Corporate Governance Declaration 2010
Declaration of conformity by United Internet AG with regard to the recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code in accordance with Sec. 161 German Stock Corporation Act (AktG)
In accordance with Sec. 161 German Stock Corporation Act (AktG), the Management Board and Supervisory Board of United Internet AG declare that:
United Internet AG complied with the recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code (in the version dated June 18, 2009) with the following exceptions, and expects to comply in future with the following exceptions:
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Deductibles in the case of D&O insurance policies (Codex 3.8)
Since the German Act on the Appropriateness of Management Board Compensation (Gesetz zur Angemessenheit der Vorstandsvergütung - VorstAG) came into power, the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG) now requires that Management Board members accept an obligatory deductible for D&O insurance policies of at least 10% of the loss and up to at least one-and-a-half times the fixed annual compensation of the respective Management Board member (Sec. 93 AktG). Deductibles need not be agreed, however, for Supervisory Board members (Sec. 116 AktG). Beyond the scope of the AktG, the German Corporate Governance Code recommends that a similar deductible be agreed for the Supervisory Board in any D&O policy.
United Internet AG has fully adopted the legal requirements by amending the existing D&O insurance policies as of January 1, 2010 and has agreed its first deductible for members of the Management Board. No deductible was agreed for the Supervisory Board. United Internet does not generally believe that the motivation and responsibility with which the members of United Internet's Supervisory Board conduct their duties will be affected by such a deductible.
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Committees (Code 5.3)
The German Corporate Governance Code recommends that the Supervisory Board set up an Audit Committee which, in particular, should handle issues of accounting, risk management and compliance, the necessary independence required of the auditor, the issuing of the audit mandate to the auditor, the determination of auditing focal points and the fee agreement. In addition, the German Corporate Governance Code recommends that the Supervisory Board form a Nomination Committee composed exclusively of shareholder representatives, which proposes suitable candidates to the Supervisory Board for recommendation to the Annual Shareholders' Meeting.
The Supervisory Board of United Internet AG currently consists of three members: in addition to their other duties, the members also deal as a group with the above-mentioned topics. The Supervisory Board's rules of procedure state that committees should only be formed if there are more than three members.
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Compensation of Supervisory Board members (Code 5.4.6)
The German Corporate Governance Code recommends that the compensation of Supervisory Board members should also take into account the exercising of the Chair and Deputy Chair positions in the Supervisory Board as well as the chair and membership of committees.
As long as the Supervisory Board consists of no more than three members and no committees are formed, United Internet only separately considers the Chair position in the Supervisory Board.
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Publication of reports (Code 7.1.2)
The German Corporate Governance Code recommends that interim reports are to be publicly accessible within 45 days of the end of the reporting period.
In fiscal year 2009, United Internet published its interim reports within the period recommended by the German Corporate Governance Code. As already announced in the Financial Calendar 2010, the half-year financial report 2010 will not be published until August 27, 2010 for organizational, internal reasons.