Directors of German companies will have to adjust quickly to the new corporate governance code in Germany, according to senior figures at a seminar last week in Frankfurt, organised by the Deutsche Aktieninstitut (DAI).

Details of the new corporate governance regime will be published this week by the Cromme Commission, a group set up under the leadership of Gerhard Cromme, co-chairman of ThyssenKrupp, the German steel giant. At the seminar, senior academics and legal experts warned that under the code, company directors will face onerous responsibilities to their shareholders, which could leave them open to legal action.