Siemens 2013 Annual Report Download - page 107

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Peter Y. Solmssen will resign from the Managing Board on December 31, 2013. Mr. Solmssen
joined Siemens at a difficult time and played a key role in investigating the compliance
affair at our Company. By establishing a strong compliance organization, he performed
a major service and made important contributions to steering Siemens through a chal-
lenging phase and restoring its good reputation. We thanked Mr. Solmssen for these
achievements.
There were also changes in the composition of the Supervisory Board due, in particular,
to the scheduled new election of Supervisory Board members at the Annual Shareholders’
Meeting on January 23, 2013. Following the expiration of the Supervisory Board’s five-year
term of office, shareholder representatives Jean-Louis Beffa, Håkan Samuelsson and Lord
Iain Vallance of Tummel, and employee representative Walter Mönius left the Supervisory
Board. We thanked the departing members for their professional commitment and their
contributions to the Company’s success. The Annual Shareholders’ Meeting elected Gérard
Mestrallet, Güler Sabancı and Werner Wenning to serve as new shareholder representa-
tives on the Supervisory Board. Robert Kensbock was elected to serve as a new employee
representative on the Supervisory Board in accordance with the provisions of the German
Codetermination Act. In addition, Dr. Josef Ackermann left the Supervisory Board at his
own request at the end of September 30, 2013, following many years of service. The Super-
visory Board expressed its gratitude to Dr. Ackermann for his service and commitment
to Siemens. Dr. Ackermann was succeeded by Jim Hagemann Snabe, whose initial appoint-
ment is by court order. Mr. Snabe will stand for election by the shareholders at the Annual
Shareholders’ Meeting in January 2014. At our meeting on September 18, 2013, we elected
Werner Wenning to succeed Dr. Ackermann as Second Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory
Board, effective October 1, 2013.
In fiscal 2013, the Supervisory Board engaged in particularly intensive deliberations con-
cerning the delays relating to grid connections for wind farms in the North Sea, the delayed
delivery of ICE trains to Deutsche Bahn, business developments that were below expecta-
tions and the retraction of the targets defined by the Siemens 2014 program. It is now vital
to master the challenges associated with our major projects step-by-step and to imple-
ment the Siemens 2014 program in such a way that the measures initiated will have a long-
term impact and enable the Company to narrow the gap to its competitors and achieve a
sustainable increase in profitability. In this connection, the Company will focus even more
intensively on the technological trends of the future – trends like digitization, software
and IT. The Company’s long-term development must be oriented toward profitable, capital-
efficient growth and the expansion of our technology leadership in key businesses. This is
the only way to create sustainable value for our employees and shareholders.
In fiscal 2013, the Supervisory Board performed with great diligence the duties assigned
to it by law, the Siemens Articles of Association and the Bylaws for the Supervisory Board.
We regularly advised the Managing Board on the management of the Company and moni-
tored the Managing Board’s activities. We were directly involved in all major decisions
regarding the Company at an early stage. In written and oral reports, the Managing Board
regularly provided us with timely and comprehensive information on Company planning
and business operations as well as on the strategic development and current state of
the Company. On the basis of reports submitted by the Managing Board, we considered
in detail business development and all decisions and transactions of major significance
to the Company. Deviations from business plans were explained to us in detail and inten-
sively discussed. The Managing Board coordinated the Company’s strategic orientation
with us. The proposals made by the Managing Board were approved after in-depth exam-
ination and consultation. In my capacity as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, I was also
in regular contact with the Managing Board and was kept up-to-date on current develop-
ments in the Company’s business situation and on key business transactions. At separate
strategy meetings, I discussed with the Managing Board the prospects for and the future
orientation of individual businesses at the Company.