German Corporate Governance in International and European Context

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XIII

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2. An Overview of German Business or Enterprise Law

   • Jean du Plessis, Bernhard Großfeld

   Pages 1-7

3. An Overview of the Corporate Governance Debate in Germany

   • Jean du Plessis, Ingo Saenger

   Pages 9-36

4. The General Meeting and the Management Board as Company Organs

   • Jean du Plessis, Ingo Saenger

   Pages 37-64

5. The Supervisory Board as Company Organ

   • Jean du Plessis, Ingo Saenger

   Pages 65-110

6. The German System of Supervisory Codetermination by Employees

   • Jean du Plessis, Otto Sandrock

   Pages 111-144

7. The Impact of European Developments on German Codetermination

   • Otto Sandrock, Jean du Plessis

   Pages 145-175

8. Accounting as the Documentary Proof of Good Corporate Governance

   • Claus Luttermann

   Pages 177-204

9. The Dominant Role of the German Banks and New Players in the German Financial Sector

   • Jean du Plessis, Claus Luttermann

   Pages 205-214

10. Corporate Governance in the EU, the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance and Corporate Governance in Selected Other Jurisdictions

    • Jean du Plessis, Claus Luttermann

    Pages 215-256

11. Back Matter

    Pages 257-276

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The global economy brings us into a new world of legal players and legal transac- 1 tions. Corporations from many countries and divergent cultural backgrounds - come our partners for business and investment. Therefore, it is indispensable to know the main principles of other countries’ corporate governance structures. Some remarkable developments have taken place in the European Union (EU) in recent times: the EU now comprises 27 Member States after Cyprus and several other Eastern and Southeastern European States became members in 2004 and with Romania and Bulgaria joining the EU in January 2007. Company law h- monisation is once again high on the agenda of the EU; the first European C- panies (SE) started to do business at the end of 2004; and every day more and more cross-border trade takes place within the EU. This book aims to provide the reader with a basic understanding of the German corporate governance system. It offers an overview of German corporations law and explains the interrelationship among the various organs required for German public corporations. It also gives an overview of recent corporate governance - velopments in Germany. The German system of employee codetermination and its future is dealt with in detail, while we also focus on accounting as the docum- tary proof of good corporate governance.

• Codetermination
• Corporate Governance
• European Accounting/Financial Reporting
• European Union (EU)
• German Corporate Governance
• German corporations/company law
• Governance
• International business law
• OECD

• Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

  Jean J. Plessis

• Muenster, Germany

  Bernhard Großfeld, Otto Sandrock

• Chair of International Bussiness Law, Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt, Ingolstadt, Germany

  Claus Luttermann

• University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany

  Ingo Saenger

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