Statement on Corporate Governance 2019
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STATEMENT ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 12 March 2020 Good corporate governance – acting in accordance model tables will now be complied with for the financial with the principles of responsible management aimed year 2019. at increasing the value of the business on a sustainable 3. In future, BMW AG will comply with all the recom- basis – is an essential requirement for the BMW Group mendations published officially in the Federal Gazette and embraces every aspect of the enterprise. The cor- on 24 April 2017 (Code version dated 7 February porate culture of the BMW Group is firmly based on 2017). transparent reporting and communication, corporate governance in the best interest of all stakeholders, Munich, December 2019 trustful cooperation between the Board of Manage- ment, the Supervisory Board and employees, and Current and previous Declarations of Compliance of compliance with applicable law. Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft can be In this statement, the Board of Management and the viewed online at: Supervisory Board report on the corporate governance www.bmwgroup.com/compliancedeclaration of the Company in accordance with § 289f and § 315d of the German Commercial Code (HGB) and section INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY’S 3.10 of the German Corporate Governance Code GOVERNING CONSTITUTION (DCGK) in the version dated 7 February 2017 and prin- ciple 22 of the DCGK in the version dated 16 Decem- The designation "BMW Group" comprises Bayerische ber 2019 respectively. Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft (BMW AG) and all its Group entities. BMW AG is a stock corporation (Ak- tiengesellschaft) as defined in the German Stock Cor- DECLARATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE poration Act (Aktiengesetz) and has its registered of- GERMAN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE CODE fice in Munich, Germany. It has three representative Pursuant to § 161 of the German Stock Corporation bodies: the Board of Management, the Supervisory Act (AktG), the Board of Management and the Super- Board and the Annual General Meeting. The duties and visory Board of Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktienge- powers of these bodies derive from the Stock Corpo- sellschaft (“BMW AG") declare the following regarding ration Act and the Articles of Incorporation of BMW AG. the recommendations of the “Government Commis- As owners of the business, shareholders exercise their sion on the German Corporate Governance Code”: rights at the Annual General Meeting. The Board of 1. Since the last Declaration was issued in December Management is responsible for managing the BMW 2018, BMW AG has complied with all the recommen- Group and is both monitored and advised by the Su- dations published officially in the Federal Gazette on pervisory Board. The Supervisory Board appoints the 24 April 2017 (Code version dated 7 February 2017) members of the Board of Management and can revoke with the exception – as previously reported – of section an appointment at any time if there is an important rea- 4.2.5 sentences 5 and 6. son to do so. The Board of Management informs the Supervisory Board and reports to it regularly, promptly 2. It is recommended in section 4.2.5 sentences 5 and and comprehensively, in line with the principles of con- 6 of the Code that specified information pertaining to scientious and faithful accountability and in accordance management board compensation be disclosed in the with the law and the reporting duties determined by the Compensation Report in predefined model tables. Supervisory Board. The Board of Management re- These recommendations have been deviated from so quires the approval of the Supervisory Board before far, in view of the transparency and understandability of conducting certain major business transactions. The the Compensation Report in the course of the imple- Supervisory Board is not, however, authorised to un- mentation of the Second EU Shareholder Rights Di- dertake management measures in its own right. The rective and the expected deletion of the aforemen- close interaction between the Board of Management tioned tables by the Government Commission on the and the Supervisory Board in the interests of the BMW German Corporate Governance Code. Due to the de- Group is also known as a “two-tier board structure”. lays in the last two steps, the recommendations on the page 1 of 19 BOARD OF MANAGEMENT During their period of employment for BMW AG, mem- bers of the Board of Management are bound by a com- The Board of Management manages the enterprise prehensive non-competition clause. under its own responsibility, acting in the best interests of the BMW Group and with the aim of achieving sus- Board of Management work procedures tainable growth in value. The interests of shareholders, employees and other stakeholders are also taken into The Board of Management has adopted rules of pro- account in the pursuit of this aim. cedure that include drawing up a plan for allocating ar- eas of responsibility among the individual Board mem- bers. Overview These rules of procedure also set out the principle that In accordance with § 7 of the Articles of Incorporation, the Board of Management bears joint responsibility for the Board of Management of BMW AG must comprise all matters of particular importance and scope. In all at least two persons; otherwise the number of mem- other respects, members of the Board of Management bers on the Board of Management is determined by are individually responsible for the portfolio of duties al- the Supervisory Board. At 31 December 2019, the located to them, whereby case-by-case rules can be Board of Management comprised seven members. put in place for matters pertaining to more than one area. The Board of Management decides on the principal guidelines for managing the Group, determines and Board members continually provide the Chairman of agrees upon questions of strategy with the Supervisory the Board of Management with all the required infor- Board, and ensures their implementation. The Board of mation pertaining to major transactions and business Management is also responsible for ensuring that all developments within their remit. The Chairman of the statutory provisions and internal regulations are com- Board of Management coordinates matters pertaining plied with. Further details regarding compliance within to more than one area of responsibility with the overall the BMW Group are available in the section on Corpo- targets and plans of the BMW Group, involving other rate Governance, Compliance and Human Rights Board members to the extent that their remit is af- within the BMW Group contained in the Annual Report fected. 2019. The Board of Management is also responsible The Board of Management makes its decisions at full for ensuring that appropriate risk management and risk Board meetings and at Product and Customer Board controlling systems are in place throughout the Group. meetings (since 1 November 2019). A Board of Man- agement meeting may only be held if more than half of When a new member is appointed to the Board of the Board members are present. Management, the BMW Corporate Governance Officer is required to inform that new member of the frame- Full Board meetings are convened, coordinated and work conditions under which their duties are to be per- chaired by the Chairman of the Board of Management. formed – in particular those enshrined in the BMW In the event that the Chairman of the Board of Manage- Group’s Corporate Governance Code – as well as the ment is not present or is unable to attend a meeting, duty to cooperate when a transaction or an event trig- the member of the Board responsible for Finance will gers reporting requirements or is subject to the ap- represent him. proval of the Supervisory Board. A secretariat for Board of Management matters has been established to assist the Chairman and other Members of the Board of Management are required to Board members with the preparation and follow-up act in the BMW Group's best interests and may not pur- work connected with Board meetings. sue personal interests in their decisions or take ad- vantage of business opportunities intended for the A meeting is quorate to take resolutions if all Board benefit of the enterprise as a whole. They may only un- members have been invited to the meeting in good dertake secondary activities, particularly supervisory time. Members unable to attend any particular meeting board mandates outside the BMW Group, with the are also entitled to vote in writing, by fax or by tele- prior approval of the Supervisory Board’s Personnel phone. However, votes cast by telephone must be con- Committee. firmed in writing. Except in urgent cases, matters relat- ing to an area for which the responsible Board member Members of the Board of Management of BMW AG are is not present will only be discussed and decided upon required to disclose any conflicts of interest to the Su- with that member’s consent. pervisory Board without delay and inform the other By order of the Chairman, decisions may also be taken members of the Board of Management accordingly. outside of Board meetings if none of the Board mem- bers object to this procedure. page 2 of 19 Unless otherwise stipulated by law or in BMW AG’s Ar- and purchasing issues. It usually meets once a month ticles of Incorporation, the Board of Management and at least four times a year in full session. Voting makes decisions based on a simple majority of votes members of the Customer committee are the Board cast at meetings. Any changes to the Board’s rules of member responsible for Customer, Brand and Sales, procedure must be passed unanimously. Outside of who is also the Chairman, and the Board members re- Board meetings, decisions are taken on the basis of a sponsible for Finance, Purchasing and Supplier Net- simple majority of its members.