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ARTICLE · 15 JULY 2022

Making Corporate Governance More Sustainable In Germany

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The German Corporate Governance Code was first published in 2002. It already included sustainability elements, but not as comprehensively as in the current drafts.

GermanyCorporate/Commercial Law
Anabel Vogel (KLIEMT.HR)
Anabel Vogel (KLIEMT.HR)

The new German Corporate Governance Code will increase the focus on corporate sustainability.

Background to the new Code

The German Corporate Governance Code was first published in 2002. It already included sustainability elements, but not as comprehensively as in the current drafts. The new Code, published following an extensive consultation process, will only come into force when it is published by the Ministry of Justice. Until then, the previous version of 16 December 2019 remains valid.

Key changes

The focus of the revised draft Code is ESG: environmental, social and governance. In addition, adjustments have been made based on the Financial Market Integrity Strengthening Act (FISG) and the revised Leadership Positions Act (FüPoG II).

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