Corporate Governance

Because our corporate headquarters are in Germany, the formal structure of our corporate governance has on the one hand been defined for us by German law. On the other hand, we also need to comply with the additional requirements placed on us, for example, by the fact that we are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The powers of the three corporate organs — the General Meeting, the Board of Management, and the Supervisory Board — are defined by law. The dual management system mandated by German corporation law is characterized by a strict separation between the management organ (the Board of Management) and the supervisory organ (the Supervisory Board) (see diagram).