Notes to the consolidated accounts as of December 31, 2007 (in accordance with IFRSs)
I. General explanatory notes
General information on the Group
FI Equity Partners B.V., a wholly-owned subsidiary of ABN AMRO N.V., and MLQ Investors L.P., an indirect 100% subsidiary of the Goldman Sachs Group Inc., hold 23.44% and 23.25% respectively of GFKL Financial Services AG, Essen, the parent company of the GFKL Group. The ERGO Versicherungsgruppe AG holds an indirect share of 15.88% of GFKL Financial Services AG via a 100% holding in ERGO companies VICTORIA Versicherung AG and Hamburg-Mannheimer Sachversicherungs AG. WestLB AG, Düsseldorf/Münster, also holds 4.67% of the share capital. 2.09% is held by GFKL Financial Services AG as own shares. These shares were tendered for sale to GFKL Financial Services AG by former shareholders in ABIT AG as part of the merger of ABIT AG with GFKL Financial Services AG. As part of its merger agreement with ABIT AG, GFKL Financial Services AG undertook to offer all former shareholders in ABIT AG the option of selling back their GFKL shares acquired during the merger. The remaining shares are spread between institutional and private investors, members of the Executive Board and employees. The company is domiciled at Limbecker Platz 1, Essen, Germany. It is entered as HRB no. 13522 in the commercial register of the district court in Essen.
Along with the holding company GFKL Financial Services AG, the GFKL Group consists of 52 fully consolidated subsidiaries and secondtier subsidiaries. Moreover, the subsidiaries participate in six associated companies and have one other holding. An overview of direct and indirect holdings is attached as a special annex to these notes.
The consolidated financial statement for the business year 2007 was released for publication on March 14, 2008 pursuant to a resolution passed by the management.