04/12/13

After five years in office, Herman Daems feels that the time is right to hand over the reins. Thomas Leysen will take over as Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee (hereafter referred to as “the Committee”) in March 2014.

Herman Daems has been the Committee’s chairman since 2008, so he was closely involved in revising the first Belgian Corporate Governance Code and publishing the new version in 2009 (the 2009 Code). A number of explanatory notes were also drawn up during his tenure as chairman in the aim of helping listed companies to apply their corporate governance policies. Several legislative initiatives have been taken in the field of corporate governance in recent years. Against this backdrop, the Code retained its special status and was recognised as the reference point for Belgian listed companies by a Royal Decree issued in June 2010.

Referring to the change of chairmanship, Herman Daems said: “It makes sense to do it now. The composition of the Committee was altered on 30 May 2013 and a change of chairman is the next logical step.” He added that Thomas Leysen, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Umicore and KBC Group, was well placed to take over at the helm of the Committee. Thomas Leysen is a Belgian businessman with considerable experience working on boards at international level and has been a member of the Committee for a number of years.

Press release