VIP - Newsletter sent on January 15th, 2008

At the February AGM of Mannheimer AG Holding (MAG), shareholders were to be denied their pre-emptive rights in connection with the capital increase decided.

Lufthansa workers? representatives on the Supervisory Board had re-elected trade-union leader Frank Bsirske (ver.di) as its vice-chair, even though VIP pressure in 2003 had refused him discharge by 60% of shareholders.

The initiative of VIP finished in a 1st small cooling off period in German Management; case concluded now.

Corporate Governance is making headway in the German corporation ? at MunichRe every eighth share is voting with VIP in favour of better practice

Minority shareholders can make fuller use of their rights than the legislator proposes; UMAG (Draft Law on Corporate Integrity and Modernization of the Right of Avoidance) is a German legislative initiative intended to make the record date possible while also providing for new liability rules for company bodies, but it will in many ways harm the financial centre.

We have got it! VIP counter-motion to initiate the non-discharge of the union-leader and board-member FRANK BSIRSKE was followed by 58.29 % of capital in the today AGM.

Almost majority support, spontaneously, for a VIP point of order Enquiries failed to find any institutional investor wishing to have VIP represent their shares at the ?ordinary? general meeting of Mannheimer Versicherung AG. Nonetheless, our principles led us to attend this extraordinary event ? a mismanaged insurance AGM. Those present learnt, first of all, that in the current year the number of private investors has almost trebled ? institutionals having given up.

Deutsche Telekom has drawn attention to itself: with its IPO at the start of the Neuer Markt and its book losses of o 25 billion. - At the AGM, to the broad agreement of shareholders present, VIP called for the supervisory board to make the major shareholder, the Federal Republic of Germany, pay compensation.