SIE Siemens AG

By Mengqi Sun 

Siemens AG has promoted an internal lawyer to oversee the company's global compliance organization, the company said Friday.

Annette Kraus, 45 years old, has been named chief compliance officer of the German industrial company. She succeeds Martina Maier, who is leaving the company for personal reasons, the company said.

Ms. Kraus, who takes on the role effective Saturday, will bring her years of expertise in compliance to the position, the company said. She joined Siemens in 2009 and most recently served as the chief counsel compliance and head of the global investigation team, after serving in a variety of the company's compliance management positions. She worked as a compliance adviser before joining Siemens, according to a statement from the company announcing her appointment.

"Annette Kraus has demonstrated her ability very successfully in a wide variety of positions at Siemens for more than ten years," Andreas Hoffmann, general counsel and head of the legal and compliance department at Siemens, said in the statement.

The German company has faced ongoing legal challenges in connection with alleged compliance violations in countries such as Israel and Brazil, according to the company's 2020 annual report.

Siemens listed current and future investigations regarding allegations of corruption, antitrust violations and other possible violations as a compliance risk factor in the annual report.

The company in 2008 pleaded guilty to violations of and charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act over allegations that the company bribed government officials in various countries to win contracts, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Siemens agreed to pay a $448.5 million fine as part of the plea agreements. The company also resolved similar charges with the Munich Public Prosecutor's Office, according to the Justice Department.

"Any findings related to public corruption that are not covered by the 2008 and 2009 corruption charge settlements, which we concluded with U.S. and German authorities, may endanger our business with government agencies and intergovernmental and supranational organizations," the company said in its 2020 annual report.

Siemens has also been monitoring and taking into account possible compliance risks in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic, according to its 2020 sustainability report.

"Our integrity is not up for negotiation," Joe Kaeser, Siemens's chief executive, said in the sustainability report. "Compliance with the law will always be the basis of all our business."

Write to Mengqi Sun at mengqi.sun@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 30, 2021 16:06 ET (20:06 GMT)

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