How the Executive Board and
Supervisory Board operate

R. STAHL AG's Supervisory Board is formed in accordance with Germany's One-Third Participation Act (DrittelbG) and consists of nine members (thereof eight positions filled currently). Three members are employee representatives, and the other six (thereof five positions filled currently) are shareholder representatives. Three of the six members of the capital side are from the founding families. In the opinion of the Supervisory Board, more than half of these members should be independent within the meaning of the recommendations under Chapter C. of the German Corporate Governance Code as amended on December 16, 2019, i.e. at least four members. According to the recommendations in C. 6 and C. 7 (independence from the company and its Management Board), the indicators listed there as well as the recommendations in C. 9 and the explanatory statement of the Code on C. 6 (independence from a controlling shareholder), all shareholder representatives are currently independent in the opinion of the Supervisory Board. R. STAHL's international customer orientation is also reflected in the Supervisory Board, which includes several members with experience abroad. As a result of Nadine Ernstberger joining the Supervisory Board on the employee side on July 1, 2020, three members are now women; the quota is therefore now 33.33%.

There are no conflicts of interest among the current members of the Supervisory Board; in the case of new candidates, careful checks are carried out in advance to establish whether there are any conflicts of interest. On December 31, 2020, members of the Supervisory Board held 2.37% of the voting capital. For the remuneration of the Supervisory Board, please refer to the itemised and individualised presentation in the Remuneration Report (Annual Report for 2019).

The Supervisory Board of R. STAHL AG has the task of appointing the Executive Board of the company, supervising it in the management of the business and assisting it in an advisory capacity.

The Supervisory Board meets at least five times a year to discuss the issues under discussion and to pass the necessary resolutions, usually on the basis of reports submitted by the Executive Board and documents received in advance to prepare for the meeting. In 2020, the Board met seven times, including a constituent meeting. If necessary, the Supervisory Board convenes for additional or extraordinary meetings. The possibility of adopting resolutions by written circular is used relatively rarely and only in cases that are particularly urgent. Minutes of the meetings are prepared and distributed to all members of the Supervisory Board as well as to the Executive Board of the company (only insofar as it participated). Resolutions passed by circular letter are documented in the form of minutes of the adoption of the resolutions.

In addition to the constant discussion of strategic issues, the Supervisory Board decides on the adoption of the annual financial statements and examines the planning for the next three years submitted to it by the Executive Board. In addition, the Supervisory Board deals with the analysis of the operational development of R. STAHL Group as well as with questions of risk management and compliance.

In personal meetings as well as through verbal or written statements, the Executive Board regularly informs the Chairman of the Supervisory Board about the development of the company and discusses current issues with him. Where necessary, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board reports on the topics discussed between the Executive Board and him at the meetings of the Board.

Each year, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board describes the activities of the Supervisory Board and its committees in his report to the shareholders, which is printed in the Annual Report. It is also available at the Annual General Meeting and will be read out on request.

In the 2020 reporting year, the Supervisory Board again followed the recommendations of the GCGC and complied with them to the extent that seems appropriate for a company of the size of R. STAHL AG in terms of good corporate governance. The Declaration of Compliance issued in December 2019 and updated on 1 October 2020 due to the introduction of an anonymous whistle-blower system is available to shareholders on the R. STAHL AG website and in the Annual Report.

The Supervisory Board conducts an annual self-assessment (formerly "efficiency review") with the help of a continuously developed questionnaire. The questionnaire covers all areas of the Board's work, such as the supply of information, the culture of discussion and the cooperation among each other. The evaluation is anonymous. The results are submitted to the Chairman of the Supervisory Board who presents them in detail to the entire Board for discussion at the following meeting. Jointly gained insights are implemented.

The Supervisory Board has formed two committees: the Audit Committee and the Administration Committee.

Since the 2018 Annual General Meeting, the Audit Committee has consisted of the Chairwoman Dr Renate Neumann-Schäfer, her Deputy Peter Leischner as well as Andreas Müller and Nikolaus Simeonidis (since July 30, 2020). According to the rules of procedure, the Audit Committee is mandated and authorised to deal in particular with issues of accounting, risk management and compliance, the tendering of the audit mandate, the required independence of the auditor, the issuing of the audit mandate to the auditor, the determination of audit focal points and the fee agreement. It prepares decisions of the Supervisory Board in this regard and makes recommendations for the resolutions. It discusses half-yearly and any quarterly reports with the Executive Board prior to their publication. The committee regularly deals with the quality of the audit of the financial statements and is ultimately responsible, on behalf of the entire Board, for approving the commissioning of consultancy services from the auditor elected by the Annual General Meeting (Executive Board transaction requiring approval). The meetings of the Audit Committee are chaired by the Chairwoman. In the event of a tie vote, the Chairwoman has an additional vote. The Audit Committee held three meetings in 2020.

The Administrative Committee currently consists of the Chairman Peter Leischner, his Deputy Heike Dannenbauer and Klaus Erker. In accordance with the Rules of Procedure, the Administrative Committee makes recommendations to the full Supervisory Board on the appointment, reappointment and dismissal of members of the Executive Board and the CEO, taking into account diversity. Furthermore, the committee prepares decisions of the Supervisory Board on the remuneration system for the Executive Board and submits corresponding resolution proposals also for an appropriate total remuneration of the individual Executive Board members. The committee negotiates and decides on the service contract and other contractual matters of the Executive Board, taking into account the decisions of the full Supervisory Board, and concludes contracts with the Executive Board members on behalf of the Supervisory Board. At least once a year, the committee discusses long-term succession planning together with the Executive Board and submits a proposal to the Supervisory Board for the relevant wording in the corporate governance statement. Finally, the Administrative Committee is responsible on behalf of the entire body for approving the conclusion of transactions with members of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board as well as with their related parties, insofar as the value exceeds € 5,000.00 in an individual case (transaction of the Executive Board requiring approval). The meetings of the Administrative Committee are chaired by its Chairman. In the event of a tie vote, the Chairman has an additional vote. The Administrative Committee held six meetings in 2020 and also met several times outside of meetings or discussed matters by telephone in the course of dealing with Executive Board matters.

The Strategy Committee, which was established in 2014, was dissolved by the Supervisory Board in March 2020 - after initially not being reappointed following the re-election of the capital side of the Supervisory Board at the 2018 Annual General Meeting. Corporate strategy is dealt with by the full Supervisory Board.