(1) The members of the supervisory board are elected by the general meeting unless they are to be delegated to the supervisory board or are to be elected as supervisory board members representing the employees pursuant to the Employee Co-Determination Act, the Supplementary Co-determination Act, the Act on One-Third Employee Representation in the Supervisory Board, the Act on Employee Co-Determination in the Case of a Cross-Border Merger or the Act on Employee Co-Determination in the Case of a Cross-Border Change of the Legal Form or of a Cross-Border Division. The general meeting is bound by nominations exclusively pursuant to sections 6 and 8 of the Act on Employee Co-Determination in the Iron- and Steel-Producing Industry.
(2) Solely the by-laws may establish a right to delegate members to the supervisory board, and this only for certain stockholders or for the respective holders of certain shares of stock. The delegation right may be conferred upon the holders of certain shares of stock only if the shares of stock are registered in the names of their holders and their transfer is bound to the consent of the company. The shares of stock held by the parties entitled to delegate representatives are not considered a special class of stock. The delegation rights may be conferred, in the aggregate, for at most a third of the number of supervisory board members representing the stockholders as stipulated by the law or in the by-laws.
(3) No deputies of members of the supervisory board may be appointed. However, a substitute member may be appointed for each member of the supervisory board, to the exception of the further member elected at the nomination of the remaining members of the supervisory board pursuant to the Act on Employee Co-Determination in the Iron- and Steel-Producing Industry or the Supplementary Co-determination Act; this substitute member will become a member of the supervisory board if the member of the supervisory board ceases to hold such office prior to expiry of their term of office. The substitute member may be appointed only concurrently with the member of the supervisory board. The provisions applying to the supervisory board member are to be applied to the appointment of the substitute member, as well as to cases in which the appointment is null and void or an action for avoidance is brought.