos worldwide. It’s a never-ending process, keeping Ethics and Compliance in the minds of all employees and business relations, monitoring the integrity and compliance of the organisation and alerting it to potential risks to its reputation or integrity. To achieve this, we rely on each other.