FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Siemens AG, which faces investigations over bribery and corruption allegations, said Wednesday it has created a new position on its executive board for overseeing legal and compliance matters.
Investigators in Italy, Germany and the United States are looking into bribery and corruption allegations against the Munich-based company, one of Europe's biggest conglomerates.
Investigators are probing allegations that employees of Siemens, whose offerings range from communications networks to trams, paid hundreds of millions of euros in bribes to land telecom deals.
At a meeting of its supervisory board, the U.S. equivalent to a board of directors, the company approved the creation of a new executive board position. It said Peter Solmssen will become the board's general counsel on Oct. 1, overseeing responsibility for legal and compliance issues.
The company also said it had appointed Andreas Pohlmann to be its new chief compliance officer. Also, as of Oct. 1, all of Siemens' audit activities will be merged into a new corporate finance audit, with Hans Winter overseeing its operations.
The new unit will report to Chief Financial Officer Joe Kaeser.
Shares of Siemens rose more than 3 percent to 91.33 euros ($126.65) in trading Wednesday in Frankfurt.
