On 26 February 2002 a government commission handed the federal government the German Corporate Governance Code. It collects principles and recommendations for the boards of listed companies that are recognized als Standards guter und verantwortungsvoller Unternehmensführung, as standards of good and responsible management. The code is not law. But the Stock Corporation Act requires every listed company to declare once a year whether it follows the code’s recommendations. It must also state which recommendations it does not follow, and why.