General changes

• The recommendations which companies are intended to follow or explain deviations from are now in a numbered sequence.
• A short introduction in a shaded text box can now be found at the beginning of most chapters of the Guidelines.
• Many of the recommendations now have additional commentary that is marked specifically as such.
• The wording of the Guidelines has been harmonised so that now, for instance, the phrase 'The Board shall'
• The "comply or explain" principle is outlined and instructions on how to explain deviations from the guidelines are laid out in the introduction chapter.
• In the previous versions a special annex on public companies was included but such an annex is not to be found in the latest edition.