General information on Corporate Governance at Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA

German stock corporation law sets out the statutory framework of corporate governance. Pursuant to § 161 AktG, the executive board and the supervisory board of a listed company are required to submit each year a declaration as to whether and to what extent that company has complied (retrospective) or will comply (forward-looking) with the recommendations of the "Government Commission of the German Corporate Governance Code" contained in the German Corporate Governance Code as published in the official section of the electronic Federal Gazette. Although companies may opt to deviate from the Code, they are then obligated to disclose this on an annual basis, providing an explanation for their non-compliance ("comply or explain"). This option exists to ensure that companies are able to meet industry- or company-specific requirements. A well-founded deviation from a recommendation of the Code may be in the interest of sound corporate governance.

The Code is generally reviewed once annually and amended as required. It reflects basic statutory guidelines concerning the management and supervision of listed German companies as well as internationally and nationally recognised standards for sound and responsible corporate governance. In addition to formulating best practices for management, the Code is intended to ensure that corporate governance in Germany is transparent and open to scrutiny and to promote confidence in the management and supervision of listed German companies amongst international and national investors, customers, employees and the public.

Although a large number of the Code's recommendations (expressed using the word "shall") are intended exclusively for German stock corporations (Aktiengesellschaft, "AG"), they may also be applied mutatis mutandis to partnerships limited by shares (Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien, "KGaA"), i.e., our Company as well.

A KGaA is a hybrid corporate form combining elements of a German stock corporation and a limited partnership (Kommanditgesellschaft). It is a separate legal entity whose share capital is divided into shares which are held by at least one shareholder (the general partner) that has unlimited liability against creditors of the Company and limited liability shareholders (Kommanditaktionäre) that are not personally liable for the debts of the company (§ 278 (1) AktG).

The key differences between a KGaA and a German stock corporation can be characterised as follows:

• Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA does not have an executive board. Instead, the general partner, Borussia Dortmund Geschäftsführungs-GmbH, is solely responsible for its management and representation. This German limited liability company (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, "GmbH") is in turn represented by one or more managing directors; its sole shareholder is Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund.
• The rights and duties of the KGaA's Supervisory Board, which is appointed by the Annual General Meeting, are limited. Specifically, it has no authority to appoint and dismiss Managing Directors of Borussia Dortmund Geschäftsführungs-GmbH or to stipulate the terms of their service agreements. Nor is the Supervisory Board authorised to adopt internal rules of procedure or a list of transactions requiring its consent on behalf of the general partner. Rather, such rights and duties are vested in the governing bodies of Borussia Dortmund Geschäftsführungs-GmbH, namely its Advisory Board and the Executive Committee created by the Advisory Board.
• Additional features specific to the KGaA's Annual General Meeting are set forth primarily in §§ 285 and 286 (1) AktG and in the Company's Articles of Association.

As a consequence, a Declaration of Conformity in accordance with § 161 AktG must be submitted by the management of the general partner and the Supervisory Board of Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA, taking into account the specific characteristics of the KGaA's legal form and the provisions of the Articles of Association. The Declaration of Conformity must be made permanently available to shareholders on the Company's website. It is published on the investor relations website, aktie.bvb.de/eng, under "Corporate Governance". In addition, the Declaration of Conformity submitted in September 2019, as reproduced below, is an integral part of this corporate governance declaration.

While the Company's corporate governance report presented here is published as part of the corporate governance declaration (on the Company's website aktie.bvb.de/eng under "Corporate Governance" / "Corporate governance declaration"), the corporate governance reports for the 2017/2018 and previous financial years were published in the annual reports for the respective financial years. These are available on our investor relations website aktie.bvb.de/eng, under "Publications".

Transparency

The Company provides the limited liability shareholders, shareholders' associations, financial analysts and the general public regular notifications regarding the position of the Company and on material business developments.

In particular, we publish ad hoc disclosures and corporate news on our website, as well as voting rights notifications and managers' transactions notifications submitted to us, information on the shareholder structure, the current version of the Articles of Association and the financial calendar.

The financial calendar includes the dates for key Company events, and can be accessed online at aktie.bvb.de/eng, under "Financial Calendar".

As in previous years, the Annual Press Conference on the "preliminary" figures of the previous financial year will be streamed live so that the general public may watch the conference online in real time.

The previous year's Annual General Meeting was convened in due and proper form and held on 26 November 2018. In compliance with the German Corporate Governance Code, the reports and documents required by law were made available for inspection; these were given to the limited liability shareholders upon request and were published on the Company's website together with the agenda. The resolutions on all agenda items were approved, with votes in favour ranging between 98.40% and 99.97% of the votes cast.

The next Annual General Meeting of Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA will take place on 25 November 2019 in Dortmund.

The half-yearly and other interim financial reports shall be published at the intervals recommended in the Code. The Company will provide further details via ad hoc announcements. The consolidated financial statements, the Group management report and the interim financial reports are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the member states of the EU. The annual financial statements and management report of Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA were and will continue to be prepared in accordance with the provisions of the German Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch, "HGB") and the German Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz, "AktG").

Our Company stands for more than "just" football and takes its corporate social responsibility into account. A first, voluntary sustainability report covered the 2016/2017 financial year, i.e. the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017, and was based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards (Core option). The sustainability reports for subsequent financial years (i.e. from the 2017/2018 financial year onwards) also contain a separate non-financial Group report in accordance with § 315b (3) HGB. The sustainability reports are published online at aktie.bvb.de/eng under "Corporate Governance", sub-heading "Sustainability Report".

Moreover, we publish analysts' recommendations and research studies on our website aktie.bvb.de/eng, under "BVB Share", sub-heading "Capital Market View", in order to facilitate communication with market participants.

Customers, fans and the public alike can also find additional information on the Company – including e.g. CVs and overviews of the key duties of Supervisory Board members as well as further information on the managing directors of the general partner – at aktie.bvb.de/eng.

A considerable number of publications on our website have been and will continue to be made available in English.

In accordance with section 5.4.2 of the German Corporate Governance Code, the Supervisory Board shall include what it considers an adequate number of independent members, thereby taking into account the shareholder structure. In assessing independence, the Code states that Supervisory Board members are to be considered non-independent in particular if they have a personal or business relationship with the corporation, its governing bodies, a controlling (limited liability) shareholder or a company affiliated with the controlling (limited liability) shareholder that may cause a substantial and not merely temporary conflict of interest. The Supervisory Board of Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA believes that it is sufficient and adequate for at least a third of the nine members it comprises (i.e. three members) to be independent within the meaning of the German Corporate Governance Code. The Supervisory Board classifies all of its current members (Ms Silke Seidel, Mr Bernd Geske, Mr Bjørn Gulden, Mr Christian Kullmann, Mr Ulrich Leitermann, Dr Reinhold Lunow, Mr Gerd Pieper and Mr Peer Steinbrück) as independent within this meaning.

The Notes to the financial statements and the management report contain disclosures on the remuneration of the general partner and the members of the Supervisory Board, and the Annual Report contains disclosures on the ownership of Company shares by the general partner and members of its management and by the members of the Supervisory Board. Due to the specific characteristics of the KGaA legal form, there exists no obligation to disclose the remuneration of individual Managing Directors of the general partner of the Company, Borussia Dortmund Geschäftsführungs-GmbH, as would normally be the case for the members of the executive boards of listed German stock corporations. Nonetheless, we have presented the remuneration of individual Managing Directors in the notes to the annual and consolidated financial statements on a voluntary basis.

Dortmund, 9 September 2019

On behalf of the Supervisory Board

Gerd Pieper
Chairman

On behalf of Borussia Dortmund Geschäftsführungs-GmbH