Siemens AGM to decide 9 managers' settlements

FRANKFURT -- German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG said Wednesday it had reached tentative settlement agreements with nine former board members, including two former chief executives, in relation to a massive bribery scandal at the company.

Siemens said it had come to agreements with former CEOs Heinrich von Pierer and Kaus Kleinfeld. Kleinfeld is currently the CEO of aluminum company Alcoa Inc. of Pittsburgh.

Munich-based Siemens, which makes a wide variety of products, including wind turbines and trams, did not provide financial details of the recent settlements. They will have to be approved by shareholders at the company's annual general meeting, Jan., 26.

Siemens has area operations in Buffalo Grove, Deerfield, Chicago, Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg, Glen Ellyn, Elk Grove, Mundelein, Oak Brook, Rolling Meadows, and Wood Dale.

It said it had also come to agreements with Johannes Feldmayer, Juergen Radomski, Uriel Sharef, and Karl Hermann Baumann, all former management or supervisory board members.

In August, Siemens said it had come to agreements with former board members Klaus Wucherer, Rudi Lamprecht and Edward Krubasik, who agreed to pay the company ȢȢ₈¬Ã…ˆ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ˆ¬500,000 ($755,000) each, pending shareholder approvals.

Last December, Siemens agreed to pay more than $1 billion in fines in Germany and the United States, for, among other charges, allegedly giving customers payments to secure business, especially internationally. The scandal unfolded in 2006.

In a letter released after Siemens' announcement, Peter Loescher, Siemens' current CEO, said he was pleased the matter was more or less behind the company now.

"I have always emphasized that we would clarify responsibility and that we would follow this process through to the end," he wrote. "Our goal was also for the company to be at peace; at peace with its recent history, and with those who not only presided over a dark chapter of our history but also over major successes and important changes in direction."

Siemens said it has not yet come to an agreement with former board members Thomas Ganswindt and Heinz-Joachim Neubuerger who are still involved with a criminal investigation into the matter by the Munich prosecutor's office.

Siemens also said an agreement with yet another former board member, Guenter Wilhelm, had not been met and wouldn't be pursued until after a public prosecutors' office investigation into Wilhelm's involvement in an independent employee association was concluded. Siemens, is seeking damages from Wilhelm for the employee association matter.

Shares of Siemens were nearly unchanged at ȢȢ₈¬Ã…ˆ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ˆ¬67.60 in Frankfurt afternoon trading.