Wiedeking Almost Cleared by Prosecutors, Not by Porsche

German carmaker Porsche published yesterday a release in which it states the conclusions reached by the German public prosecutors against its former CEO, Wendelin Wiedeking and Holger P. Harter.

The punch-line is that "the examination and the expert reports come to the conclusion that there was no infringement of the law."

However, the carmaker itself has other thoughts. "The executive board and the supervisory board feel that the resolution to exonerate the two former members of the executive board should not be taken until investigations have been completed," Porsche says.

"Accordingly, the executive board and the supervisory board will propose to the annual general meeting on 29 January 2010 that the resolution on exonerating the former executive board members Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking and Holger P. Härter for the fiscal year 2008/09 be postponed."

On the other fronts, the changes Porsche's management is making within the organization in light of the projected merger with Volkswagen continue with the latest announcement from Stuttgart, which calls for the alignment of the company's fiscal year with the calendar year.

The manufacturer's supervisory board intends to make the proposal during the next annual general meeting on January 29. Currently, the fiscal year runs from August 1 of one year to July 31 of the following year.

According to Porsche, if the change is approved, the carmaker will have an abbreviated 2010-2011 fiscal year, running from August 1 2010 to December 31 2010. 2011 is to be the first fiscal year which would match the calendar one.