BMW 2012 Annual Report Download - page 10

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We endeavour to assess and improve continuously on the effectiveness of the work performed in the
Supervisory Board and its committees, not least in consideration of the broader range of tasks for which the
Supervisory Board now finds itself responsible. The Chairman of the Audit Committee and myself are
therefore always pleased to receive comments and suggestions for improvement from Supervisory Board
members. The formal examination of the Supervisory Board’s efficiency is also treated once each year as a
separate agenda point which is prepared by means of a questionnaire required to be completed by all Super-
visory Board members.
Each of the five Supervisory Board meetings in 2012 was attended on average by over 90 % of its members,
a fact that can be tied in to the analysis of attendance fees for individual members disclosed in the Compen-
sation Report. No member of the Supervisory Board missed more than two meetings in his / her period of
office during the year. Presiding Board and committee meetings were fully attended in the vast majority of
cases (page 163).
Description of Presiding Board activities and committee work In order to work more efficiently and
prepare complex issues and decisions more thoroughly, the Supervisory Board has established a Presiding
Board and several committees. A description of the duties, composition and work procedures of these com-
mittees is provided in the Corporate Governance Report (page 160 et seq.).
The relevant committee chairmen provided timely and comprehensive accounts of the work of the
Presiding Board and other committees to the full Supervisory Board, as did the chairman of the Nomination
Committee to the shareholder representatives on the full Supervisory Board.
In a total of four meetings, the Presiding Board focused mainly on the preparation of topics for the meet-
ings of the full Supervisory Board unless this fell under the remit of one of the committees. Complex issues,
such as the Long-term Business Forecast and the Annual Strategic Review, were dealt with on the basis of
written and oral reports provided by Board of Management members and senior department heads. In the
case of financial planning, for example, we arranged for the Board of Management member responsible for
Finances to brief us in advance on detailed aspects of the Long-term Business Forecast. The Head of Group
Strategy and Planning, Environment provided us with facts, assumptions and principles relevant for global
value added within the Group in the period up to 2024, including the targets and distribution of production
capacities built into the forecasts, and discussed analyses from the Annual Strategy Review with us. The
Presiding Board selected further topics for Supervisory Board meetings and made suggestions to the Board
of Management regarding items to be included in its reports to the full Supervisory Board.
Two telephone conference calls were also conducted by the Presiding Board in conjunction with current
activities and projects. In one of those conference calls, the Board of Management and the Head of Product
and Brand Strategy reported on the current status of cooperation arrangements, in particular the planned
extension of collaboration with Toyota Motor Corporation. In another telephone conference call, the Board
of Management explained the plans to sell Husqvarna Motorcycles.
The Audit Committee held three meetings and three telephone conference calls during 2012. In accordance
with the recommendation of the German Corporate Governance Code, we discussed each of the interim finan-
cial reports with the Board of Management prior to publication. Representatives of the external auditors
were
present for part of the time during the telephone conference call held to present the Interim Financial Report
for the six-month period to 30 June 2012. The report had been subjected to review by the external auditors.
One meeting of the Audit Committee was primarily dedicated to preparing the Supervisory Board’s meet-
ing in spring 2012 at which the financial statements were examined. In order to prepare its recommendation