Tops vs. Flops
Tops vs. Flops

Adler Group: How trustworthy is the Board of Directors?

After Wirecard and Grenke, shortseller Fraser Perring is taking aim at the real estate group Adler Group. We have therefore taken a look at the controllers of the S-Dax company. Let’s start with self-criticism: We addressed the serious weaknesses of the Wirecard Supervisory Board early on, but were too quick to be satisfied after several new appointments. The subsequent scandal therefore made us realise that good Supervisory Board members do …

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Tops vs. Flops

HelloFresh & Zalando – who has the better supervisory board?

High female quotas, successful digital entrepreneurs, few conflicts of interest: the young Dax newcomers also differ from the top dogs at supervisory board level. Emulation is encouraged. Those looking for an interesting supervisory board will also find what they are looking for at Zalando: Chief controller Cristina Stenbeck has not only gathered four other women around her, which corresponds to a female quota of 55 percent. In addition, Niklas Östberg …

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Tops vs. Flops

Baerbock, Röttgen, Merz – Jamaica danger for your China business

The CDU/CSU and the Greens are unanimously pushing for a tougher course against Beijing. This entails high risks for companies, but many managers underestimate the danger – a case for the supervisory boards. Annalena Baerbock and Friedrich Merz are worlds apart, but they both agree on one thing: Germany must change course in its China policy after the Merkel era. Baerbock speaks of more “toughness”, Merz of a more resolute …

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deutsche bank
Tops vs. Flops

Paul Achleitner’s coup in succession planning

Ex-investment banker Mayree Clark decides who will be the new head of Deutsche Bank’s supervisory board. Why she will make a good choice Identifying companies with the best supervisory boards and management boards: That was the approach of the fund initiator Eachwin Capital, which Mayree Clark founded after her investment banking career. So the American has a soft spot for corporate governance – and that should now benefit Deutsche Bank. …

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Tops vs. Flops

Katja Kraus vs. Gianni Infantino: The Governance Battle in Professional Football

Whether clubs or associations: When it comes to corporate governance, professional football is lagging far behind, as the European Championship has once again revealed. It’s good that experts are now putting the pressure on In the wake of the European Championship, we have been discussing football more often than usual in recent weeks. And there have also been exciting topics beyond results, performances and tactical formations – for example with …

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ezb
Tops vs. Flops

Christine Lagarde vs. Christian Sewing: Women in the top echelons of banking!

The ECB is urging banks to increase diversity on their management and supervisory boards. Is this an expression of the bank supervisors’ excessive desire to exercise power and influence? Dear conspiracy mystics and prophets of doom, you can get out right now. No blanket ECB bashing here. No whining that President Christine Lagarde is purposefully expropriating savers. And certainly no whispering that central banks are tools of “elites” with a …

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Tops vs. Flops

Tim Ford vs. Martin Brudermüller – The Great China Dilemma

Why European companies could be targeted by Beijing’s autocrats after the G7 summit – and what supervisory boards and management boards can learn from an Australian wine merchant. US President Joe Biden forged a Democratic alliance against China at the weekend. Decision-makers should therefore urgently look into Tim Ford. Because the CEO of the Australian Treasury Wine Estates beverage group is already facing sanctions: China imposed punitive tariffs on wine …

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ExxonMobile
Tops vs. Flops

Engine vs. ExxonMobile: profit activists with green coats

The success of a hedge fund against ExxonMobile is a milestone for climate protection. At the same time, however, the case raises an important question: How sustainable do activist investors really thank? Chris James and Charles Penner made corporate governance history on Wednesday: At a dramatic shareholder meeting, they prevailed over ExxonMobile management. Shareholders elected two candidates nominated by their Engine No. 1 fund to the oil company’s 12-member board. …

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value
Tops vs. Flops

Fresenius vs. Siemens: Fighting shareholders or qualifying employees?

Paying record dividends in the Corona crisis is at best instinctless – and at worst an expression of a dangerous corporate culture. Fresenius shareholders are in for a windfall: After the annual general meeting on May 21, the company plans to distribute a record dividend. At the same time, however, according to a report in DIE ZEIT, CEO Stephan Sturm recently announced staff cuts at the hospital subsidiary Helios “in …

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Tops vs. Flops

Junker, Pöllath, Reitzle: Why the time is ripe

Too old? No, but too long at the helm. Which supervisory board heads should let go. Sometimes different reports have more in common than they seem at first glance. For example, the departure of Beiersdorf CEO Stefan De Loecker and the high loss of the automotive supplier Mahle, both announced this week. For those who read on after the respective core information came across an astonishing parallel: the role of …

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Tops vs. Flops

Ebeling, Nikutta & Co.: Why supervisory boards need psychologists

Chief controllers on the couch? That may be appropriate in individual cases. But it is crucial that they bring psychological expertise onto the board. Bonuses impair intrinsic motivation and the moral compass. Rigid targets are detrimental to creativity. And no: people are by no means inherently selfish. These are three scientific findings that psychologists and sociologists now regard as certain. Nevertheless, governance structures, compliance systems and manager salaries are still …

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Vertragsabschluss
Tops vs. Flops

Matthias Hünlein vs. Hasso Plattner: Fighting CEOs, weakening team spirit?

The new salary caps for CEOs leave room for excess. Which supervisory boards are keeping a sense of proportion, why mega-salaries are a high business risk. In future, supervisory boards will have to define upper limits for the salaries of their board members. Some have already done so, others are content for the time being to state the best achievable sum in the annual report. But it is already clear: …

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