Business Channel 2007-04-28&30

时间：2007-08-02 06:18:05

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He was never implicated¹ in the Siemens bribery² allegations, but Klaus Kleinfeld will have to pay the price. After a meeting of the supervisory board, Klaus Kleinfeld announced he would not be available for another term as CEO of the company.

An uncertain position is not acceptable for our staffs, our customers, our shareholders³ and also for me. I do this at a time when the company is performing extremely well and with a outcome of the corruption⁵ investigation⁶ is coming together well.

Europe’s largest engineering company has been in the headlines for a month after authorities raided several company officers and a senior executive was taken into custody⁷, charged with embezzlement⁸, and later released on bail⁹. The allegations against Siemens, slush funds, embezzlement of company money, and bribery to win contracts. All of the alleged¹⁰ activities took place before Kleinfeld became Siemens CEO in 2005. And through all the turmoil¹¹, company performance has remained strong. On Tuesday, the company posted better than expected preliminary second quarter earnings¹². Klaus Kleinfeld remains¹³ popular among most Siemens shareholders.

Klaus Kleinfeld’s numbers are good. I see no reason for him to step down. There was no wrongdoing. At least it was never proven, says Klaus Nieding of the German Shareholders Union.

Last Friday, band chairman of the Siemens supervisory board, Heinrich Von Pierer announced he would step down in a bid to get the company out of the headlines, he said. Von Pierer , who was Siemens CEO from 1992 to 2005, was the first top level Siemens executive to step down in relation to the allegations. Jermyn Brooks¹⁴ of Transparency International says he believes the coming month will continue to be difficult for Siemens Corporate¹⁵ reputation.

It's gonna be very complex, there are investigations¹⁶, not just in Germany, but they will be taken up in the United States. And we know that it is very difficult for companies from previous experience. We know it’s very difficult for companies themselves to be fully¹⁷ in control of that process.

But Klaus Kleinfeld will no longer be in charge of that process. It’s only two years at the helm of the company. He will step down at the end of September.

As CEO, Klaus Kleinfeld spearheaded the investigation into the bribery allegations at Siemens. He hired outside investigators¹⁸ to help bring the truth to light, he says. And one thing, he says he want to make abundantly clear he believes he’s done nothing wrong.

Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

NOTES:

1. embezzlement

Fraudulent appropriation¹⁹, for one's own use, of property lawfully²¹ in one's possession; type of larceny²². Embezzlement is often associated with bank employees, public officials, or officers of organizations, who may in the course of their lawful²⁰ activities come into possession of property, such as money, actually owned by others.

2. spearhead v.

to lead an attack or organized action:

3. slush fund

A fund (or something similar) that does not have a designated purpose. These types of funds are often illegal,especially:
A fund raised by a group for corrupt⁴ practices, such as bribery or graft²³.

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Business Channel 2007-04-28&30

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