The following information is provided for the Syensqo UK Group for the year ended 31 December 2023 in compliance with the requirements of paragraph 19(2), Schedule 19 Finance Act 2016. The publication of this tax strategy is regarded as complying with the Group’s duty under paragraph 16(2), Schedule 19 Finance Act 2016.
Tax Governance
Syensqo is committed to the highest governance principles and promotes a sustainable culture of long-term value creation. Fulfilment of the Group’s tax obligations is key for the reputation and reliability of Syensqo.
Syensqo closely follows international tax developments, including international case law, discussions about the taxation of multinational enterprises, and publications by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and other organisations. Syensqo’s objective is to be fully compliant with national and international tax legislation, including the Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations issued by the OECD (“OECD Guidelines”)
Syensqo’s tax team of skilled tax experts ensure compliance with the group’s policies and procedures. The Global Tax Director reports to the Group Controller. The Group also takes external advice if and when needed, for example benchmarking analysis to support transfer pricing arrangements.
Relationship with tax authorities
Syensqo facilitates an open and positive dialogue with tax authorities. Where appropriate, the group may enter into Advance Pricing Agreements to ensure upfront clarity and eliminate uncertainty about the tax implications of certain potential positions.
Transfer Pricing
In line with the OECD Guidelines, tax laws in all major countries worldwide require that prices of “controlled transactions” (i.e. transactions between related parties) shall be “arms-length”. Accordingly, Syensqo has developed Transfer Pricing Policies & Procedures based upon the OECD Guidelines. These Transfer Pricing policies are prepared annually for each Group legal entity that requires such documentation.
Syensqo UK operations
Syensqo has substantial presence in the United Kingdom, which makes a significant contribution to the UK Exchequer in relation to taxes e.g. tax and national insurance contributions on benefits/expenses, employer national insurance contributions, duties, and taxes collected on behalf of other businesses and employees in respect of VAT, income tax and employee national insurance contributions.
Syensqo UK has a team of professionally qualified and experienced employees. The UK entities comply with the Senior Accounting Officer (SAO) requirements. Compliance is further supported by Internal Audit department reviews. The UK legal entities publish externally audited financial statements which reflect the tax position of Syensqo’s UK operations.
As part of doing business in the UK, the group has tax losses which originate from operational activities in the past and from contributions to pension funds to reduce pension deficits. As a result, Syensqo is estimating that it will not have any corporate income tax obligations in 2023. UK entities benefit from claiming R&D tax credits and from other tax incentives and exemptions. The attitude of the group towards tax operations so far as affecting UK taxation is to ensure that the group meets its taxation obligations.
The acceptable level of risk in relation to UK taxation is consistent with the group’s tax policies and procedures and its approach to tax. Syensqo carries out effective risk management and seeks external tax advice in areas of tax uncertainty or complex matters in order to meet its tax obligations.
Syensqo’s UK entities are transparent in their dealings with HMRC, fully cooperate with any enquiries in relation to all taxes and ensure any inadvertent errors are fully disclosed to HMRC as soon as reasonably practicable after being identified.
In March 2022, Solvay Group announced plans to separate the group into two independent publicly traded companies. EssentialCo would comprise leading mono-technology businesses including Soda Ash, Peroxides, Silica and Coatis, which are reported as the Company’s Chemicals segment, as well as the Special Chem business. SpecialtyCo would comprise the Company’s currently reported Materials segment, including its high-growth, high-margin Specialty Polymers, its high-performance Composites business, as well as the majority of its Solutions segment, including Novecare, Technology Solutions, Aroma Performance, and Oil & Gas. In the context of the proposed split, the SOLVAY name is maintained for EssentialCo, a leader in essential chemistry while SYENSQO becomes the new name of SpecialtyCo, which will explore the future of science.
Solvay SA/NV held its Extraordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting in Brussels on 8 December 2023 where the partial demerger was approved by the shareholders. The separation of Solvay into two independent companies, the new Solvay and Syensqo, was confirmed and became effective at midnight on this date.
Background
This statement is made on behalf of the UK subsidiaries of Syensqo S.A. of Belgium (‘Syensqo’) for the financial year ending 31 December 2023. This includes: Cytec Engineered Materials Ltd (02851421); Solvay Solutions UK Ltd (00036833); and Oldbury Energy Solutions (UK) Ltd (13535021).
This statement is made under the provisions of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the ‘Act’) and with reference to the guidelines issued from time to time by the Home Office. It sets forth steps taken by Syensqo during the financial year to minimise the risk of any slavery or human trafficking, (together, ‘Modern Slavery’) taking place in any part of its business or in any of its supply chains. Modern Slavery encompasses slavery, servitude, human trafficking and forced labour.
Syensqo is strongly committed to ethical behaviour, sustainable development and responsible care in order to respond as a corporate citizen to the major challenges facing society and the communities in which Syensqo operates.
Our commitment to combatting Modern Slavery
Syensqo is committed to acting ethically, and to maintaining a fair and honest business environment for its employees, customers, suppliers and the public in general. This includes a commitment to respecting and supporting human rights with regard to its employees, the communities in which it operates and its business partners as expressed in the internationally recognized standards, many of which are referenced in Syensqo’s policies. Syensqo operates a number of initiatives to combat Modern Slavery which are further explained below.
The Syensqo Code of Business Integrity explains the manner in which Syensqo behaves as an organisation and how all employees are expected to act wherever Syensqo operates or conducts its business. The Syensqo Code of Business Integrity focuses on both integrity and ethics. Syensqo’s ‘Ethics and Integrity in Society as a Corporate Citizen’ firmly establishes Syensqo’s commitment to respect human rights and to respect internationally recognized human rights standards and conventions, including the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which Syensqo is a member signatory. The exclusion of child exploitation is explicitly recognized as a human rights standard applicable to Syensqo’s operations and in its value chain. Syensqo does not tolerate the employment of children or forced labour and will take counter-measures to prevent human and/or sex trafficking. Syensqo expects and requires that all of its business partners will respect and support these fundamental principles in the same manner.
As signatory to the Global Framework Agreement with the IndustriALL Global Union, Syensqo further commits to safeguard human rights by respecting international social standards as defined by the International Labour Organization, to comply with the principles of the United Nations Global Compact and to respect the OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Syensqo’s commitment to human rights is also underlined in the Human Rights Policy which incorporates well-known internationally recognized standards as the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Syensqo is committed to creating stable and reliable relationships with its suppliers based on shared values. Syensqo has adopted a Supplier Code of Business Integrity which requires the written commitment of its suppliers to follow the Syensqo Code of Business Integrity or to abide by their own code of conduct, on the condition that it provides the same guarantees as the Supplier Code of Business Integrity, as Syensqo is determined to work only with suppliers who are engaged with similar ethical principles, including those to combat Modern Slavery.
Syensqo is a member of Together for Sustainability (TfS), a global procurement-driven initiative that improves the sustainability performance of chemical companies and their suppliers. The TfS program is based on the UN Global Compact and Responsible Care® principles. To foster sustainable and resilient chemical supply chains, TfS’s core offer includes assessments and audits that measure suppliers’ performance in key areas, such as environmental, labor and human rights, and ethical and sustainable procurement. TfS assessments are carried out by the initiative’s key partner EcoVadis, a global service provider specialized in sustainability performance assessments.
Syensqo conducts its business with an established approach to corporate social responsibility and sustainability through its Syensqo One Planet initiative which is inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Syensqo is aligned with the ISO 26000 standard, which, amongst others, includes the elimination of child labour and forced labour as recognized basic human rights and highlights Syensqo’s drive for continuous improvement in its corporate social responsibility.
To further improve the efficiency of its compliance management system, Syensqo operates a whistleblowing platform called ‘Speak Up’ to allow employees to raise concerns about how colleagues are being treated or practices within the business or supply chain, or any observed or suspected violations of the law or of Syensqo’s policies. Such reports are wholly confidential and any employee who makes a report in good faith will be protected from retaliation. Mandatory awareness and training campaigns regarding applicable legal rules and the policies in force in the Syensqo Group, including topics such as human rights, are deployed for all employees.
Syensqo endeavours to comply with all laws and regulations in effect in the jurisdictions in which it operates and to go beyond legal compliance when needed to meet the high ethical and moral standards reflected in our commitment to combatting modern slavery and human trafficking and in our commitment to corporate social responsibility.
Ben Moore
Country County Director
10th June 2024
Modern Slavery Statement (Print Versions)
Cytec Engineered Materials Ltd’s Gender Pay Gap Statement
At Cytec Engineered Materials Ltd (“CEM”), we are confident that our male and female employees who work in the same or similar jobs are paid equally. For the year 2023, we do have a mean pay gap of -15.4% for reasons set out below.
Figures for 2023 show that we have an average gender pay gap of -15.4%. This means that the average hourly rate is 15.4% higher for women. In context, this is partly related to the smaller number of women working at CEM (82) compared to men (433). The highest paid employee this year at CEM was male, as was the lowest paid employee. 24.8% of the highest paid roles at CEM were occupied by women and 38% of all women were in this top pay quartile.
Manufacturing has been a historically male-dominated industry, and this is reflected in the make-up of the business, as significantly more men are employed at CEM than women. However, women are represented at every pay quartile, highlighting that both genders have the opportunity to occupy various roles and responsibilities at CEM. The majority of women in CEM are employed at management level and this has led to the gender pay gap being in favour of women.
As a company, we remain committed to promoting careers within manufacturing to both males and females, and to evaluating individual job applicants solely on their merits without any regard to sexuality, race, age, gender identification and religion.
From children looking to the future, to adults well-established in their careers, CEM recognises that equality of opportunity for all genders is vital, and a worthwhile task.
Cytec Engineered Materials Ltd’s Gender Pay Gap Statistics
The mean gender pay gap in hourly pay is -15.4%
The median gender pay gap in hourly pay is -30.5%
The mean bonus gender pay gap is -56.7%
The medium bonus gender pay gap is -362.6%
The proportion of males and females receiving a bonus payment is: Male 78.3% and Female 73.2%
The proportion of males and females in each pay quartile:
Upper Quartile
Men 75.2%
Women 24.8%
Upper Middle Quartile
Men 76.0%
Women 24.0%
Lower Middle Quartile
Men 92.0%
Women 8.0%
Lower Quartile
Men 92.9%
Women 7.1%
Ben Moore
Director
2 April 2024