4.4.6 How is the disclosure of the corporate governance statement arranged and who is accountable for this disclosure?

Article 161 AktG does not state where the corporate governance statement has to be published; only that it has to be made permanently accessible to the stakeholders. The code clarifies the disclosure of the corporate governance statement in recommendation 3.10. The management and supervisory boards have to disclose the corporate governance statement each year in the company's annual report and previous statements have to be kept visible on the company's website for five years. The internet is regarded as an important communication instrument between the company and its stakeholders in this respect. The management and supervisory boards have to disclose the corporate governance statement together (art. 161 AktG and 3.10 of the German Code). Possible disciplinary measures if such board accountability is not provided, as well as the role of the auditor - since the corporate governance statement is part of the annual report - are discussed under section 4.4.7.

In other Member States under research the corporate governance statement and the phrases regarding code compliance seem to concern the past financial year. This differs for Germany: the German comply or explain principle is orientated to the past and to the future (Du Plessis, Großfeld et al. 2007, p. 25) (Ulmer 2002, p. 171). Art. 161 AktG states that: "Vorstand und Aufsichtsrat der börsennotierten Gesellschaft erklären jährlich, dass den vom Bundesministerium der Justiz im amtlichen Teil des elektronischen Bundesanzeigers bekannt gemachten Empfehlungen der "Regierungskommission Deutscher Corporate Governance Kodex" entsprochen wurde und wird oder welche Empfehlungen nicht angewendet wurden oder werden und warum nicht . Companies have to declare which code recommendations they have (not) complied with for the past period (the Wissenerklärung) and which recommendations they will (not) comply with in the future (the Absichtserklärung) (Klaassen 2010, p. 160). This is rather remarkable compared to the other countries, but on the other hand quite obvious. Investors' decisions regarding investments or disinvestments are largely based on future facts and therefore a corporate governance statement that is future-orientated is in fact more valuable for an investor than one that only discusses the past period (Ringleb, Kremer et al. 2008, no 1524) (Du Plessis, Großfeld et al. 2007, p. 25). Nevertheless, in German doctrine and jurisprudence discussion exists about whether companies should actualise their Absichtserklärung each time changes in compliance occur and about who is responsible for drafting the modifications (Ringleb, Kremer et al. 2008, no 1525) (Kirch/Deutsche Bank, BGH 16 February 2009). Although ideally a corporate governance statement should be a "dynamic document, in practice it functions as a static document drafted once a year and the duty to actualise the document is disregarded.