Porsche 2012 Annual Report Download - page 114

Following the contribution of its holding busi-
ness operations to Volkswagen AG, Porsche SE is
a financially strong holding company which contin-
ues to hold a significant investment in Volkswagen
AG. The income of Porsche SE currently consists
mainly of the dividend payments of this equity
investment. The risks from investment in
Volkswagen AG only have an indirect effect on
Porsche SE in the form of valuation, consolidation,
dividend and liability risks. In addition, there con-
tinue to be risks from the basic agreement and the
associated corporate restructuring as well as from
the investment by Volkswagen AG in Porsche Hold-
ing Stuttgart GmbH. The underlying rules were
updated in the course of the contribution and in
some cases supplemented.
As a result of the accelerated creation of the
integrated automotive group, the risk management
of the Porsche SE group was adjusted. It takes the
new group structure into account and, since the
contribution of the holding business operations of
Porsche SE to Volkswagen AG, has consisted of
two autonomous risk management subsystems.
One subsystem is at the level of Volkswagen AG
(we refer to the section “Risk report of the
Volkswagen group”). Since 1 August 2012, it has
also covered the relevant risks at the level of the
Porsche Holding Stuttgart GmbH group. This sub-
system is intended to identify, manage and moni-
tor the risks resulting from the operating activities
of the investment that could jeopardize the in-
vestment’s ability to continue as a going concern.
Volkswagen AG is itself responsible for its risk
management, but is required at the same time to
inform Porsche SE as the holding company – with-
in the scope of the legally permissible exchange of
information – at an early stage of any risks jeop-
ardizing the investment’s ability to continue as a
going concern.
The second subsystem, the risk management
system at the level of Porsche SE, continues to
monitor the direct risks of Porsche SE as a single
entity and the risks at the level of its subsidiaries.
The direct risks of Porsche SE as a single entity
mainly comprise the financial and legal risks that
are typical for a holding company.
The indirect effect of risks from the investment
in Volkswagen AG is taken into account within the
group risk management system. Regular commu-
nication, for example, in management talks and by
forwarding risk reports to Porsche SE – within the
scope of the legally permissible exchange of in-
formation – ensures that Porsche SE is informed
directly of any risks to the company’s ability to
continue as a going concern should any such risks
arise there.
Porsche SE thus bears the responsibility for
monitoring its own risks and, moreover, draws
together all the findings from the existing risk early
warning system of the Volkswagen group. Conse-
quently, it ensures a synoptic presentation of the
individual risks as well as the monitoring and man-
agement of risks. The design of information flows
and the decision-making bodies at group level
guarantees that the executive board of Porsche SE
is always informed of significant risk drivers and
the potential impact of the identified risks so as to
take suitable countermeasures. The audit commit-
tee and the entire supervisory board are kept con-
tinuously informed of the risk situation in regular
reports.
The implementation and general effectiveness
of the early warning system for the detection of
risk was checked during the audit of Porsche SE’s
consolidated financial statements.
In addition, the financial services segment in
the Volkswagen group is subject to scheduled
controls as part of the audit of the financial
statements and to unscheduled audits as defined
by the German Federal Financial Supervisory
Authority (BaFin) pursuant to Sec. 44 German
Banking Act (KWG) and other controls by associa-
tion auditors.
2The company
Group management report
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