Nachrichten aus der Corporate Governance Szene
At Deutsche Bank’s Annual General Meeting on May 19, the long-time head of the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund will stand for election to the Supervisory Board: Yngve Slyngstad is to replace former Google security chief Gerhard Eschelbeck, who is stepping down after five years. The 59-year-old Norwegian led the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund for 13 years, where he focused on high ESG standards at an early stage. His nomination …
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Yes, you read that correctly. We would like to see more politicians on supervisory boards, even though up to now we have been calling almost mantra-like for “professionals” to be appointed instead. A 180-degree turnaround? Only at first glance. Putin’s brutal war of aggression in Ukraine is a shocking reminder that the geopolitical risks for companies have increased significantly. Many executive and supervisory boards now have to make painful decisions: …
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Interesting personnel development in Gütersloh: On January 1, Airbus CFO Dominik Asam will join Bertelsmann’s Supervisory Board, the company announced. The mechanical engineering graduate will not replace anyone there: Bertelsmann is increasing the supervisory body 13 to 14 members. The 52-year-old newcomer Asam will meet numerous experienced managers in Gütersloh, including Deutsche Bank board member Bernd Leukert, VW supervisory board chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch and Bodo Uebber. Two years on …
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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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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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Dear GermanBoardNews readers, the sun has rediscovered Germany, Corona incidence values are falling and falling, the DAX is rising and rising – and Deutsche Bank continues to make corporate governance headlines. We read, for example, that the ECB has become involved in Paul Achleitner’s succession planning. Is it allowed to do that? As we have learned from the scandals surrounding Wirecard & Co, Bafin is responsible for supervising the German …
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Dear readers of GermanBoardNews, the AGM season has not yet really taken off – and yet we are already seeing some headlines that invite us to reflect. Deutsche Bank and Daimler – despite Corona – are reporting surprisingly high profits for 2020. And Deutsche Bank has another headline to its credit: The ECB is putting a damper on the bank’s bonus plans, the FAZ reported a few days ago. Other …
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The Association of Supervisory Boards in Germany (VARD) has some time ago an own diversity ranking of the Dax supervisory boards presented. The idea behind this was that diversity is much more than the quota of women: it is about different ways of thinking, perspectives and networks. Therefore, one of the criteria of the ranking was the diversity of demonstrable relationships: Which committees are dominated by supervisory boards that are …
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We have to talk about manager salaries again. Because the news of the last two weeks has impressively illustrated how much is still in a mess. Thus, despite billions in losses, the board members of Dieter Zetsche are entitled to millions in bonuses – and are desperately trying to spare the supervisory board around Paul Achleitner from criticism. However, their voluntary partial waiver is “not a laudable insight, but an …
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The Bayer Supervisory Board got away with a black eye at last week’s Annual Stockholders’ Meeting: Unlike the Executive Board, the supervisors were discharged – but only by a two-thirds majority. This can be seen as a clear lesson for Supervisory Board Chairman Werner Wenning. According to Handelsblatt, “at least one major shareholder” of Deutsche Bank is playing with the idea of not ratifying the actions of the Supervisory Board …
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For his proposal to pursue a more active industrial policy and promote “European champions”, Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) had to put up with criticism from regulators. However, two of his colleagues in the cabinet have long been acting as if politicians were better entrepreneurs: Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) seems to see himself at Deutsche Bahn as a kind of super-supervisory board that can set guard rails without …
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A current study by the management consultancy Strategy& reveals worrying facts: Germany’s CEOs are staying on board for ever shorter periods of time. In 2017 alone, 24 of the 300 largest companies changed their CEO – more than in five years. The average”length of stay” has thus fallen to 5.1 years (international average: seven years). The main reason: Germany’s leaders often have to leave early – according to the study, …
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