Supervisory Board

Oversight and advice

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The 12-member Supervisory Board advises and oversees the Board of Management. Under the German Codetermination Act, half the members of the Supervisory Board are elected by the stockholders and half by the company's employees.

The Supervisory Board is directly involved in decisions on matters of fundamental importance to the company, regularly conferring with the Board of Management on the strategic alignment of Covestro AG and the Covestro Group, and on the implementation status of the business strategy. The Chair of the Supervisory Board coordinates its work and presides over the meetings.

Through regular discussions with the Board of Management, the Supervisory Board is kept constantly informed of business policy, corporate planning and strategy. The Supervisory Board approves the annual budget and financing framework. lt also approves the financial statements of Covestro AG and the consolidated financial statements of the Covestro Group, along with the combined management report, taking into account the reports by the auditor.

In line with its own goals and in accordance with German law, the Supervisory Board consists of at least 30% women and of at least 30% men. Moreover, the Supervisory Board has the objective of ensuring that three-quarters of its members and more than half of the stockholder representatives are sufficiently independent. This requirement has also been met.

The Supervisory Board assesses the independence of its members according to the recommendations contained in Section 5.4.2 of the German Corporate Governance Code. It also considers the criteria given in the European Commission recommendation of February 15, 2005 (2005/162/EC, Annex 2).

Most Supervisory Board members possess extensive knowledge of the chemical or polymer industries in which Covestro does business. This industry knowledge was acquired by the members either through their jobs or the requisite continuing education.

The Supervisory Board has four committees: the Presidial Committee, the Audit Committee, the Human Resources Committee and the Nominations Committee. In fiscal 2016, more than 90% of members attended the meetings of the Supervisory Board and its committees.

The chairman of the Supervisory Board coordinates the work of the Supervisory Board and presides over the meetings. Since Covestro has become an independent company, this office has been held by Dr. Richard Pott.

The Supervisory Board evaluates the efficiency of its work yearly on the basis of a questionnaire. The first evaluation, for fiscal 2016, has taken place in the beginning of 2017. The questionnaire covers the preparation and implementation of meetings, the work of the committees and the presentation of information.

For more information on the Supervisory Board of Covestro, see the Covestro Annual Report 2016. This also contains details about compensation of the Supervisory Board

The Members of the Covestro Supervisory Board

  • Dr. Richard Pott (Chair)

    Year of Birth: 1953
    Nationality: German

    Biography

    Position:

    • Chairman of the Supervisory Board
    • Former Member of the Board of Management and Labor Director of Bayer AG

    Memberships in other Supervisory Boards:

    • Chair of the Supervisory Board of Covestro Deutschland AG
    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Freudenberg SE
    • Member of the Supervisory Board of SCHOTT AG

    Member of the Supervisory Board since August 2015

    Dr. Richard Pott, born 1953, obtained a doctorate in physics at the University of Cologne, and joined Bayer’s Central Research Division in Uerdingen in 1984. After holding a number of management positions in various departments within the company he finally served as a member of the management board of Bayer AG from 2002 to 2013 with responsibility for Strategy and Human Resources. He was Bayer AG’s Labor Director and responsible for the regions Americas, Africa and Middle East. Pott is a member of the supervisory boards of Freudenberg SE, Schott AG and Covestro Deutschland AG (Chairman). He is also Chairman of the University Council of the University of Cologne.

  • Petra Kronen (Vice Chair)

    Year of birth: 1964
    Nationality: German

    Biography

    Position:

    • Chair of the Works Council of Covestro at the Uerdingen site
    • Chair of the General Works Council of Covestro
    • Vice Chair of Covestro-European Forum
    • Employee of Covestro Deutschland AG

    Memberships in other Supervisory Boards:

    • Vice Chair of the Supervisory Board of Covestro Deutschland AG
    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Bayer AG
    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Bayer Beistandskasse

    Member of the Supervisory Board since October 2015

    Petra Kronen, born 1964, served an apprenticeship as a young chemical laboratory technician (Chemielaborjungwerkerin) at Bayer AG in Uerdingen from 1980 to 1982. Subsequently, she worked for Central Research in Uerdingen from 1982 to 1991. In 1987, Petra Kronen was elected as member of the works council (Betriebsrat) of Bayer AG and as steward (Vertrauensfrau) in Central Research for the first time. As of 1 May 1991, she was elected as full-time member of the works council. In 1997, she was elected as deputy chairwoman of the works council and as member of the central works council (Gesamtbetriebsrat), the central operations committee (Gesamtbetriebsausschuss) and the economics committee (Wirtschaftsausschuss) of Bayer AG.
    In 1999, Petra Kronen was elected as chairwoman of the works council of Bayer AG at the Uerdingen site and has held this office since then. Since July 2000, she has been a member of the supervisory board of Bayer AG; since August 2003 she has been a member of the supervisory board of Bayer MaterialScience/ Covestro Deutschland AG (since 7 December 2009: deputy chairwoman) and a member of the economics committee of Covestro Deutschland AG (spokeswoman). Since May 2016 Kronen holds the chair of the General Works Council of Covestro and since November 2016 she holds the vice chair of the Covestro-Europe Forum (CEF). In addition to that she is a member of the supervisory board of Bayer Beistandskasse.

  • Ferdinando Falco Beccalli Open or Close

    Year of Birth: 1949
    Nationality: Italian and US Citizen

    Position:

    • Chair of the Board of Falco Enterprises AG

    Memberships in other Supervisory Boards:

    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Covestro Deutschland AG
    • Chair of the supervisory board of ENAV S.p.A.

    Member of the Supervisory Board since October 2015

    Ferdinando Falco Beccalli, born 1949, graduated with a masters in chemical engineering from Polytechnic of Torino in Italy. Currently, Beccalli is chief executive officer at Falco Enterprises AG, Zürich, Switzerland. He started his career in the United States in 1975, then serving in leadership positions in the U.S., the Netherlands, Japan, Belgium and Germany for GE and left the company in 2014 as senior vice president and member of the corporate executive council responsible for GE Europe. Prior to his current roles, he spent 40 years at GE and is senior operating executive of Rhône Capital and president of ENAV S.p.A. He is also chairman of ASK Chemicals GmbH and of Ranpak Corporation.

    Beccalli serves as a member of the board of directors of the Foreign Policy Association in New York and of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels. He acts as senior advisor to A.T. Kearney Italia. He participates in the International Board of Overseers of the Sabancı University and in the International Business Advisory Council of the cities of Jerusalem, Rome and Rotterdam. In 2007, he became a Knight of Merit for Labor in Italy and in 2009, he was granted the French Legion of Honor.

  • Dr. Christine Bortenlänger Open or Close

    Year of Birth: 1966
    Nationality: German

    Position:

    • Executive Member of the Board of Deutsches Aktieninstitut e.V.

    Memberships in other Supervisory Boards:

    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Covestro Deutschland AG
    • Member of the Supervisory Board of OSRAM GmbH
    • Member of the Supervisory Board of OSRAM Licht AG
    • Member of the Supervisory Board of SGL Carbon SE
    • Member of the Supervisory Board of TÜV Süd AG

    Member of the Supervisory Board since October 2015

    Dr. Christine Maria Bortenlänger, born 1966, started with an apprenticeship at Bayerische Vereinsbank AG, Munich, and continued to study economics and business administration at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, graduating in 1994. In 1996 she passed her doctorate. She is a scholarship holder of the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation. Bortenlänger began her career as a senior consultant in the financial services sector in 1996 with Dr. Seebauer & Partner in Munich. Prior to this she has held several project manager roles, including working for Bayerische Landesbank on their electronic business networking/electronic commerce project and for an international research project for the German Research Council.

    In July 1998 Bortenlänger joined Munich Stock Exchange as deputy managing director, responsible for marketing and public relations. Between 2000 and 2012 she was a member of the executive board of Bayerische Börse AG and managing director of the Munich Stock Exchange. In her role she was responsible for customer service, marketing and sales, market policy, public relations, organization and IT. Effective September 1, 2012 Bortenlänger has joined Deutsches Aktieninstitut e.V., Frankfurt, Germany, as chief executive officer. Bortenlänger is a member of the supervisory boards of OSRAM GmbH (Munich), OSRAM Licht AG (Munich), SGL Carbon SE (Wiesbaden) and TÜV Süd Aktiengesellschaft (Munich).

  • Johannes Dietsch Open or Close

    Year of Birth: 1962
    Nationality: German

    Position:

    • Member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG

    Memberships in other Supervisory Boards:

    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Covestro Deutschland AG
    • Chair of the Supervisory Board of Bayer Business Services GmbH
    • Chair of the Supervisory Board of Bayer CropScience AG (since May 1st, 2016)

    Member of the Supervisory Board since August 2015

    Johannes Dietsch, born 1962, started his career after graduating from high school as he joined Bayer Group as a commercial trainee. On completion of his training in 1984, he held a number of management positions in various departments within the company. He gained several years of overseas experience during two assignments at Bayer Japan, Ltd., latter as chief financial officer in finance and administration. In 2001 Dietsch was made Head of Corporate Finance in the Finance Division, becoming head of Finance in the Corporate Center of Bayer AG on July 1, 2002.

    His area of responsibility included Treasury, Corporate Finance, Financial Controlling, Asset Management Pensions, Mergers & Acquisitions and Taxes. In September 2011, he was appointed as Senior Bayer Representative and CFO for Greater China at Bayer China in Shanghai. Dietsch has been a member of the Management Board of Bayer AG since September 1, 2014. Since October 1, 2014, he is responsible for Finance (chief financial officer). In addition he is responsible for the regions Asia/Pacific and North America.

  • Dr.-Ing. Thomas Fischer Open or Close

    Year of Birth: 1955
    Nationality: German

    Position:

    • Chairman of the Managerial Employees’ Committee of Covestro Deutschland AG
    • Manager of Covestro Deutschland AG

    Memberships in other supervisory boards

    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Covestro Deutschland AG
    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Bayer AG
    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Bayer-Pensionskasse VVaG

    Member of the Supervisory Board since October 2015

    Dr. Thomas Fischer, born 1955, graduated from the Technical University of Dortmund, Germany with a chemical engineering degree in 1982 and with a doctor’s degree in 1987. From 1984 to 1985 he studied industrial engineering at University of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschule) Dortmund, Germany. In 1986 he began his career at Bayer Group where he held different positions with increasing managerial responsibilities in Uerdingen, Dormagen and Leverkusen. Within Covestro Deutschland AG Fischer has the position of Vice President Special Projects in the department Human Resources Germany.

    In 1998 he was elected chairman of the of the Managerial Employees’ Committee at the Uerdingen site. From 2005 to 2015 he was chairman of the managerial employees’ committee (Sprecherausschuss) of Bayer (Konzernsprecherausschuss) and is now chairman of the managerial employees’ committee (Sprecherausschuss) of Covestro.

    Fischer is member of the supervisory boards of Bayer Pensionskasse, of Bayer AG (member of the Audit Committee), of Covestro Deutschland AG and of Covestro AG (member of the Human Resources Committee). In the managers’ federations in Germany Fischer is president of the VAA (Verband angestellter Akademiker und leitender Angestellter) and vice-president of the ULA (United Leaders Association). In the European Federation of Managers in the Chemical and Allied Industries, FECCIA, Fischer is vice-president.

  • Peter Hausmann Open or Close

    Year of Birth: 1954
    Nationality: German

    Position:

    • Member of the Executive Committee of the German Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union (IG BCE)

    Memberships in other Supervisory Boards:

    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Covestro Deutschland AG
    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Henkel AG & Co KGaA
    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Continental AG
    • Vice chair of the Supervisory Board of 50Hertz Transmission GmbH
    • Vice chair of the Supervisory Board of Vivawest GmbH
    • Vice chair of the Supervisory Board of Vivawest Wohnen GmbH

    Member of the Supervisory Board since October 2015

    Peter Hausmann was born in 1954 in Einbeck, Germany. From 1975 to 1980 he studied law at the University in Göttingen and then worked as a trainee lawyer in Braunschweig and Hannover until 1982. Subsequently he worked as an attorney with a focus on labor law and consumer protection.

    1983 he became Secretary at the German Chemical, Paper and Ceramics Industrial Union in Hannover. He started to work at the Executive Committee Division for Youth Education. 1987 he transferred to the Division for Wage Policy/Humanization where he became head of the department wage law and wage law/humanization respectively.

    2006 he became Chair of the North Rhine District of the German Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union (IG BCE) in Düsseldorf. Since 2009 he has been member of the Executive Committee of IG BCE in Hannover where he is responsible for wages and finance.

    Hausmann is a member of the supervisory boards of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA Düsseldorf, Continental AG Hannover, 50Hertz Transmission GmbH Berlin (Vice Chairman), Vivawest GmbH Gelsenkirchen sowie Vivawest Wohnen GmbH.

  • Irena Küstner Open or Close

    Year of Birth: 1966
    Nationality: German

    Position:

    • Chair of the Works Council of Covestro at the Leverkusen site
    • Chair of the Group Works Council of Covestro
    • Vice Chair of the General Works Council of Covestro
    • Employee of Covestro Deutschland AG

    Memberships in other Supervisory Boards:

    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Covestro Deutschland AG

    Member of the Supervisory Board since October 2015

    Irena Küstner, born 1966, completed her professional training as chemical laboratory assistant in 1989. She then worked in various fields of the application development department within the Business Unit PUR. In addition, she was responsible for the development in the field service and laboratory.

    In 2005 Küstner became steward (Vertrauensfrau) in Bayer AG and in 2006 exempt member of the works council of Bayer AG (area representative [Bereichsbetriebsrätin] for Bayer MaterialScience). Since 2016 Küstner has presided over the Works Council of Covestro at the Leverkusen site as well as the Group Works Council of Covestro and she is vice chairperson of the General Works Council of Covestro.

  • Prof. Dr. Rolf Nonnenmacher Open or Close

    Year of Birth: 1954
    Nationality: German

    Position:

    • Certified Accountant

    Memberships in other supervisory boards

    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Covestro Deutschland AG
    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Continental AG
    • Member of the Supervisory Board of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE

    Member of the Supervisory Board since August 2015

    Prof. Dr. Rolf Nonnenmacher, born 1954, studied business administration at the University of Regensburg, Germany. Following his doctorate from the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Rolf Nonnenmacher joined KPMG in 1981 and became Partner in 1987. He has served as German senior partner from 2005 and as Chairman resp. Co-Chairman of KPMG Europe from 2007 until retirement in 2013.

    In 2014 Nonnenmacher joined Lazard & Co. GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany, as senior advisor and became member of the supervisory board and chairman of the audit committee of Continental AG (Hannover). In 2015 he became member of the supervisory board and chairman of the audit committee of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE (Unterföhring).

    Nonnenmacher has been appointed as member of the Regierungskommission Deutscher Corporate Governance Kodex (German Corporate Governance Code) in 2016 and as Chairman of the Commission in 2017.

    Nonnenmacher is Certified Accountant and honorary professor at the Goethe University in Frankfurt.

  • Regine Stachelhaus Open or Close

    Year of Birth: 1955
    Nationality: German

    Position:

    • Member of various supervisory boards
    • Former Member of the Board of Management and Labor Director of E.ON AG

    Memberships in other Supervisory Boards:

    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Covestro Deutschland AG
    • Member of the Supervisory Board of SPIE GmbH
    • Member of the Supervisory Board of METRO AG (since February 2017)
    • Director SPIE SA, France
    • Non-Executive Director ComputaCenter plc, United Kingdom

    Member of the Supervisory Board since October 2015

    Regine Stachelhaus, born 1955, studied law at the University of Tübingen. She began her career at a German law firm. In 1984 she joined Hewlett Packard GmbH and held a number of positions in administration before serving as Managing Director from 2000 to 2009. In May 2002 she was appointed Vice President of Imaging and Printing Group in Germany. In 2009, Stachelhaus joined the German committee for UNICEF as Executive Secretary.

    In 2010 she was appointed Head of Human Resources and Member of the Board of Directors of E.ON SE Germany, a major energy company included in the EUROSTOXX 50 Index. From July 2013 until June 2015 she has been a senior consultant to the chief executive officer of E.ON SE. Since 2013 she holds the position as a director of the British Group Computacenter and since 2014 of the French Group SPIE SA and since 2015 as a member of the supervisory board of SPIE GmbH (Essen). In February 2017 she has become Member of the Supervisory Board of Metro AG. Furthermore, she is a member of the University Council, Furtwangen, Germany.

  • Marc Stothfang Open or Close

    Year of Birth: 1966
    Nationality: German

    Position:

    • Chair of the Works Council of Covestro at the Brunsbüttel site
    • Chair of Covestro-European Forum
    • Employee of Covestro Deutschland AG

    Member of the Supervisory Board since February 2017

    Marc Stothfang, born 1966, joined Bayer AG at the Brunsbüttel site in 1984 where he successfully completed his apprenticeship to become chemistry technician (Chemiefacharbeiter). After a first assignment in the Coatings Division in Leverkusen he changed back to Brunsbüttel in 1988 to work in the MDI plant. In 1994 he became ‘Master Craftsman’ with an assignment in the TDI plant in Brunsbüttel.

    Stothfang was elected member of the works council at the Brunsbüttel site in 2002. Since 2006 he is exempt member of the works council and since 2009 chairman of the works council at the Brunsbüttel site.

  • Frank Werth Open or Close

    Year of Birth: 1970
    Nationality: German

    Position:

    • District Manager of the German Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union (IG BCE) – district Leverkusen

    Memberships in other Supervisory Boards:

    • Member of the Supervisory Board of Covestro Deutschland AG (since September 2016)

    Member of the Supervisory Board since September 2016

    Translation in Progress

Committees of the Supervisory Board

Approving the Annual Report, monitoring risk management or appointing members of the Board of Management – certain topics are initially dealt with by the Supervisory Board committees. Covestro has four such committees made up of various members of the Supervisory Board. Find detailed information on each committee here below.

  • Presidial Committee Open or Close

    This comprises the Chair and Vice Chair of the Supervisory Board along with a further stockholder representative and a further employee representative. The Presidial Committee serves primarily as the mediation committee pursuant to the German Codetermination Act. lt has the task of submitting proposals to the Supervisory Board on the appointment of members of the Board of Management if the necessary two-thirds majority is not achieved in the first vote at a plenary meeting. Certain decision-making powers in connection with capital measures, including the power to amend the Articles of Incorporation accordingly, have also been delegated to this committee.

    Members

    • Dr. Richard Pott (Chairman)
    • Peter Hausmann
    • Petra Kronen
    • Regine Stachelhaus

  • Audit Committee Open or Close

    The Audit Committee comprises three stockholder representatives and three employee representatives. The Chair of the Audit Committee in the reporting year, Prof. Dr. Rolf Nonnenmacher, satisfies the statutory requirements concerning expertise in the field of accounting or auditing that at least one member of the Supervisory Board and the Audit Committee is required to possess and is independent pursuant to Section 5.4.2 of the German Corporate Governance Code. The Audit Committee meets regularly four times a year. lt monitors the accounting process and is responsible for examining the financial statements, consolidated financial statements and management reports and for discussing the quarterly and half-yearly reporting with the Board of Management On the basis of the auditor’s report, the Audit Committee develops proposals for resolutions by the Supervisory Board relating to the confirmation of the financial statements, the approval of the consolidated financial statements and the use of the distributable profit.

    The Audit Committee is also responsible for the company's relationship with the external auditor. It submits a proposal to the full Supervisory Board concerning the auditor's appointment and is authorized to award the audit contract to the audit firm appointed on behalf of the Supervisory Board and to agree the auditor's remuneration. It also suggests areas of focus for the audit and monitors the quality of the audit as well as the independence and qualifications of the auditor.

    In addition, the Audit Committee monitors the effectiveness of the internal control system, the risk management system, the internal audit system and the compliance function.

    Members

    • Prof. Dr. Rolf Nonnenmacher (Chairman)
    • Johannes Dietsch
    • Peter Hausmann
    • Petra Kronen
    • Irena Küstner
    • Dr. Richard Pott

  • Human Resources Committee Open or Close

    On this committee, too, there is parity of representation between stockholders and employees. lt consists of the Chair of the Supervisory Board and three other members. The Human Resources Committee prepares the personnel decisions of the full Supervisory Board, which resolves on appointments or dismissals of members of the Board of Management. The Human Resources Committee resolves on behalf of the Supervisory Board on the service contracts of the members of the Board of Management. However, it is the task of the full Supervisory Board, based on the recommendations submitted by the Human Resources Committee, to resolve on the total compensation of the individual members of the Board of Management and the respective compensation components, as well as to regularly review the compensation system. The Human Resources Committee also discusses the long-term succession planning for the Board of Management.

    Members

    • Dr. Richard Pott (Chairman)
    • Johannes Dietsch
    • Dr. Ing. Thomas Fischer
    • Petra Kronen

  • Nominations Committee Open or Close

    This committee carries out preparatory work when an election of stockholder representatives to the Supervisory Board is to be held. It suggests suitable candidates for the Supervisory Board to propose to the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting for election. The Nominations Committee comprises the Chair of the Supervisory Board and another stockholder representative on the Presidial Committee.

    Members

    • Dr. Richard Pott
    • Regine Stachelhaus