The AK welcomes the analysis of the Commission concerning the causes of the financial crisis. The shortcomings of Corporate Governance within financial institutes, which were exposed because of the financial crisis, were addressed in a very clear and open manner. In addition to the already known weaknesses in the area of “checks and balances”, the role of shareholders has also been critically assessed for the first time. The continuously growing shareholder category with an extremely short investment horizon (three to six months) is more and more becoming a problem, as this group is only interested in short-term capital gains for which it accepts even greater risks. In connection with the shareholder value approach, which has been enforced for years - also by the Commission - namely the alignment of interests of shareholders and management through remuneration models, which are increasingly oriented towards share prices, the ground had been prepared for increasingly riskier business models.