The Austrian Corporate Governance Code was presented by the Austrian Working Group for Corporate Governance in 2002 and has been available in a new version since January 2009.

The code is a voluntary commitment and goes beyond the legal requirements for a corporation. The aim of this code is responsible management and control oriented toward long-term value creation which governs all rights and obligations of all stakeholders - management, supervisory board, employees, shareholders and the general public - as well as their relationship with one another.

This code is supposed to guarantee a high degree of transparency for all stakeholders. In December 2007 the Corporate Governance Code was supplementary interpreted and also covers now Societas Europeae (SE) based in Austria.

The Austrian Corporate Governance Code comprises a total of 83 regulations which are divided into three categories:

1. Legal Requirement (L):
   Regulation is based on compulsory legal requirements.
   
   
2. Comply or Explain (C):
   Rule should be followed; any deviation must be explained and justified in order to comply with correct behavior pursuant to the code. 
   
   
3. Recommendation (R):
   A regulation which is considered as a recommendation; Non-compliance need neither be disclosed or justified.

Please note: zhe complete original text of the code can be found at www.corporate-governance.at