How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

We put high emphasis on our legal and compliance organisation having the right people, the right strategy and the right focus topics. To that effect, we have defined, and broadly communicated within our organisation, our very own framework to ensure that Legal and Compliance (LC) continues to be world-class, tailored to the specific needs of our company and kept current to address the learnings of the past, the dynamics of today and the demands of the future.

This framework which we call “LC Strategic Fundamentals” is structured along four decisive pillars (1) People (2) Global organisation (3) Business Proximity and (4) Essentials. Our LC Strategic Fundamentals are meant to be put into action and to provide clear strategic vision for our overall organisation – to know what we strive for and how we direct our overall focus and attention year-over-year. To make it more tangible, an important part of “Business Proximity” is a trusted advisor culture, early trend identification and alignment across operations. Delivering on our “Essentials” includes to ensure expertise in critical areas of law, understanding the geopolitical regulatory dynamics and driving tech acceleration and digital mindset.

What are the main cases or transactions that you have been involved in recently?

Our legal and compliance organisation is involved in all matters that are key to the Company and where we can contribute and serve the best interests of our company. With respect to main cases, we have been involved worldwide in negotiation and litigation matters which, to a significant portion, have been resulting from legacy topics in connection with not continued businesses. Other cases relate to regulatory focus topics (regulatory approval procedures, implementation, training, advocacy re. new regulatory frameworks, e.g. relating to digital services and AI). With respect to transactions, we are daily involved in a plenitude of business transactions of all kinds, be it during our business operations in general or be it in the context of corporate transactions. As to the latter, we are at any given time involved in a three-digit number of transaction projects covering the broad range from venture capital, to fund investments, to project financing to divestitures, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions. With all these corporate transactions we support our company on its way to become THE One Tech Company combining the real and the digital world. To name just one very recent transaction we have been working on, reference is made to our Company´s announcement on Oct. 30, 2024, to acquire Altair Engineering for a purchase price of approximately US$10bn.

How do you measure the impact of ESG initiatives on the company’s overall performance and reputation?

We define our environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ambitions within our DEGREE sustainability framework – a 360-degree approach reflecting our core sustainability values. We look at sustainability from every angle with clear and measurable ambitions in six fields of action – Decarbonisation, Ethics, Governance, Resource efficiency, Equity, and Employability.

These key performance indicators have been clearly defined for each action field, with progress documented in the annual report. One of these measurable key performance indicators, for example in the field of Ethics, is striving to train 100% of our people on Siemens’ Business Conduct Guidelines every three years.

How have you integrated technology into your legal processes, and what impact has this had on efficiency and compliance?

As a leading focused technology company, Siemens creates technology with purpose to transform the everyday. This is also true within our Legal team. We employ a variety of innovative technologies – including generative AI, smart contract generators, wizards, data and visualisation tools, and forensic technology – to continuously improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our function. Additionally, we use technology to embed legal and compliance safeguards in business processes to achieve scalable and automated risk management – for example, with real-time export control checks throughout the customer order and delivery lifecycle.