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Disclosure and auditing of corporate social responsibility standards: the impact of Directive 2014/95/EU on the German companies act and the German Corporate Governance Code

Version 2 2024-06-03, 12:22
Version 1 2017-07-26, 16:55
chapter
posted on 2017-01-01, 00:00 authored by Ingo Saenger
Companies are obliged to provide information in many ways to a range of stakeholders. German company law implies various rules that require the management to either inform stakeholders voluntarily or on request. Rather broad provisions apply for members of a partnership or a private company. By contrast the shareholders’ rights of information are more restricted. Section 131 of the German Stock Corporation Act (GSCA, Aktiengesetz) states that each shareholder can be provided with information by the management board on request (only) at the shareholders’ meeting regarding the company’s affairs, (only) to the extent that such information is necessary to permit a proper evaluation of the relevant item on the agenda. In other words, if a topic is not on the agenda, the company does not have to provide the information. Despite numerous accounting rules and securities laws, various important aspects of business operations and conduct are not covered. This is why the German Corporate Governance Code (GCGC) provides detailed provisions on disclosure, especially in the context of transparency and on reporting and auditing.

History

Title of book

Corporate governance codes for the 21st century: international perspectives and critical analyses

Chapter number

12

Pagination

261 - 274

Publisher

Springer International Publishing

Place of publication

Cham, Switzerland

ISBN-13

978-3-319-51867-1

Language

eng

Publication classification

B1.1 Book chapter; B Book chapter

Copyright notice

2017, Springer International Publishing Switzerland

Extent

13

Editor/Contributor(s)

J du Plessis, C Low

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