Audit and Risk<br>Committee

The Audit and Risk Committee assists the Board in fulfilling its oversight of the quality and integrity of the accounting, auditing, reporting, and financial control practices, as well as risk management of the Company.

The Audit and Risk Committee is responsible to review the following major matters:

  • Financial reports; 
  • Auditing and accounting policies and procedures; 
  • Internal control systems and related policies and procedures; 
  • Material asset or derivatives transactions; 
  • Material lending funds, endorsements or guarantees; 
  • Offering or issuance of any equity-type securities; 
  • Derivatives and cash investments; 
  • Legal compliance; 
  • Related-party transactions and potential conflicts of interests involving executive officers and directors; 
  • Ombudsman reports; 
  • Fraud prevention and investigation reports; 
  • Corporate information security; 
  • Corporate risk management; 
  • Performance, independence, qualification of independent auditor; 
  • Hiring or dismissal of an attesting CPA, or the compensation given thereto; 
  • Appointment or discharge of financial, accounting, or internal auditing officers; 
  • Assessment of Committee Charter and fulfillment of Audit and Risk Committee duties;
  • Self-assessment of the Committee's performance; and
  • Any other matters that shall be reviewed by the audit committee meeting as required by relevant laws and regulations or the Audit and Risk Committee Charter, or that are deemed to be material by the regulatory authorities.

Under R.O.C. law, the membership of audit committee shall consist of all independent Directors. TSMC's Audit and Risk Committee satisfies this statutory requirement. The Committee also engaged a financial expert consultant in accordance with the rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Audit and Risk Committee annually conducts self-evaluation to assess the Committee's performance and identify areas for further attention.

TSMC's Audit and Risk Committee is empowered by its Charter to conduct any study or investigation it deems appropriate to fulfill its responsibilities. It has direct access to TSMC's internal auditors, the Company's independent auditors, and all employees of the Company. The Committee is authorized to retain and oversee special legal, accounting, or other consultants as it deems appropriate to fulfill its mandate.

On February 14, 2023, the Board approved the renaming of “Audit Committee” to “Audit and Risk Committee”.

 

Audit and Risk Committee Members’ Professional Qualifications and Experiences

Please refer to Directors' Biographies.

 

Audit Committee Meeting Status in 2022

Tenures of the Audit Committee members are from July 26, 2021 to July 25, 2024. Sir Peter L. Bonfield, Chairman of the Audit Committee, convened four regular meetings in 2022. In addition to these meetings, he also convened one special meeting and three telephone conferences to discuss the Company’s Annual Report to be filed with the Taiwan and U.S. authorities and investor conference materials with management. The Committee members and consultant’s attendance status is shown in the following table.

Title Name Attendance in Person By Proxy Attendance Rate in Person (%) Telephone
Conferences
Attendance Rate of Telephone 
Conferences (%)
Notes
Chair

Sir Peter L. Bonfield

5 0 100% 3 100% None
Member Kok-Choo Chen 5 0 100% 3 100% None
Member Michael R. Splinter 5 0 100% 2 67% None
Member Moshe N. Gavrielov 5 0 100% 3 100% None
Member Yancey Hai 5 0 100% 3 100% None
Member L. Rafael Reif 3 2 60% 2 67% None
Financial Expert Consultant Jan C. Lobbezoo 5 0 100% 3 100% None

Annotations:
A.    (1) Resolutions related to Securities and Exchange Act §14-5:

Meeting Date Resolution
2022 1st Regular Meeting
February 14
  • 2021 annual financial statements
  • 2021 business report
  • 2021 fourth quarter earnings distribution
  • Amendments to TSMC’s “Procedures for Acquisition or Disposal of Assets”
  • Issuance of total 1,387,000 shares of 2021 employee restricted stock awards
  • Issuance of 2022 employee restricted stock awards
  • Ratification of the comfort letter service already provided for the 3.5 billion U.S. bond issuance by Deloitte
  • Additional 2022 service fees to Deloitte for TSMC Japan 3DIC R&D Center
  • 2021 Statement of Internal Control System
2022 1st Special Meeting
April 12
  • Amendments to the issuance of 2022 employee restricted stock awards
2022 2nd Regular Meeting
May 9
  • 2022 first quarter financial statements
  • 2022 first quarter business report
  • 2022 first quarter earnings distribution
  • Amendments to TSMC’s internal control related policies and procedures
2022 3rd Regular Meeting
August 8
  • 2022 second quarter financial statements
  • 2022 second quarter business report
  • 2022 second quarter earnings distribution
  • Ratification of TSMC’s security investments classified as non-current assets
  • Ratification of additional 2022 service fees and out-of-pocket expenses to Deloitte for Global Employee Stock Purchase Plan and TSMC Nanjing
  • The comfort letter service, and the additional service & service fee for the review of IFRS interim financial statements by Deloitte for the planned U.S. bond issuance
2022 4th Regular Meeting
November 7
  • 2022 third quarter financial statements
  • 2022 third quarter business report
  • 2022 third quarter earnings distribution
  • Mr. Jimmy Wu as the new engagement partner of Deloitte for TSMC starting from 2023, and 2023 service fees and out-of-pocket expenses for Deloitte

Independent directors’ objections, reservations or major suggestions: None.

Resolution of the Audit Committee and the Company’s response to the Audit Committee’s Opinion: The members of the Audit Committee unanimously approved all the resolutions, and the Board of Directors approved all such resolutions recommended by the Audit Committee.

  (2) There were no other resolutions which was not approved by the Audit Committee but was approved by two thirds or more of all directors in 2022.

B.    There were no recusals of independent directors due to conflicts of interests in 2022.

 

Descriptions of Independent Directors’ Communications with the Internal Auditors and the Independent Auditors in 2022

Independent Directors had respective communications with the Internal Auditors and the Independent Auditors on matters related to corporate finance and operation.

  1. The internal auditors have sent the audit reports to the members of the Audit Committee periodically and presented the findings of all audit reports in the quarterly meetings of the Audit Committee. The head of Internal Audit will immediately report to the members of the Audit Committee any material matters. During 2022, the head of Internal Audit did not report any such material matters. The communication channel between the Audit Committee and the internal auditor functioned well.
  2. The Company’s independent auditors have presented the findings of their quarterly review or audits on the Company’s financial results. Under applicable laws and regulations, the independent auditors are also required to immediately communicate to the Audit Committee any material matters that they have discovered. During 2022, the Company’s independent auditors did not report any irregularity. The communication channel between the Audit Committee and the independent auditors functioned well.

 

The Communications between the Independent Directors and the Internal Auditors or the Independent Auditors

Meeting Date Communications between the Independent Directors and the Internal Auditors Communications between the Independent Directors and the Independent Auditors
2022 1st Regular Meeting
February 14
  • Internal Auditor’s report (Closed Door Session)
  • Report on SOX 404 self-testing results for the year 2021 (Closed Door Session)
  • 2021 Statement of Internal Control System (Closed Door Session)
  • External auditor relationship (i.e. qualification, performance and independence) 
  • Report of regulatory developments
  • Any audit problems or difficulties and management’s response in connection with 2021 annual financial statements (Closed Door Session)
2022 2nd Regular Meeting
May 9
  • Internal Auditor’s report (Closed Door Session)
  • Amendments to TSMC’s internal control related policies and procedures (Closed Door Session)
  • The result of 2021 CPA evaluation questionnaire 
  • Report of regulatory developments 
  • Any review problems or difficulties and management’s response in connection with 2022 first quarter financial statements (Closed Door Session)
2022 3rd Regular Meeting
August 8
  • Internal Auditor’s report (Closed Door Session)
  • Report of regulatory developments 
  • Any review problems or difficulties and management’s response in connection with 2022 second quarter financial statements (Closed Door Session)
2022 4th Regular Meeting
November 7
  • Internal Auditor’s report (Closed Door Session)
  • 2023 internal audit plan (Closed Door Session)
  • Report of regulatory developments
  • Any review problems or difficulties and management’s response in connection with 2022 third quarter financial statements (Closed Door Session)

Result: all of the above matters were reviewed and/or approved by the Audit Committee whereupon independent directors raised no objection.

Board Committee Membership
Name Audit and Risk Committee Compensation and People
Development Committee
Nominating, Corporate Governance
and Sustainability Committee
Mark Liu (Chairman)       
Peter L. Bonfield (Independent Director)  (Chair)  
Kok-Choo Chen (Independent Director)  
Michael R. Splinter (Independent Director)  (Chair)  
Moshe N. Gavrielov (Independent Director)  (Chair)
Yancey Hai (Independent Director)  
Rafael Reif (Independent Director)  
Jan C. Lobbezoo Note (Financial Expert Consultant)    
Note: Jan C Lobbezoo was appointed to serve as financial expert consultant to TSMC Audit and Risk Committee from April 1, 2007. He currently serves on the Supervisory Board of a private owned investment company in the Netherlands; he is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Register Accountant education at the University of Maastricht. Jan C Lobbezoo worked at the Philips Group for approximately 36 years in various Finance and Control functions, in countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Scandinavian countries as well as The Netherlands. He served for over 11 years as CFO of Philips Semiconductors (now known as NXP) until 2005. Thereafter he became Executive Vice-President of Philips International until retirement in December 2006. He was Philips’ representative and served as a Director of TSMC Board between 1994 to March 2007. He holds a master degree in business economics from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands; where he also obtained an accounting degree as Register Accountant. He is a member of the Dutch Institute of Chartered Accountants (NBA).
Nominating, Corporate Governance and Sustainability Committee

In February 2023, TSMC Board of Directors approved the establishment of the Nominating, Corporate Governance and Sustainability Committee. The Nominating, Corporate Governance and Sustainability Committee assists the Board in strengthening the selection mechanism for directors, building diversified and professional board, selecting candidates for nomination to be elected as independent directors to the Board, and advising on corporate governance and sustainability matters.

According to TSMC’s Nominating, Corporate Governance and Sustainability Committee, the Committee shall be composed of the Chairman of the Board and three to six independent directors. Currently, the Committee consists of the Chairman of the Board and all six independent Directors.

The Nominating, Corporate Governance and Sustainability Committee is authorized by its Charter to hire independent legal, financial and other advisors as it may deem necessary to fulfill its responsibilities.

Compensation and People Development Committee

The Compensation and People Development Committee assists the Board in discharging its responsibilities related to TSMC’s compensation and benefits policies, plans and programs, in the evaluation and compensation of TSMC’s directors of the Board and executives, and the review of the Company’s succession plan for senior executives.

Under R.O.C. law, the members of the compensation committee shall be appointed by the Board. According to TSMC’s Compensation and People Development Committee Charter, the Committee shall consist of no fewer than three independent directors of the Board. Currently, TSMC's Compensation and People Development Committee is comprised of all six independent directors. The Chairman of the Board and the Chief Executive Officer are invited by the Committee to attend all meetings and are excused from the Committee’s discussion of their own compensation.

TSMC’s Compensation and People Development Committee is authorized by its Charter to retain an independent consultant to assist in the evaluation of CEO or executive officer compensation.

On February 14, 2023, the Board approved the renaming of “Compensation Committee” to “Compensation and People Development Committee”. 

 

Compensation Committee Meeting Status in 2022

Tenures of the Compensation Committee members are from July 26, 2021 to July 25, 2024. Mr. Michael R. Splinter, Chairman of the Compensation Committee, convened four regular meetings and one special meeting in 2022. Committee member attendance is as follows.

Title Name Attendance in Person By Proxy Attendance Rate in Person (%) Notes
Chair Michael R. Splinter 5 0 100% None
Member Sir Peter L. Bonfield 5 0 100% None
Member Kok-Choo Chen 5 0 100% None
Member Moshe N. Gavrielov 5 0 100% None
Member Yancey Hai 5 0 100% None
Member L. Rafael Reif 4 1 80% None

Annotations:
A. In 2022, the Compensation Committee conducted four regular meetings on February 14, May 9, August 8 as well as November 7.  The Committee also conducted one special meeting on April 12.  The discussion items were as follows:

  • Report on matters related to employee compensation
  • Total amount of quarterly business performance bonus
  • Total amount of annual profit sharing
  • The amount of quarterly business performance bonus for executive officers, CEO and Chairman
  • The annual compensation of directors and executive officers, and the disclosure of same in the Annual Report
  • Grant of Employee restricted stock awards for 2021
  • Employee restricted stock awards rules for 2022
  • Global Employee Stock Purchase Plan
  • Organization and Succession Discussion

     All of the above matters were reviewed and/or approved by the Compensation Committee.

B. The Board of Directors adopted all recommendations of the Compensation Committee without modification.

C. There were no written or otherwise recorded resolutions on which any member of the Compensation Committee had an objection or reservation opinion.

 

Chairman, CEO, and Executive Officers’ Shareholding Requirements

TSMC believes that the long-term ownership of Company shares by corporate officers helps align their interests with those of all shareholders, therefore, the Company formulated Corporate Officer Shareholding Guidelines in 2020. The required value for Chairman, CEO, and other corporate officers’ holding of TSMC shares is proportional to their annual base salary: 18 times for Chairman and CEO, 9 times for other officers in Taiwan, and 3 times for overseas officers. Officers shall fulfill the required value within 3 years of appointment and maintain the required value for the entire period of employment.