Pressure shows effect: Almost all German companies that 'have to' achieve women's quota in the executive board / Minimum participation requirement almost completely implemented as of May

Berlin, 01.05.2023: Almost all listed companies in Germany that are required to have at least one woman on their executive boards under the minimum participation requirement (Mindestbeteiligungsgebot) will reach the required quorum in May 2023. With the appointment of women to the executive boards of Sartorius and KION Group from 1 May 2023, only four of the 63 corporations that fall under the minimum shareholding requirement do not have a woman on the board and therefore need to take action: Indus Holding, Koenig & Bauer, Vitesco Technologies Group and Wüstenrot & Württembergische. This is the result of the ongoing research on FidAR's Women-on-Board Index, which is expected to be published in June.

According to the minimum participation requirement introduced by the Second Leadership Positions Act in Germany (FüPoG II), listed and equally co-determined companies with more than three executive board members are obliged to appoint at least one woman to the board when making new appointments. Currently, 63 companies from the DAX, MDAX, SDAX and Regulated Market are subject to the regulation, which has been in force since 1 August 2022.

Federal Minister for Women's Affairs Lisa Paus: "The FüPoG II is successful".

"We are on the right track: the legal requirements are working. We need fixed quotas to enforce equal participation in management positions. With their high qualifications and performance, women make a significant contribution to the success of companies. This must be adequately reflected in all management levels. I am pleased that the minimum participation requirement for women on management boards was implemented so quickly," says Federal Minister for Women's Affairs Lisa Paus.

With the appointment of Dr. Alexandra Gatzemeyer, a woman will join the Executive Board of the DAX-40 company Sartorius for the first time. In future, she will head the Lab Products & Services division. At the MDAX-listed KION Group, Valeria Gargiulo will take up the newly created position of Chief People and Sustainability Officer (CPSO) from 1 May 2023. She is not the first woman to join the Group's Executive Board; Chief Financial Officer Anke Groth left in March 2022.

FidAR President Seng: "Gender quotas for governing bodies are the right way".

"It works after all! Considering the sharp criticism of the minimum participation requirement, one is positively surprised at how quickly and quietly the regulation was implemented. Because one thing is clear: there are enough qualified women for top positions in the economy. Our goal in the medium term remains equal representation on management bodies," says the President of FidAR, Prof. Dr. Anja Seng.

At the turn of the year 2022/2023, the proportion of women on the management boards of the 183 companies listed on the DAX, MDAX and SDAX as well as those listed on the Regulated Market with equal codetermination had risen to 15.3 per cent (2021: 13 %). The DAX-40 companies reached a new peak with 21.5 per cent women on the board. At the beginning of FidAR's research in January 2011, the average share of women on corporate boards was still 3 per cent, and in the DAX 30 companies at the time it was only 2.2 per cent.

FidAR founding president Schulz-Strelow: "We have to involve more companies in the future".

"The success of the minimum participation requirement should be the incentive for us to think beyond the few corporations affected so far. In future, no board of a listed company should be free of women. We will only achieve this if we expand the scope of the supervisory board quota beyond the current 103 and the scope of the regulation for the executive board beyond the current 63 affected companies," Monika Schulz-Strelow emphasises.

The WoB-Index is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. The detailed study on the Women-on-Board-Index 185 by FidAR from the previous year can be found at www.wob-index.de.

Your contact persons

Prof. Dr. Anja Seng, President FidAR - Frauen in die Aufsichtsräte e. V., Berlin
Tel.: +49 (1 51) 12 54 64 60, e-mail: anja.seng@fidar.de

Monika Schulz-Strelow, Founding President FidAR - Frauen in die Aufsichtsräte e. V., Berlin
Tel.: +49 (30) 887 14 47 13, e-mail: monika.schulz-strelow@fidar.de

Press contact

Matthias Struwe | Eye Communications | Press and Public Relations Agency
Tel: +49 (7 61) 137 62-21, e-mail: m.struwe@eyecommunications.de

About FidAR:

FidAR - Frauen in die Aufsichtsräte e. V. (Women on Supervisory Boards) is a non-partisan and supra-regional initiative launched in 2006 by women in leadership positions in business, science and politics. FidAR aims to achieve a sustainable increase in the proportion of women on the supervisory boards of German companies and to improve corporate control and culture. The goal of the initiative, supported by over 1,250 women and men, is equal representation in all management positions in the German economy. FidAR pursues these goals in close exchange with business, politics, science and in cooperation with the relevant business and women's associations. More information on FidAR is available on the internet at www.fidar.de.