Compliance Statement 2014 of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board of SFC Energy AG Pursuant to Section 161 of the German Stock Corporation Act
According to Section 161 of the German Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz), the management board and the supervisory board of exchange-listed companies are required to declare annually that the company has complied, and will comply, with the recommendations of the Government Commission on the German Corporate Governance Code (the “Code”) published by the German Federal Ministry of Justice in the official Section of the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger) and/or which recommendations the company has not applied and/or will not apply. This declaration has to be made accessible to the public on a permanent basis on the company’s website. Thus, companies may deviate from the recommendations of the Code but, if they do, they are required to disclose such deviations on an annual basis. This allows companies to take account of sector-specific or company-specific needs. Thus, the Code helps to make corporate governance of German companies more flexible and promotes their self-regulation.
For the period as of the issuance of the last Compliance Statement of March 22, 2013, until June 9, 2013, the following statement refers to the version of the Code dated May 15, 2012, as published in the Bundesanzeiger on June 15, 2012. Since June 10, 2013, the statement refers to the version of the Code dated May 13, 2013, as published in the Bundesanzeiger on June 10, 2013.
In accordance with Section 161 of the German Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz) the Management Board and the Supervisory Board of SFC Energy AG declare that, with the following exceptions, the Company has complied and will comply in full with the Recommendations of the Government Commission on the German Corporate Governance Code, as amended:
According to Section 4.2.3 para. 2 Sentence 6 of the Code in its version of May 13, 2013, the amount of compensation of the Management Board shall be capped, both overall and for the variable compensation components. With the beginning of the financial year 2014 the Supervisory Board of the Company has implemented a virtual stock option programme that applies to any new Management Board member’s employment contract to become effective from 1 January 2014 on and that provides for the distribution of virtual stock options to the members of the Management Board. After the end of a waiting period the virtual stock options confer the right to cash pay out depending on the price of the share of SFC Energy AG at the date the right is exercised. Whereas the total number of stock options to be distributed is limited from the beginning, there is no limit to the amount in regards of a potentially increased share price during the exercise period. The Supervisory Board holds the opinion that a limitation of the increase potential of a share price-dependent compensation contradicts the principle behind this form of remuneration and would undermine its major incentive which is to work for and contribute to an increased company value. Since there is no complete limitation to the amount of any variable compensation component, no cap to the overall amount of compensation of the Management Board members exists. As a result, the Company deviates from the recommendations set forth in Sections 4.2.3 para. 2 Sentence 6 of the Code.
According to Section 5.3.1 of the Code, the Supervisory Board shall, depending on the specifics of the enterprise and the number of its members, form committees with sufficient expertise. In particular, Section 5.3.2 of the Code recommends that an Audit Committee be set up. The Supervisory Board of SFC Energy AG comprises of only three members. The Supervisory Board holds the view – which is consistent with the legal literature on this subject – that the efficiency of the advisory and controlling activities of a Supervisory Board made up of only three members cannot be increased meaningfully by setting up any committees. As a result, the Company deviates from the recommendations set forth in Sections 5.3.1 and 5.3.2 of the Code.
According to Section 5.3.3 of the Code, the Supervisory Board shall form a Nominating Committee composed exclusively of shareholder representatives which will propose suitable candidates to the Supervisory Board for recommendation to the General Meeting. The Company’s Supervisory Board has not set up a Nominating Committee. Consistent with the legal literature on this subject, the Supervisory Board supports the position that forming a Nominating Committee is irrelevant if no employees are represented on the Supervisory Board. As a result, the Company deviates from the recommendation set forth in Section 5.3.3 of the Code.
Brunnthal, March 21, 2014
The Management Board
Dr. Peter Podesser (Chairman), Gerhard Inninger (Member), Hans Pol (Member)
The Supervisory Board
Tim van Delden (Chairman)
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