Siemens 2007 Annual Report Download - page 8

8 Report of the Supervisory Board
At its meeting on December 11, 2006, the Audit Committee – in connection with the legal proceed-
ings relating to allegations of embezzlement, bribery and tax evasion on the part of former and
current employees – retained the law fi rm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP to:
¢ clarify the circumstances relating to allegations of criminal activity at the Communications Group
(Com), which has since been dissolved
¢ analyze the implications of current fi ndings for the effi ciency of the Company’s compliance system
and its internal control system and
¢ investigate whether similar situations have arisen at any other Siemens Group.
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP has also commissioned the independent auditors Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
to support it in the examination of Siemens’ control systems by providing forensic accounting experts.
At the suggestion of the Corporate Executive Committee, the Audit Committee appointed the inter-
nationally recognized expert Michael J. Hershman as Siemens’ compliance advisor.
On April 25, 2007, the Supervisory Board decided to transfer responsibility for compliance-related
matters from the Audit Committee to the newly created Compliance Committee. For the remainder of
the current internal investigations, the Compliance Committee will deal with the following matters on
behalf of the Supervisory Board: overseeing the ongoing compliance-related investigations, process-
ing reports by the law fi rm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP on its independent investigation and review of
Siemens’ internal compliance and control systems, and monitoring compliance with legal and regula-
tory requirements and Company guidelines.
The committee chairmen reported on the work of their committees on a regular basis at the plenary
meetings.
Main topics at the plenary meetings
Regular topics of discussion at the Supervisory Board’s plenary meetings were revenue, income and
employment development at Siemens AG, at the Groups and at Siemens worldwide as well as the
Company’s main investment and divestment projects. The Managing Board reported regularly and
comprehensively on Company planning and the strategic development, business operations and
current state of the Company. Compliance-related measures and the future structure of business
operations at Siemens AG were discussed at several meetings. Decisions were also made regarding
the composition of the Managing Board.
At our meeting on November 8, 2006, we received a report on business development in fi scal 2006
and approved the dividend proposal for 2007. At our meeting on December 11, 2006, we primarily
discussed the fi nancial statements and MD&A of Siemens AG and Siemens worldwide as of September
30, 2006 as well as Company planning for fi scal 2007. In light of recent developments, we also dis-
cussed in detail the background and status of the investigations relating to allegations of embezzle-
ment, bribery and tax evasion on the part of former and current employees. In this connection, the
Supervisory Board expressed its unconditional support for the measures introduced by the Audit Com-
mittee. At an executive session held during the December meeting, the effi ciency of the Supervisory
Board’s work was evaluated by its members.