Siemens 2008 Annual Report Download - page 120

24 Corporate Governance Report
Stock ownership by members of the Managing and Supervisory Boards
At October 13, 2008, the Managing Board members serving on the board during the scal year held a total of
382,903 (2007: 468,410) Siemens shares as well as stock options on Siemens shares, representing 0.04 (2007:
0.05) percent of the capital stock of Siemens AG.
At the same day, members of the Supervisory Board serving on the board during the scal year held a total of
5,492 (2007: 89,580) Siemens shares as well as stock options on Siemens shares, representing 0.0006 (2007:
0.01) percent of the capital stock of Siemens AG.
These gures do not include 8,895,939 (2007: 9,904,856) shares, or 0.97 (2007: 1.08) percent of the capital
stock, that are held by the von Siemens-Vermögensverwaltung GmbH (vSV) – a German limited liability entity
that functions much like a trust – and 36,728,783 (2007: 24,673,050) shares, or some 4.02 (2007: 2.7) percent
of the capital stock, over which the vSV has voting control under a power of attorney. Mr. Gerd von Brandenstein
is authorized to vote these shares as a representative of the founder’s family.
Shareholder relations
Four times each year, Siemens AG reports to its shareholders regarding its business development, nancial posi-
tion and earnings. An ordinary Annual Shareholders’ Meeting normally takes place within the rst four months
of each scal year. The Managing Board facilitates shareholder participation in the meeting through electronic
communications – in particular the Internet – and enables shareholders who are unable to attend the meeting
to vote by proxy.
Among other things, the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting decides on the appropriation of net income, ratication
of the acts of the Managing and Supervisory Boards, and the appointment of the independent auditors. Amend-
ments to the Articles of Association and measures which change the Company’s capital stock are approved exclu-
sively at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting and are implemented by the Managing Board. Shareholders may
submit counterproposals to the proposals of the Managing and Supervisory Boards and may contest decisions
of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. Shareholders owning Siemens stock with an aggregate notional value of
€100,000 or more may also demand the appointment of special auditors to examine specic occurrences.
As part of our investor relations activities, the CEO, the CFO and other members of the Managing Board and
individual members of the Sectors’ and Cross-Sector Businesses’ managements meet regularly with analysts and
institutional investors. We hold a conference for analysts at least once a year, as well as telephone conferences
with analysts upon the publication of our quarterly results.
Corporate governance guidelines
Our Articles of Association, the Bylaws for the Supervisory Board and those of its most important committees,
the Bylaws for the Managing Board, all declarations of conformity, the report on our fulllment of the require-
ments of the Code, and various other documents pertaining to our corporate governance may be found on our
Internet website at www.siemens.com/corporate_governance.