German companies will shortly find themselves graded against the new Cromme code on corporate governance. The German analysts' association, DVFA, has devised a scorecard for measuring compliance with the code. The benchmarking exercise is sure to exert peer pressure on companies, and firms performing poorly will doubtless hear from international investors.

The government-backed code, released in February, was the work of a commission chaired by Gerhard Cromme, chairman of ThyssenKrupp.