Campus

VW last in acceptance of Conduct Code

Although listed companies are not required to follow the recommendations formulated by the Government Commission for the German Corporate Governance Code (GCGC), they must annually disclose the extent to which they deviate from its specifications in the four areas of transparency, diversity, monitoring / control and incentive systems.  Acceptance of the Code is largely a model for the DAX and MDAX companies in Germany. This is now confirmed by an evaluation of the published Compliance Declarations by the Centre for Corporate Governance at the Handelshochschule Leipzig, summarized in the study “Code acceptance in 2013.” Thus, 96.8 per cent of the recommendations of the Code are fulfilled on average. The acceptance, however, varies with size and ownership structure. Thus, the DAX stocks are above the average at 97.7 per cent, with the MDAX lagging behind at 96.1 per cent. Unlike companies that are owned by major shareholders, there is also greater Code acceptance at companies with a high free float. The worst of the study among the DAX corporations is Volkswagen with a total rate of 91.4 per cent (previous year HeidelbergCement). Bottom of the MDAX, unchanged, is ElringKlinger with 87.1 (83.3) per cent. In the coming years, Code acceptance will continue to increase, the study says.