Liability and Damages

The regulations on liability and damages applicable to the members of the Board of Management apply in the same manner to the members of the Supervisory Board. Each member of the Supervisory Board is thus liable to the enterprise for the fulfillment of his individual obligations. The members of the Supervisory Board are subject to the same guidelines concerning due care and secrecy as the members of the Board of Management.

The company`s D & O policy for the Board of Management and Supervisory Board of the company does not provide any insurance cover for intentional acts and omissions or for breaches of duty knowingly committed. Insurance cover is provided only for negligent breaches of duty by members of the Board of Management and Supervisory Board, so that this is the only context in which the question of the agreement of a deductible arises.

The D & O policy does not provide for a deductible for the area of negligent action on the part of members of the Supervisory Board. The company endeavors to staff its Supervisory Board with prominent members of the community from Germany and abroad who have extensive business experience, and the company may be impeded in this aim if members of its Supervisory Board have to accept far-reaching liability risks for potential negligence. The fact that a deductible is still fairly unusual in other countries makes this even more of a problem.