Deutsche Börse AG (ETR:DB1)

AGM 2026

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May 13, 2026

Reliable, transparent, innovative. That's your Deutsche Börse Group. Shareholders, shareholder representatives, ladies and gentlemen. As chairwoman of the supervisory board, I call this year's annual general meeting of Deutsche Börse AG to order. Pursuant to the company's articles of incorporation, I shall be presiding over this meeting. I'd like to welcome you very warmly on behalf of both the supervisory board and the executive board. Following last year's face-to-face AGM, the executive board decided to have another digital annual general meeting this year. This decision was mainly based on the company's positive experience with the virtual format in previous years, as well as on this year's agenda. When it comes to resolving on future AGM formats, the executive board will always bear in mind the items on the agenda and the interests of shareholders. As in previous years, shareholders' right to ask questions was deliberately not limited to the period preceding this AGM. In other words, dear shareholders, please feel free to raise any questions you might have as if this were a face-to-face event. I look forward to a lively debate with you. Ladies and gentlemen, before we proceed to the business to be transacted, allow me to make the following formal remarks. This AGM is being held pursuant to proper notice in the Federal Gazette on March 25th, 2026. Since that day, the notice of meeting and any other mandatory documents have been available on the company's website. All members of the supervisory and the executive board are present in person at today's virtual AGM. In addition, we'll be hearing from Claudia Nemat in a minute, who is standing as a shareholder representative on the supervisory board. I'm very pleased that Claudia is standing in this election. The minutes of this AGM will be kept by our notary, Dr. Martin Schmidt. Welcome, sir. Also present in the room are the two company-appointed proxies. Later on, they're going to exercise the voting rights entrusted to them as per shareholders' instructions. The full AGM is being streamed live for shareholders and any other interested parties. It is also being recorded by us. The record of attendance is being prepared even as we speak. I'm going to inform you about the attendance count once the record is completed or at the latest before the first vote. At this virtual AGM, voting rights can be exercised either by postal ballot or by giving power of attorney and instructions to the two company-appointed proxies. Our online service allows you to submit or amend postal votes on the agenda items until we've reached the end of the voting process. Should you wish to exercise your voting right by issuing instructions to the two company-appointed proxies, please do so when I'll let you know that the time has come during the vote. At today's virtual AGM, the right to speak, to ask for information, and to table motions can be exercised exclusively by using the video function of our online service. This means that questions may only be asked via video, as already announced in the notice of meeting. Please make sure that your contribution is limited to the items on the agenda or, if applicable, raises a point of order. In the interest of all shareholders, I would also ask you to be reasonably brief. As the meeting chair, it is my duty to ensure that the annual general meeting proceeds in a compliant and appropriate manner. This includes my authority to set time limits for speaking and questioning during the AGM should I deem this necessary, especially if there are registered speakers who have not yet had a chance to speak. With this in mind, I would ask you to register as a speaker right now if you plan to take the floor on any agenda items. This makes it easier for us to structure the debate we're going to have later on. Today's debate will be conducted as a general debate. That means that you can speak and ask questions about all the items before the meeting. If you wish to take the floor, please use the button labeled "Request to speak" in the online service. Live contributions can obviously only be made if there is a functioning video connection between you as a shareholder and the company. Just to be on the safe side, our technical team will therefore briefly test the video and audio quality of your connection. Contributions to the debate can only be made if your connection is working properly. To announce a motion or an election proposal, please use the button labeled "Motion, election proposal," which is also available in our online service. Please use this function if you wish to file a motion or submit a ballot nomination as part of your contribution. This will allow me to decide whether it's justified or necessary to prioritize your contribution over the other speaking requests. This AGM is being conducted in German with a non-binding convenience translation into English. Any questions asked in English will be translated into and answered in German. Mind you, this is a voluntary service. Please understand that we cannot guarantee the availability or the accuracy of the translation. Ladies and gentlemen, in addition to the buttons I've already mentioned, the main menu of our online service includes some other functions that allow shareholders to exercise their rights, including the right to lodge objections. Furthermore, if you think that any questions have not been answered, there's a function that lets you put this on the record. Should you wish to use these services, please do not wait until the very last minute as there may be delays in the internet stream. Ladies and gentlemen, I now proceed to the business to be transacted. Agenda item one deals with the adopted annual financial statements, the approved consolidated financial statements, the combined management report of Deutsche Börse AG and the group as at 31st December, 2025, and the explanatory report on disclosures pursuant to Sections 289A and 315A of the German Commercial Code, HGB. Furthermore, it deals with a report of the supervisory board and the proposal for the appropriation of unappropriated surplus. Dear shareholders, before I move on to the report of the supervisory board, I would like to thank you as chair of the supervisory board for your trust in Deutsche Börse Group. I have learned a great deal from our discussions. I look forward to today's exchange. I would also like to thank our clients for their loyalty and close cooperation. Building on this foundation, Deutsche Börse Group can create trust in the markets of today and tomorrow. Our business success demonstrates that we have once again achieved this. Stephan Leithner will report on this in a moment. This success cannot be taken for granted. The world has changed. Free trade is no longer a goal shared by all. German companies that rely strongly on export feel this particularly strongly. At least the EU has secured access to key markets through trading agreements, for example, with India and Australia. The real problems run deeper. The global political situation has only exacerbated them. Europe is losing its competitive edge. Reasons: an outdated infrastructure, high taxes, excessive bureaucracy, and inconsistent national regulations. On top of that comes structural change, which is putting pressure on business models that used to be highly profitable for German companies. When it comes to new technologies, Europe lags far behind, especially compared to the U.S. The numbers speak for themselves. In the U.S., labor productivity has risen by 85% over the past 30 years, in Europe by only 30%. With artificial intelligence, the gap is widening further. In the U.S., 43% of all workers already use AI on the job. In Germany, France, and Italy, the figure is in some cases well below one-third. On top of that, there are the consequences of global political crises, rising prices, strained national budgets, and insufficient funding for Europe's defense. All of this is dividing our society. It is becoming harder to form stable governments. Extreme parties are gaining support. These are not temporary shifts. We are paying the price for having failed to implement reforms for too long. At least Europe has recognized that there is need for change. We need more entrepreneurial spirit and less bureaucracy, more agility and less stagnation, more new ideas and less anxiety about the future. To achieve this, we must harness new technologies instead of restricting them. We must take bold steps forward. Germany and Europe must focus on growth, and politics will also have to be measured against the success of our company. I'm convinced that also 25 years after its initial public offering, Deutsche Börse Group continues to stand for growth. It strives to be a leader. With last year's successes and its Leading the Transformation strategy, it has proven this once again. I would like to thank the executive board and all employees of Deutsche Börse Group for their tremendous dedication and outstanding work also in 2025. Ladies and gentlemen, I will now provide you with an overview of the supervisory board's work during the past financial year. We focused on two key areas: the future orientation of Deutsche Börse Group and specific plans for further growth. When developing the Leading the Transformation strategy, the executive board involved us from an early stage on. In November, we held an additional workshop to discuss the strategy in detail. On the business side, the expansion of Clearstream Fund Services was a key priority. We intend to acquire all shares of Allfunds Group. Together with our existing fund business, this will create a pan-European platform. Retail investors will gain better access to the capital markets. In addition, we made important personnel decisions. In September, we extended the executive board mandate of Thomas Book, and in December the mandate of Christoph Böhm, in both cases ahead of schedule until 2029. Jens Schulte joined the executive board as planned in June 2025, and took over the finance division as CFO in September. Immediately following the last annual general meeting, the supervisory board elected me as chair. At the same annual general meeting, you, ladies and gentlemen, elected Jean-Pierre Mustier to the supervisory board. We also regularly reviewed the situation and strategic opportunities for Deutsche Börse Group. In addition to Allfunds, our focus included ISS STOXX and the termination of the partnership with General Atlantic. We advised the executive board on further acquisitions and disposals. In the IT sector, we focused on artificial intelligence, digital assets, and protection against cyberattacks. We received briefings on various legal issues, including Clearstream Banking's litigation in the U.S. and Luxembourg, the European Commission's antitrust investigations into the former collaboration between Eurex and HEX/Nasdaq, and the ongoing COMEX investigations. Other topics included our internal control systems and how we address findings from external auditors and regulatory authorities. In January of this year, I spoke with major investors and proxy advisors about current governance issues. The discussion focused on the work of the supervisory board, today's annual general meeting, and the further development of our corporate governance, including the results of the externally assisted effectiveness review. I have briefed my colleagues on the supervisory board in detail on these matters. We have fulfilled our duties as required by law, the articles of incorporation, and the rules of procedure. We regularly advised the Executive Board on the management of the company and oversaw its operations. We were involved in all fundamental decisions. I have continuously been in close contact with the CEO, Stephan Leithner. The supervisory board met nine times last year at the company's headquarters at Eschborn and in June in Copenhagen, where our subsidiary, SimCorp, is located. We had seven standing committees. You can find details of the topics they addressed in the report of the supervisory board in the annual report. Regarding the audit of the annual and consolidated financial statements, PricewaterhouseCoopers audited the annual financial statements of Deutsche Börse AG, the consolidated financial statements, and the combined management report for 2025. All reports received an unqualified audit opinion. PwC also performed a review of the 2025 half-year financial report. The responsible auditors attended the meetings of the audit committee and the financial review meeting of the full supervisory board, in each case also without the executive board being present. They reported on the key findings and answered our questions. The audits were completed without any objections. This applies to the annual and consolidated financial statements, the management report, the group sustainability declaration, and the remuneration report. No facts were identified that would indicate any inaccuracies in the declaration of conformity pursuant to Section 161 of the German Stock Corporation Act. The supervisory board also reviewed the additional services provided by PwC. There were no circumstances that gave rise to concerns about possible bias. The audit committee reviewed the documents in detail. It concluded that the reports comply with legal requirements and recommended that the supervisory board approve them. Following our own review in the plenary session, we had no objections. We approved the annual financial statements and the consolidated financial statements at the meeting on March fifth, 2026. The annual financial statements of Deutsche Börse AG are thus adopted. The audit committee discussed the executive board's proposal for appropriation of the unappropriated surplus in detail with the executive board, taking into account liquidity, financial planning, and shareholder interests. Following its own review, the audit committee endorsed the proposal, and we also endorsed the proposal in the plenary session. Further details can be found in the report of the supervisory board in the 2025 annual report. There you will also find the group corporate governance statement, the declaration of compliance with the German Corporate Governance Code, and the remuneration report. With that, I'd like to hand over to Stephan Leithner. Thank you, Clara. You mentioned the upheavals in our environment. "KI-Ära, Deal, das Crazy." According to language experts, these were the most important German words of last year, including the youth slang term of the year, "das Crazy." They were selected by the German Language Society and Langenscheidt. They represent new realities. They represent upheaval in technological, geopolitical, and social terms. They show how this upheaval often leaves us speechless and how we simply find it crazy, all of us, not just young people. The ability to deal with ever-changing realities, with craziness, with upheaval is key to success. That's where we help our clients. At Deutsche Börse Group, we embrace this upheaval. We see it as a new beginning. Especially at times like this, capital markets play a pivotal role when it comes to managing risks, financing the upheaval, to letting investors participate in new business models, and to financing major challenges such as the German retirement provision system. To this end, we're building the infrastructure of the future for reliability in the fragmented world for a stronger Europe. We're integrating new building blocks, in doing so, we continue to grow. How exactly are we growing? How are we achieving strong results for you, and how are we thereby contributing to a stronger Europe? That's what I'd like to talk about today. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, welcome to the annual general meeting of your company, Deutsche Börse. I'm looking forward to our discussion. I'll get right to the point with a look back at 2025 and without using any youth slang. I guess that makes it easier for you and me. In 2025, we went one better by achieving yet another record result across the board, the 8th record result in a row, in fact. We increased net revenue without treasury result by 9% to a new record level of EUR 5.2 billion, exactly as announced. Like I said, without the treasury result. That means without interest income, because that's a type of revenue on which we have no direct influence. In fact, interest rates fell last year, and with them, our related revenues. Nevertheless, we also increased our total net revenue, including interest income, and we did so in a challenging environment. After a peak last April, price volatility in the markets was very low. In the second half of the year, market participants scaled back their hedging activities. For us, this means declining demand for hedging products, especially in the derivatives market. There are a few simple reasons why we have grown so strongly despite this: our broad range of offerings, our clear focus on the critical trends of the future, our partnerships with clients, but also with leading technology firms. All this makes us strong. It makes us resilient. Above all, because the underlying building blocks are closely connected in our integrated business model. Imagine our business model as a dome. Arranged in the shape of an arch, the stones stabilize each other, so they can bear an enormous load. They become a whole, stronger than the sum of its parts, letting us strive for greater heights and keep on growing. A key pillar of our success is reliability, which is one of the reasons behind our steadily rising share of recurring revenue. It accounts for nearly two-thirds. Thanks to long-term customer relationships, we offer subscriptions, we offer strategic solutions, thereby creating strong bonds with our clients, bonds that are not easily interchangeable. When a new financial year begins, we already know where nearly two-thirds of our revenue will come from. To measure performance, we need to look beyond revenues, and I'm particularly pleased to inform you that our operating costs increased by only 3%. As a result, our profit grew at a significantly higher rate, that means our business is scalable. EBITDA without treasury result increased by 14% to EUR 2.7 billion. Again, exactly as predicted. In short, we delivered on our promises, we did so in a difficult year. For this, I'd like to thank all of our more than 16,000 colleagues worldwide. Once again, they've managed to outperform the previous year, a magnificent achievement. We also owe this success to you, ladies and gentlemen, our strong shareholder base, which is why we'd like to share our success with you. Which brings me to an important point on today's agenda, one that you are going to vote on: the dividend. Our growth is your growth, ladies and gentlemen. Our guiding principle is that the dividend should be between 30% and 40% of net profit. Our promise is to increase the dividend per share every year. For the 2025 financial year, we propose EUR 4.20 per share, 5% more than last year. This amounts to significantly more than one-third of net income, 38% to be precise. That's not all. We also reward you for our success through share buybacks. We completed last year's program as planned. This year, we will again buy back shares worth EUR 500 million. This means we'll pay out EUR 1.3 billion to you this year, a new record. We want to achieve further records by building on the strength we've developed since our own IPO 25 years ago. With our strategy, our blueprint entitled Leading the Transformation, we want to lead the transformation of the capital markets and we're already in the thick of it with our strong performance in the first quarter. Our net revenue without treasury result rose by 12% to EUR 1.4 billion. EBITDA without treasury result increased by 18%. Our ambitious growth target for the full year remains unchanged. We're aiming for net revenue without treasury result of EUR 5.7 billion. We'll continue to limit the rise in operating costs to around 3%. This results in an EBITDA without treasury result of around EUR 3.1 billion. We now expect these treasury results to exceed EUR 700 million. As you can see, we're on track for further growth. That doesn't mean, however, that there are no difficult issues. In fact, there's one you've read about for years in our risk report. It concerns Clearstream and the lawsuit filed against Iran by bereaved families who lost loved ones during the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983. We published an ad hoc notification informing you that the New York court has ruled in favor of the U.S. plaintiffs. As a result, Clearstream has to turn over more than $1.68 billion it holds in custody, assets attributed to the Iranian Central Bank. We expect that in the very near future, probably during the next three weeks, the court will issue a turnover order instructing Clearstream to transfer over EUR 1.68 billion, including interest, to the U.S. It goes without saying that we're considering all possible legal steps. We're going to report on these transparently as part of our obligations. Let me add that although the lawsuits filed by Bank Markazi in Luxembourg, which claim precisely those assets, among others, are still pending, the executive board of Clearstream Banking S.A. still holds the opinion that there is no need to form provisions. The risk profile remains by and large unchanged. After this update on the first quarter and some recent events, let's turn back to our growth trajectory, for which we have an incredibly strong foundation. The cornerstone of our success story was laid back in the 1990s, following the time Deutsche Börse was founded as a company. We were a pioneer in electronic trading. We pioneered integrated business models with clear global ambitions and strong European roots. 25 years ago, we established the framework for further expansion by floating Deutsche Börse on the stock market. Our IPO is a prime example of the power of the capital markets. For us, the bell ringing ushered in a new era of transformation, and it gave us unprecedented freedom of action. Take a look at our market capitalization, our dividend. Everything continued to rise steeply, thanks to your trust. We've built an integrated business model along the entire value chain of the financial markets. To this end, we made targeted acquisitions. SimCorp to create the Investment Management Solutions Segment. Allfunds, as soon as we get the necessary approvals. Allfunds is a European leader in fund services. Together, we'll continue to contribute to a strong pension system in Europe. We took 1 step at a time. We unlocked economies of scale. With our capital markets engineers, we're now represented at over 60 locations worldwide. They are the ones Leading the Transformation our strategy is aiming for. This 25-year history was written by our colleagues worldwide. The exchange bell symbolizes a new chapter and our development since then. As a symbol, we've carried the bell around the world. Here's what I mean. Here it is, the bell that started its journey around the world in Frankfurt. This is our trading floor in Frankfurt. That's where we held the celebrations to mark our 25th anniversary. I'm joined here on stage by 2 of our capital market engineers. They were already with us back when we floated this company. Today, they are esteemed members of our Executive Board team. Heike, Thomas, who better to tell us what the ringing of this bell at our IPO has meant for all of us and for the markets? Heike, as a member of the Executive Board, you're in charge of HR risk compliance. Thomas, you're in charge of trading and clearing. You can look back on a long development. Let's take a look back. Our IPO, what was it like for you? What roles did you have at the time, Heike? Stephan, at the time I was global head of marketing and sales with Eurex, was indeed part of the IPO team. During the analyst conferences, I was sitting behind the stage and providing support. To me personally, that was really a unique experience because an IPO of such a large company, that's a once in a lifetime thing. At the same time, for us as a large capital market infrastructure provider, all of a sudden we ourselves became part of the capital market, and at the same time we became a member of the DAX-listed companies, which of course, shed some additional public light on us. A lot of pride we took in that at the time. Thomas, for you? Well, as far as I'm concerned, I think, Heike, I started out in sales in, at Eurex three months after you, Heike. Those were the times where electronic trading was rolled out for Eurex, where Eurex was a pioneer at the time. In a few years, we became the biggest futures exchange in the world. That was a big step. The IPF was, of course, the culmination of it all. Every IPO today can make us proud. It happens across the world and happened to us. The value you create, the beautiful trading room, to actually be part of that and to feel the pride for the company, that was the feeling. I can only confirm that. There were some really special moments when I was a deputy and gave some speeches. Long development. What were the defining moments in those past 25 years for you personally? I mean, you haven't changed in all that time, at least not in appearance. Not much, at least. Any defining moments in the company, Thomas Book? Well, when I look back on these 25 years, then the financial crisis in 2008 stands out. That was a sea change. At the time, I took over responsibility for clearing, and for Lehman Brothers, we were directly involved. The biggest default at the time, the biggest default ever. At the time it became clear to us in clearing that this was not only about settlement, but this was about financial stability and our role in that. We create trust in markets, so that was deeply moving and determined our strategy ever after. During the 25 years, well, I have to say it wasn't only Eurex that was established 25 years ago, but EEX was established as well, and other entities. The biggest energy exchange in Europe today. 360T, the third largest FX platform, stocks, ETF. A lot was established and success stories were created 25 years ago and they left their mark and turned us into what we are as Deutsche Börse Group today. Great development. How about you, Heike? Well, on a personal note, a key moment certainly was our very, very first AGM back then that was at the Frankfurt Zoo Gesellschaftshaus. That was very much paper-based. At the time, it was actually too small a venue, and it was 35 degrees Celsius outside. That's really still lively in my memory. Another thing, since I was appointed as an executive board member, was over the last five to six years, the very strong M&A activities that we undertook, which to all of us employees really helped double in numbers, so to speak, and transformed us into a truly global company with large locations worldwide, Asia, Europe, U.S. That makes it really, really interesting and fascinating because we're no longer just the German entity, but a global company indeed. Now looking ahead. Looking ahead, I would first actually take a step back and look back. You just mentioned the development of the Deutsche Börse stock price, our share price, and that really shows the tremendous potential there is to be untapped in the capital markets, and therefore also the importance of societal participation in that kind of potential. Also in terms of educating and informing society, it's so key and important to bring financial education into schools, into companies, so that everyone in society can benefit from that potential. Thomas, how about you? I would say on the one hand, it's always still about risk management, value creation. That will remain key. Looking ahead, I see two things that motivate me. One is the technology development. Just like electronic trading at the time, we are facing a sea change right now with tokenization and AI, and our clear focus is on the value chain for digital assets to build that and be a pioneer again as Deutsche Börse. The other thing you mentioned was that during the 25 years, Europe has fallen behind when it comes to capital markets, we have to tap into that potential for the real economy as well, using savings, putting them to good use by reforming the pension systems, opening it up for investment. Exchange trading has to be reformed. Transparent markets as a focus to make sure that IPOs happen in Europe and companies can grow. Those are the things that motivate me, and I think that's true for all of us. Well, thank you, guys. I look forward to our continuing collaboration in the executive board team. Thank you. They represent so many capital market engineers that created this success story. The past few weeks have proven once again we stand for stability, even in the face of unprecedented market turbulence. With new records like those set at Eurex, our systems have always worked flawlessly. We are the central pillar of the capital markets. This also applies to the energy markets. Here we ensure efficiency and stability with the European Energy Exchange on the gas market and with the European Power Exchange, EPEX SPOT, in Paris. There's more. We've always driven innovation because if there's one thing we've learned, it's this: if you want to shape the future, you cannot stand still. As Thomas and Heike said, we're not standing still. We're moving forward. As I said at the beginning, we're using this period of upheaval as an opportunity for a fresh start beyond the day-to-day, beyond whatever crisis hits us. The capital markets continue to evolve rapidly. Digitalization, new asset classes, changing client priorities and geopolitical upheaval. Those who react will lose out. Those who set standards will lead the way. Those who cooperate are going to win the day. We stand for renewal at a time of upheaval. We stand for shaping, for market standards, for forward-looking win-wins, for partnerships. That's the core of our new strategy, Leading the Transformation. To be clear, with our strategy, we're going to maintain our growth trajectory. By 2028, we aim to increase net revenue with our treasury results to EUR 6.5 billion. With costs expected to go up by only 3% annually. Our business will continue to unlock economies of scale even beyond 2028, very much in line with our long-term growth objectives. How do we achieve this in an era of upheaval? Well, our strategy consists of 4 building blocks. Number 1, as a group, we achieve strong organic growth based on our technological leadership and secular trends in each of our 8 businesses. These trends include the shift towards regulated and transparent platforms, the ongoing trend toward outsourcing because our clients need to focus on their core businesses. Of course, the rapid pace of digitalization. Here, Clearstream is a pioneer with its D7 system, which moved beyond the experimental stage a long time ago. Over 3.5 billion issuances with a volume of EUR 80 billion speak for themselves. We offer custody of crypto assets together with our subsidiary, Crypto Finance, the ultimate one-stop shop. Our platforms continue to grow with undiminished momentum in cash equities and derivatives and clearing, thanks to our superior liquidity and regulatory initiatives for a more European autonomy. Growth is also on the agenda at 360T in foreign exchange trading. Likewise, at EEX in Europe and worldwide, as demonstrated by the success we've had with power derivatives in Japan. In an increasingly demanding environment, our clients need to focus on their core competencies. We help them to become more efficient through outsourcing solutions and direct connectivity to our infrastructure. This is happening in the security services segment and in our fund business in particular. At SimCorp, the trend toward software-as-a-service is also gaining momentum. As a pioneer of digitalization, we are the perfect partner. We are, in fact, pioneers in cloud usage, together with leading American and European partners. We moved to the cloud when others weren't even thinking about it. While others are just getting started, our cloud usage rate already stands at almost 80%, with the DAX also being calculated in the cloud. This foundation puts us in the perfect position to further strengthen our business through artificial intelligence. Here, too, we aim to be a pioneer. AI is on everyone's lips, yet another major upheaval, and many people are afraid of this new technology. From my experience, I can tell you that the more we embrace AI, the more fun it is because AI really unlocks new potential also on a personal basis. Granted, it also challenges certain business models, especially if you bury your head in the sand. As innovative engineers, however, we've been using AI for a long time. For instance, to make our processes and services more efficient or to add even more value to our products. To us, AI offers huge opportunities. Once again, it's all about setting standards rather than just adapting. At Deutsche Börse Group, we dare to break new ground. The second building block of our strategy is to think beyond the short- and medium-term horizons. Our strength lies in long-term thinking. We embrace new trends early on to secure long-term growth well into the 2030s. We do this by driving the key elements of transformation. We're building on the momentum towards a strong European capital market. We provide the right building blocks for a unified European landscape to be globally competitive and to harness the power of the capital market for our economy. To this end, we're consistently expanding our customer focus. We're deepening our partnerships with the buy side, i.e. pension funds and large asset managers. Today, these clients already account for over a third of our revenue and rising. We're opening up new customer groups such as up and coming neo brokers and clients from the crypto world. 4. We're also taking a leading role in new rapidly growing asset classes through partnerships with leading players such as Bitpanda and Kraken. This also includes digital assets where we've launched collaborations with American and European stable coin providers. In doing so, we're bringing the worlds of traditional and digital finance together, and we're opening up new markets in Europe and worldwide while delivering added value to our clients, existing and new ones. We're shaping the upheavals to pave the way for the future. We're complementing our growth through acquisitions. We've announced the largest one in our history. More on this in a moment. The third strategic building block drives our growth. As mentioned before when I spoke about our performance, it involves the consistent use of digitalization to improve internal efficiencies, the consistent use of our global footprint to attract the best talents, and the consistent use of economies of scale unlocked by a group such as ours. A central program for this is called One Group. We're focusing even more strongly on shared platforms, processes, and working models across our individual businesses to support our growth. This will allow us to become even more efficient. The fourth and last strategic building block has significant bearing on you, our shareholders. A clear focus on value in our investments, capital efficiency and attractive returns. You're already familiar with our dividend proposal and our record payout, and we'll keep on increasing our dividends. What's new is that share buybacks are now also an integral part of our capital allocation strategy rather than just, say, an occasional step. In summary, with these 4 strategic building blocks, we're leading the transformation of the capital markets with our focus on organic growth, on transformation with a strengthened operating model and targeted capital allocation. That's how we create the markets of the future. Our strategy is complemented by targeted acquisitions wherever it makes sense to do so with the aim of expanding our domain. That's why we want to strengthen our role as a European champion in the fund sector too, with the acquisition of Allfunds. Once completed, the Allfunds deal will be the largest acquisition in the history of Deutsche Börse Group. Allfunds is the perfect complement to Clearstream's existing range of fund services. With this acquisition, we're creating a truly pan-European platform which allows us to break down barriers for cross-border investments. This will give investors easy access to a broader range of funds across Europe. Retail investors too will be able to invest in productive assets more easily. Until just a few years ago, the only products you could buy from your bank were their own products. Imagine a supermarket offering only its own brands. That limits your choice, puts a damper on your shopping experience and stifles fair competition. That's a thing of the past. These services have now been democratized by our fund platform, Clearstream Fund Services. This also strengthens the infrastructure for retirement products as a whole, for which funds and ETFs are the very foundation. A goal, in fact, also pursued by the Savings and Investments Union to create a single European capital market to unlock investments and put them to productive use for our future. Furthermore, the Allfunds acquisition enables us to develop new digital products and services, thereby strengthening the competitiveness and resilience of the European financial infrastructure. As you can see, this acquisition makes sense in many ways. Of course, it's still subject to approval by the relevant authorities. We'll keep you posted. Anyway, I believe you can see here just how relevant the capital markets are for society and hence our strategy. Allow me to elaborate by addressing two topics that are particularly close to my heart: Europe and retirement provisions. The two go hand in hand because both are about exploiting the potential of the capital markets to drive growth, competitiveness, and prosperity. I'm a European by conviction, and I'm sure a strong European economy and greater autonomy require a strong capital market. We have some catching up to do, especially compared to the U.S. capital market. Thomas mentioned it before. This means we need a level playing field for all types of trading venues. Currently, only 30% of trading takes place on lit venues like our stock exchange. In the U.S., this figure is 50%. That's where we need to be in Europe, for only transparent venues contribute to the financing of growth through IPOs, for example. Europe must once again become a pioneer in regulation. This also means no unnecessary red tape, no gold plating, i.e. no tightening of European requirements through national add-ons or multilevel bureaucracy. The financial industry needs a sustainable competitive environment, especially regarding innovation, digital solutions and the crypto market. At the same time, we must reduce complexity, especially for innovative companies that need capital to grow and expand so that Europe can turn out new global market leaders. Yes, public funding is a useful tool, but it's nowhere near enough. Therefore, we must leverage the capital market to its fullest extent. Simply consolidating several stock exchanges and introducing the same trading system won't do the trick for Europe. What we need is the right regulatory framework and strong competitive European infrastructure. We need integrated solutions like the ones created by Deutsche Börse Group in the last 30 years. For Europe to be strong, we also need more capital, more liquidity, and we'll only achieve that if we use our inherent financial strength. Right now, the growth of successful European companies is mainly harvested by foreign investors. On that note, congratulations to the teachers in Texas. Through their pension fund, they've benefited from the DAX records seen during the past 2 years. Mind you, it's great to see this level of interest at the international level, but here at home, only 1 in 5 Germans invest in shares and funds, and that's not enough. As Germans, as Europeans, we must become more active in the capital markets. We must put our savings to productive use finally. We must give large German and European investors, such as asset managers and pension funds, greater freedom of action in their investment decisions. For too long, we've been far too hesitant in Europe. The transition from a capital markets union to a Savings and Investments Union is not merely a semantic shift. It reflects a new mindset. We all realize we must make investments in the capital markets more attractive. Growth financing and the retirement provision system are two sides of the same coin. Capital markets do not only foster growth, they also foster participation in the economic success of companies, and thus prosperity for everyone. In doing so, the capital markets make it possible to finance the retirement provision system in a sustainable way, and for me, retirement provisions are clearly a matter of social justice. The current approach is not viable going forward. The government cannot keep on spending billions and billions to plug the holes in the public pension system, for that's money that can no longer be spent on infrastructure, education, and defense. Some countries have long since tackled this issue and are now serving as role models, Sweden, Switzerland, or the Netherlands. Others are following suit at a rapid pace. Now is the time for Germany to reform its retirement provisioning system. Otherwise, this system, which is primarily based on the pay-as-you-go model, will sooner or later lose its balance. The key building blocks for this reform must come from the capital markets. The statutory pension scheme must remain as a pillar. Even here, there's room for improvement. First and foremost, however, the other two pillars of the system must be further developed, company and private pension schemes, for which the capital markets must play a significantly more important role. Only then will all three pillars come together to form a sustainable and socially just system. The federal government has provided the first important impetus by floating the early starter pension scheme for kids and young people, the Frühstartrente, and the retirement savings account, and I'm confident that more initiatives will follow because we need more. Why not leverage the power of compound interest much more effectively by paying EUR 4,000 into every child's account at birth, as proposed by us? We could follow the example of the U.S. by making the proposed retirement savings accounts a reality. In the United States, grandparents can contribute up to $5,000 to their grandchildren's accounts. Simple and effective. Why does only about half of the working population in Germany have an occupational pension plan? In the Netherlands or Switzerland, that figure is 90% or more. An occupational pension plan should be part of every employment contract, I'm firmly convinced of that. That's a job for the trade unions and employers. I see increasing awareness and willingness on both sides. What I don't see is tangible action. If you really want to secure the German pension system for German pensioners, if you don't want to fall below 50% in German pensions, you want to be higher than 50%, like in Scandinavia, you have to face reality, and this can only be done with the capital market and compound interest for long-term yield. The momentum is doubtless there among policymakers and citizens alike. The younger generation has long since realized that they have to save for their own old age. In fact, among the under-forties, there's a significant increase in ETF savings plans and they're also opening securities accounts for their kids, even though the Frühstartrente won't be introduced until 2027 and the concept is currently not much more than an idea. At Deutsche Börse Group, we've already delivered on these initiatives. We've laid the cornerstone for a strong infrastructure in Europe with our offerings in funds, ETFs, and our leading European indices. With the acquisition of Allfunds, we're taking all of this to a new level. As engineers of the capital markets, we're building the infrastructure for the whole of Europe, a single capital market for everyone. We're leading the way into the future. As you all know, a successful construction site needs many hands and planners. That's where Berlin and Brussels come in. It's their job to finally complete the construction of the single capital market for a sustainable Europe, for our growth, our competitiveness, and our prosperity. Let's seize this momentum together. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you can see just how committed we are. Much is at stake. It's about social justice, about the future of our society. We need growth in Germany and Europe. For this, Deutsche Börse Group delivers reliable and powerful infrastructure that generates liquidity even when times get rough with our strong portfolio of businesses. In times of upheaval, we're driving the transformation. Things remain crazy, we stay cool. We help our customers manage risk. We use our strong and integrated portfolio to keep on building your and our success. On behalf of the entire executive board, I'd like to thank you for your trust, and now we look forward to a lively debate. With that, back to you, Clara. Thank you for this report, Stephan. The record of attendance is now available. At this point, the attendance count is as follows: at the moment, 73.4% of the company's share capital are represented at today's AGM. Of that, 136,368,731 votes or shares are represented, which is an attendance of 73.2% of the company's share capital. In addition, we received postal votes, and that's 381,333. That corresponds to 0.21% of the share capital. We are keeping a copy of the record of attendance in this room. It's available for inspection through our online service, and the same goes for any updates. Ladies and gentlemen, you have already received detailed information on today's agenda, in particular as part of the notice of meeting. For further information, I'd like to give the floor once more to Stephan. Thank you, Clara. As already mentioned, Deutsche Börse is currently running a share buyback program with a total volume of EUR 500 million. This program will be concluded at the end of July of this year at the latest. So far, 1,135,219 shares, accounting for EUR 1,135,219 of the company's share capital have been bought back under this program. This translates into 0.61% of the company's share capital. The buyback price to date amounts to EUR 270,692,352.52. The acquired shares will be canceled. Furthermore, I'd like to inform you that following the acquisition of the Allfunds Group, new shares in Deutsche Börse will be issued to the Allfunds shareholders as part of the consideration. The new shares required for this will be issued using the authorized capital 2025 on a non-pre-emptive basis once the transaction is completed. Another option is for the company to use treasury shares to finance the consideration. The shares issued to Allfunds shareholders as consideration will probably account for around 4% of Deutsche Börse's current share capital. Back to you, Clara. Thank you, Stephan. Allow me to make some additional remarks on certain agenda items. After that, we'll move on to the general debate. Concerning agenda item 2, I'd like to point out that the board's proposal on the appropriation of unappropriated surplus needs to be amended to reflect the change in the number of shares carrying dividend rights. As announced in the notice of meeting, the proposal on the appropriation of unappropriated surplus published in the Federal Gazette will be put to the vote in an amended version later today. This amended version will reflect the current number of shares carrying dividend rights but still provides for a EUR 4.20 dividend per share. The amended proposal is available on our website and reads as follows: The Executive Board and Supervisory Board propose that the unappropriated surplus reported in the adopted annual financial statements as at 31st December 2025 totaling EUR 900 million be appropriated as follows: to pay a dividend of EUR 4.20 for each no par value share carrying dividend rights, which is EUR 760,090,002 in total, and to allocate EUR 139,909,998 to other retained earnings. As a result, when you're going to cast your votes, you're going to vote on this amended proposal, not on the proposal published in the Federal Gazette. Ladies and gentlemen, as announced earlier, we'll now be hearing from Claudia Nemat, who is standing as a member of the supervisory board under agenda item 6. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, my name is Claudia Nemat. I've been closely involved with the technology industry for more than 3 decades. After studying physics at the University of Cologne, I worked for 17 years at the management consultancy McKinsey & Company from 1994 to 2011. As a senior partner, I was co-head of the global technology practice working in Europe and Silicon Valley. During this time, I also took on interim management roles for my clients, acting as a crisis manager and as interim CEO. Following that, I served on the executive board of Deutsche Telekom AG for 14 years from 2011 until the end of September 2025. I spent the first five years as CEO of the European business, followed by nine years as Executive Board Member for technology and innovation. During this time, I played a key role in helping to transform Deutsche Telekom into an internationally successful company. I gained experience in critical infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and major business, technological and cultural transformation in Europe, the U.S. and with China. I also have over 13 years experience on Supervisory Board. Next to my role on the Executive Board, I initially also served on the Supervisory Board of Lanxess for three years and then at Airbus for nine years. There I served on Finance and Audit, Governance, Remuneration and Nomination committee. Since leaving the Deutsche Telekom Executive Board, I've been serving as a supervisory board member and technology investor with a focused portfolio. Since March 2025, as a member of the board of directors at ABB in Switzerland and since last week as a member of the supervisory board at Daimler Truck. I also chair the advisory council at IQM, a Finnish-German startup in the field of quantum computing. My conviction? People must be at the heart of technological innovation with respect to economic and political action. This conviction is my driver for shaping change for people and companies, for industries and for sustainable economic success, always with a physicist's curiosity for getting to the bottom of things. Dear shareholders, it would be an honor for me to contribute my experience and expertise to the supervisory board of Deutsche Börse AG. I would like to support the development of this exciting technology company. Thank you very much, Claudia Nemat, for your introduction. For further information, in particular Claudia's CV, I would refer you to our website. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Shannon Johnston for the valuable contributions she has made to Deutsche Börse Group. Ladies and gentlemen, let me briefly explain why we were asking you to vote on the option to appoint a second deputy chair of the supervisory board. We are proposing this because a second deputy would make the board more resilient. He or she could serve as an additional point of contact amongst the shareholder representatives and represent the chairperson, for example, in matters concerning the chair herself or in the event of the chair's absence or a conflict of interest. I now proceed with the agenda. You've received the full wording of all agenda items, I'm not going to comment on each and every one of them. Ladies and gentlemen, I now open the debate on the items before the meeting. May I ask shareholders and shareholder representatives to lodge their request to speak unless of course you've already done so. To do so, please select the button Request to speak in the online service. There's also a function that allows you to check whether your camera and microphone are actually working. To ensure an orderly debate, I'm going to call blocks of speakers and ask them to enter our waiting room. Please wait for the pop-up window asking you to enter the virtual waiting room. To enter the room, please click and confirm the pop-up window via mouse click. After you've entered the virtual waiting room, our IT technician is going to check your video and audio quality. Once this check is performed, I'm going to call you when it is your turn to speak. Once I've given you the floor, the AGM will be able to see and hear you live, and you can address attendees, ask questions or table motions. There will be no time limit on your right to speak and ask questions as such, but as a matter of courtesy, I would ask you to not make undue use of your allotted time. I'd appreciate it if the time per speaker were no more than approximately 10 minutes. Thank you. I reserve the right to limit the time allotted to speakers should I deem this necessary later on. Once a block of speakers has had the floor, the company is going to answer the questions addressed to it. Once all admissible contributions have been heard and all questions have been answered, I'll close the debate and move on to the vote on the items before the meetings. I've already received requests for the floor. I would like to first call Mr. Markus Kienle, Ms. Selina Schaefer, Mr. Andreas Thomae, and Mr. Tilman Massa. The shareholders or proxies I just mentioned will now be seeing the dialog window in the online service and will be asked to join the virtual waiting room. Please confirm the pop-up window by clicking on it. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm now going to suspend the meeting for about 4 minutes. We are going to resume the meeting at 11:12 A.M. [Foreign language] Ladies and gentlemen, we now continue the meeting, and I would like to give the floor to Mr. Markus Kienle of the Schutzgemeinschaft der Kapitalanleger. Sehr geehrte Frau Streit, sehr geehrter Herr Leithner. Ms. Streit, Dr. Leithner, ladies and gentlemen, management team, shareholders. My name is Markus Kienle. I'm an attorney in Frankfurt and represent SdK, the Association for the Protection of Investors. Dr. Leithner, again, the highest. Profit ever at Deutsche Börse AG. Sales revenues up by 9%, gross margin a little down, EBIT up by 4%. Profit after tax increased and 70.64%. Equity ratio only slightly below the previous year's level. The trajectory is upwards only and has been for years. For the first quarter this year, numbers have also been good. A lot of performance last year, that is why everybody working at Deutsche Börse deserves our gratitude, and we'd like to ask the management to convey it. It's in the share price that was maintained now at almost EUR 290, a very high level, when November 25 it went down to EUR 209. The share price has by and large recovered from that, not to the previous level. When we look at the relevant competitors, the peers, the EBITDA return and return on equity is ahead of almost all essential peers when we look at the reported numbers and not adjusted numbers. The share price developed at minus 5.1%, clearly worse than your peers. DAX 40 went up by 23% over the same period. STOXX Europe Financials 18% and S&P Capital Markets 14.9%. Where do you see the reasons for the underperformance of your share compared to the named peers? In addition to the structure of your business model, which is the envy of many, you'd like to increase share of recurring revenue to be more independent of the volatile trading business. Volatility is not the problem. It's a lack of volatility, which is the problem for revenue. What's the share of recurring revenue against total revenue? Do you seek from when on sustainably? What are the measures to achieve that growth? Despite your good results and KPIs, many see a gap in when it comes to data and software compared to LSEG. How big is the gap over LSEG, what are the measures to reduce the gap? When it comes to SimCorp, have your expectations come true? Does SimCorp has the potential to reduce the LSEG gap? Analysts confirm that Eurex has a leading position for euro derivatives, but they also see a gap to U.S. vendors and interest in energy markets. When it comes to inter-interest and energy, how do you want to catch up against these dominant competitors? You offer products for energy markets, but not for commodities. Why not? Is that a growth area, commodities? If not, why not? Handelsblatt reported today that CME Group offers futures on computing power. Do you offer similar products relating to AI, or is it your plan to do so? The European share market is different from the highly concentrated markets of the U.S. We are fragmented over here. Mergers are how some try to solve that. Do you investigate mergers, or do you see other instruments to compensate for this disadvantage of fragmentation? What is regulatory framework needed by the German or European regulator to reduce fragmentation? Why should regulators interfere with markets? It's free markets that you are reliant on for your business. Euro clearing is something which the EU tries to move away from London to Frankfurt. What's the current status from your perspective? Where do you see the practical problems of such a relocation? The U.K. has tried to draw closer to the EU after Brexit. Has that taken some of the energy out of that debate? If we believe some reports, Deutsche Börse is traded at a discount because compared to U.S. exchanges, it's not seen as a technology and data company, but a classical financial market infrastructure provider. Do you share that view? When it comes to financial market infrastructure on the one hand, and technology and data on the other hand, are they a contradiction? Isn't technology and data just one manifestation of financial market infrastructure? One which is becoming more important, however. Our impression is that Deutsche Börse has potential for optimization, but its business model is resilient. Let me dwell on some aspects of corporate governance and compliance. Of course, looking at the face-to-face meeting, the in-person meeting last year, this is a virtual meeting, and we have to comment on that. Dealing with the arguments in favor of an in-person versus an online AGM is something that I wouldn't want to elaborate on at length. Everything is known. All the arguments are on the table. Why don't you continue to use the in-person format, going back to it and maintaining it? Deutsche Bank communicated a model of change or alternation. Do you seek that? If so, what's the periodicity of that? Shannon Johnston is leaving the supervisory board. We are to elect a successor, and our position is that every office holder should stay until the end unless there are good reasons or out of the ordinary reasons. Why will Shannon Johnston resign early? 27% of the audit volume are for other assurance services when it comes to the auditor. SdK wants general assurance services and audit services or audit and non-audit services to be kept separate unless it's about legally required services, audit of the Remuneration report or the financial statements where it can only be 25% of the total volume. What's the fee amount for other assurance services accounted for the review of the half-year report and the audit of the CSRD report or other services where the auditor has to do this by law? We read in the annual report that there are investigations against ISS in the U.S. It's true that at first sight, when ISS advises companies and recommends votes on items, there is a, or can be a conflict of interest. When it comes to a move from the approval for online AGMs and certain authorizations were supported, a 5-year period for Siemens in 2026. When we look at ISS recommendations, we still very much have our doubts, and the recommendations are not created or reasoned in a transparent way. You cannot argue that ISS as a proxy advisor has quite a bit of power. What are specific allegations against ISS when it comes to the investigations? Dr. Leithner, Deutsche Börse has benefited from high volatility in capital markets based on erratic action by political leaders. Too much volatility wouldn't help Deutsche Börse's business either, and some political leaders dream up avenues, things to create turmoil in the markets. All the best for the management in your company and the good luck that's needed for even the best among of you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kienle. Let me now call Ms. Selina Schaefer from DSW, followed by Mr. Thomae. Could you please be ready? Thank you very much for giving me the floor, Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Selina Schaefer, and I'm an attorney in Frankfurt. Today, I speak as a representative of DSW, the German Association of Retail Investors, the largest and oldest shareholder association. I'm very happy to be here for the first time at Deutsche Börse's AGM. Let me thank for the introductory statement by the Supervisory Board Chair and the CEO's comments. A record financial year for Deutsche Börse outperforming even the prior year's result. Return and net profit were increased and the strategic transformation towards a data and software and infrastructure-driven company was continued and strengthened. I'd like to emphasize the integration of SimCorp, growth in data and analytics, the strong development of the treasury and collateral business, and increasing activities in the field of digital assets and tokenization. That's the very reason why it seems important to me not only to respond to the very good development of the financials, but also looking at the quality and sustainability of this growth. Before I turn to my questions and comments on the annual report and the fiscal year, I'd like to mention the format of today's meeting. Unfortunately, shareholders have to be at home and follow everything on screen today. The question for me is this. Will future AGMs be online only? Is that the plan or will this be in person or at least hybrid according to your plans? Our association would welcome very much in-person AGMs to best secure the rights of shareholders and also optimize the exchange with shareholders within the AGM format. It's only in-person AGMs that will allow shareholders to get a firsthand impression of the company, the board members, and be able to pursue a personal exchange among ourselves. These are my comments and questions on the numbers, the past fiscal year and the agenda for today. Deutsche Börse has a record year behind it, a positive development of all the key numbers. The annual report tells us that growth is to be secular and less cyclical, and historically, the company has benefited from volatility and interest rate levels. My question is this: How resilient is the current growth model in a scenario of ongoing low volatility, reduced interest and reduced trading activity? What are the specific contributions to profits that are expected from purely structural or secular growth in the future? There is still extraordinarily high EBITDA margins and operational scale effects. How does the management assess the risk that increasing re-regulation, European regulation or market infrastructure regulation will affect your business when it comes to the clearing, custody and trading data where you have a dominant position? I've got two more questions on the share buyback program of EUR 500 million. What are the criteria for the decisions to invest capital in a share buyback instead of using that for CapEx and spend on technology, cybersecurity or strategic investments? What is the assessment of the Executive Board when it comes to the valuation of your own share with respect to the beneficial or financial effect of selling the shares? Clearstream especially benefited from rising interest rates in recent years. How high is the structural dependency of the company on the treasury result and specifically relating to interest? What are the measures to compensate for lower returns due to fall in interest rates? The SimCorp acquisition was the most important strategic transaction of recent years, no doubt about that. The acquisition meant that Deutsche Börse moved towards software as a service and investment management infrastructure services. From a shareholder's point of view, it's not only revenue synergies that are important, but the long-term return on capital of this transaction. What are the specifically measurable synergies, tangible synergies that have been achieved, and what are the synergies that are simply projected at this stage? What's the long-term return on capital employed that the management expects from the SimCorp takeover? What areas of integration are currently the biggest operational challenges? Deutsche Börse sees itself as a role as a leading financial market infrastructure provider and increasingly so. European capital markets are losing in importance against the U.S. internationally. I have two questions on this. What are the specific political and regulatory changes that the executive board sees as necessary to make sure that Frankfurt and Europe remain competitive in the long term? What are the initiatives that Deutsche Börse is pursuing for this purpose? Almost every company, including yours, talks about AI. Deutsche Börse with its market infrastructure, its database, and its software activities has particularly good opportunities to benefit. That is why I won't ask about the general potential but specific value from that. Leading the Transformation is your leitmotif. Technology innovation and data services are mentioned in the annual report. What are the specific applications of AI that Deutsche Börse is using in its operations? Have they contributed to additional revenue, lower cost, or better productivity in a tangible way? What's the impact that the executive board expects when it comes to FTEs, risks, and operations? As an operative system relevant market infrastructure, you are the target of cyber attacks. How high was the investment in cybersecurity in fiscal 2025? Does the executive board believe the current security level appropriate given increasing geopolitical tension? Were there any reportable incidents last year? There are challenges when it comes to ESG as well. Growth of sustainable financial products and ESG data services seems to relent industry-wide. Does the executive board expect a structural weakening of the ESG business? What impact would that have on the growth strategy of ISS STOXX as a platform? What's the impact of the restrictions of the Trump administration on the business model of ISS? Is there any demand for write-downs or depreciation or any impairments? Market share of classic exchanges is reduced by new brokers off-exchange trading and other challenges. What about your pricing power and your relevance when it comes to almost free of charge platforms? Do you see the risk of a margin erosion in the cash equities market? Let me turn to my last question. Again, the group has performed on a record level. Part of the growth is based on external factors such as interest rates and market volatility. How does the supervisory board make sure that variable executive board pay is based on operational performance and long-term value created for the company and not based on macroeconomic one-time effects? With that, I've completed my questions and comments. Thank you very much, Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, Deutsche Börse is in a very good and sound operational shape, but that's why it seems important to me not only to look at the all-time performance, but also the robustness and quality of your business model. In conclusion, let me expressly thank both boards and all employees at the company. Last year's financial success is based on your commitment, flexibility in your day-to-day work. I wish you all the best for the future, and thank you very much for your attention. Thank you very much for your comments, Ms. Schaefer. Let me now call the next speaker, Mr. Thomae. After Thomae, I'd ask Mr. Massa to be ready. Thank you. Thank you very much, Ms. Streit. Ladies and gentlemen, members of both boards, shareholders, my name is Andreas Thomae. I represent Deka Investment, one of the largest fund operators in Germany, subsidiary of DekaBank, the securities company of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe. First, about the numbers. Growth trajectory continuing, good work performed by the management, 9% higher revenue, 3% higher cost, and operational income without interest has increased by 14%. That's something that you can be proud of. We're happy about the higher dividend, EUR 4.20 right now, together with the EUR 500 million share buyback program. It's only the relative share price performance that wasn't satisfactory. What didn't compare to the peers last year. This year's, given the uncertainty of based on the Middle East conflict, this was compensated for, overcompensated for. Deutsche Börse remains a defensive asset benefiting from increased volatility. Dr. Leithner, last year I compared your company with a well-oiled machine. There's one thing that you shouldn't forget. Please keep up the good maintenance work. Keep investing to remain on this growth path. When it comes to the corporate goals from the strategy horizon, you achieved them 1 year early. Leading the Transformation is the new strategy to support organic income until 2028 without the volatile interest income up by 8%, cost 3%, operating income 12% as goals. We have a number of questions on this, Dr. Leithner and Dr. Schulte. When it comes to the secular recurring revenue, how strong is that to increase? The acquisition of Allfunds, has that been reflected in your business plan? Do you see further acquisitions? If so, in which business areas? What will be the impact of the global uncertainty, most recently the Middle East conflict, on your business model? Based on the geopolitical situation, debt levels in the EU keep rising. The Savings and Investments Union is to give a boost to pension products or retirement products. How strongly do you benefit from that as a market infrastructure provider? How can you make sure that the infrastructure on the buy side is strengthened? Do you see a higher interest income as assumed recently in the business plan? Ladies and gentlemen, Investment Management Solutions, the pre-trade business essentially has changed through the SimCorp acquisition, a full service provider along the entire value chain from front to back. You're benefiting from the outsourcing trend at the buy side. In the U.S., for example, new customers were acquired. Mr. Kromann, especially for you, we'd like to ask a question. How high is the recurring share of revenue in software solutions? Are you happy with the conversion from one-time payments to the subscription model? The accounting of income for SimCorp from 2027, why is that accounting changed? How high is your market share right now in the U.S., and what's your midterm goal? What are your ambitions in Asia? More recently, the buyout of the minority share held by General Atlantic was done or decided after an IPO which had been the plan before. Does that mean full access to your share right now? Dr. Book, a question for you, trading and clearing. A number of questions. Were you able to increase your market share for OTC Euro clearing? What about the development of the short-term interest future, STIR? Is the trend continuing towards more repo business because of higher interest rates? When it comes to the EEX exchange for energy and power, it has performed strongly, partly fueled by the Middle East conflict. Do you see this as a sustained trend because of higher hedging requirement for renewables? What about Japan and the new platform for power derivatives? Did you make any progress there? When it comes to foreign exchange and digital assets, there was a 12% increase last year. How much do you benefit in foreign exchange with 360T when it comes to the platform and clearing business? Could you give us more information on collaboration with Kraken in digital assets? A comprehensive hybrid infrastructure with a high liquidity pool for your customers is the goal of that exercise. What's the collaboration arising from that for Crypto Finance? Dr. Eckermann, in Securities Services, 12% was the growth last year. How much do you benefit from the trend towards higher government debt based on higher infrastructure spending and defense spending, and since last year, also the repatriation of money? When it comes to lost income, do you expect lost income if there was real-time posting or accounting based on blockchain technology? How much headway have you made with blockchain when it comes to posting or accounting and settlement and also custody of securities? Fund Services, 13% growth last year, which is decent. Now the Allfunds transaction was announced, which will significantly strengthen your position, and we have a few questions on that. What good will Allfunds be in the context of Fund Services as a segment? Is it the sales side that's strengthened in particular? There seems to be little regional overlap. Are you still expecting some negative synergies? If so, what do you expect the competition authorities to say on that? How high will the leverage of Deutsche Börse be, or how much higher? Dr. Böhm, Deutsche Börse is a technology company. For its digital business model, you need the highest reliability in terms of IT and cybersecurity. This is our appeal. Please strengthen your security precautions. More and more cyber attacks are created by AI. Our question is this: AI and digitalization help with cost and revenue for Deutsche Börse. On the other hand, there's a risk as well. Through AI, competitors may take away some of your business. How do you see your position and your preparations in that context? From the S, we see headwinds when it comes to ESG, especially when it comes to diversity policies. Our question is this: Why is that the very area where there is low target achievement for last year when it comes to the equal opportunities index? Do you stand by your diversity objectives? Do you promote them? Make sure there's progress? We'd also be interested in ISS as a proxy advisor and what your position is with respect to the tightening of the legislation restricting or wanting to restrict ISS STOXX recommendations. Ms. Streit, you ensure continuity on the executive board. Dr. Böhm and Dr. Book's agreements were extended, and that's good in terms of continuity. Chief Risk Officer is something assigned to Heike Eckert now. We'd like to thank the Supervisory Board for the good work of Shannon Johnston. We're looking forward to Ms. Nemat and her competence in the field of technology. She will be an asset in that respect. We vote in favor on all agenda items and would like to expressly thank all employees and both Boards and their members and wish you a lot of success in implementing and executing the growth strategy. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Thomae. Whether it's Kienle or Kienle, I mispronounced your name, Mr. Thomae. I'm sorry about that. Mr. Tilman Massa from the Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany is next. Thank you very much, Ms. Streit. Ladies and gentlemen, members of both Boards. The Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany is who I represent today, and we've been assigned voting rights, and we'll call upon you and continue to do so when it comes to determined action in favor of transparency, protection of human rights and environmental rights, and we appeal to your responsibility and sense of responsibility to make sure that you take a close look at what's happening on your trading venues. It's not about trend matters, but it's about the very basis of basic questions such as good governance, responsibility and responsible financial management. That's not a trend, but it's the very basis. I've got a number of questions to you today when it comes to ISS STOXX, for example, but also the so-called DAX 50 ESG. That is also something the previous speakers hinted upon. Things happening in the U.S. and the political position, different political positions there. Mr. Leithner, you said at the last AGM that your customers have to deal with a large degree of regional local differences, and as stocks you are successfully mastering that challenge. Against the backdrop of the counter movement against climate and human rights standards, the question has to be raised as to what your responsibility is, making sure that sustainability standards are not only defended against political headwinds, but how credibility and transparency can be ensured when it comes to international climate, environmental and human rights standards. How do you stand up for that? ISS publishes aggregated ratings and individual climate social ESG ratings are not fully published, especially not when it comes to primary sources. At last year's AGM we asked about that. Let me repeat that. When it comes to ISS STOXX, do you call upon them as Deutsche Börse to show higher level of transparency and call for separate ESG scores by ISS STOXX, including the methodology to be made more transparent? If you don't, how should investors and the general public and shareholder representatives be able to judge the resilience and the reliability of these analyses and recommendations? ISS doesn't only publish ratings, but also does proxy advising, advisory services. Here we see a structural conflict of interest. It makes sense that we at least apply a question mark when ISS issues recommendations for voting behavior at your AGM, where it's part of Deutsche Börse Group. We don't see a specific case, but Ms. Streit you referred to COMEX that the supervisory board continues to have on its radar screen, especially when talk about independent voting recommendations. It seems to make sense to make this transparent, and we don't really see how ISS can be completely independent. What are the specific measures and talks and have been since the last AGM when it comes to ISS, its ratings and its proxy advisory work? In the future, do you plan mandatory disclosure requirements in cases where ISS rates companies as part of your group or have other economic or financial relationships with you? Again, about proxy advisory, what's your responsibility as a group that the recommendations by ISS are in line with international climate and environmental standards and rights? How do you specifically put that into practice within your group? Do you have the expectation or is there a policy from you for ISS, especially for companies from the fossil energy sector, defense or other high-risk sectors? If so, what are these specific expectations? What are the specific criteria ISS uses to rate resolutions on climate protection, fossil expansion, biodiversity, human rights or duties of diligence and care? To what extent are there publications by ISS where the criteria are science-based, consistent and in line with international standards such as the UN principles, Guiding principles on business and human rights or the Paris Agreement? Have there been climate or human rights-related motions by shareholders? For example, when it comes to fossil companies or energy companies where the vote wasn't supported, although there was an aim at being in line with international standards. How do you judge those decisions, and how do you judge critical reflections on these? Do you plan any improvements in that respect? How do you ensure the commercial interests of clients or companies do not influence the independence and credibility of ISS proxy advice, particularly where those are from your group or among your clients? Let me also mention one other thing, shareholder rights more generally when it comes to human rights. Today's online format has been criticized. We criticize that as well. There's one last thing, how can we make sure to make the AGM more interesting, especially in Germany? Access is actually quite difficult. You know, with registered shares, it's easy to obtain login data. Try and order admission tickets or login credentials. This is quite expensive. Try to get on the AGM of Airbus. This is actually a lot more difficult than one might think. My question is: how can you make AGMs more interesting? In Germany, the options are very limited for shareholders to table agenda items or motions. In the United States or U.K., that's different. Shareholder resolutions are commonplace there, and they're part of the rules and regulations. An EU regulation could be helpful here. The Shareholder Rights Directive is currently under review, and I think this might allow us to improve the situation in Germany. My question is: do you support those EU reforms or reforms of German Stock Corporation law that will allow shareholders to table agenda items or even resolutions? If so, yes, what are your ideas, and if no, why not? As far as human rights due diligence is concerned, like I said, we believe that you're also responsible for what's happening on your trading venues. What minimum standards do you have on your trading venues for human rights? What exclusion criteria are there for ESG products within Deutsche Börse Group, especially for fossil expansion, human rights, and systematic environmental destruction? Did you exclude any companies last year because of those criteria? How do you assess your reliability, your responsibility for your trading venues if those are used to finance company that violate human rights, are involved in fossil expansion or environmental destruction? What measures are you taking? How are you making sure that you do not indirectly benefit from those activities? Just to conclude the DAX 50 ESG, we don't hear a lot about that. It's all about your credibility in financial products. The so-called Green DAX, the DAX 50 ESG, should mirror companies with high sustainability standards. It seems that all companies adhere to those standards. We share this criticism. You have to be transparent about this. You have to prevent greenwashing. My questions are: what conclusions have you had, what insights since this index was introduced regarding the previous criteria? Since the introduction, have to be any internal or external evaluations to see whether the actual composition is in line with the sustainability targets. If so, what deficits, what room for improvement has been identified? What conclusions have been drawn? Which companies were excluded or not included because they didn't comply with the criteria of the Green, of the Green DAX, and which criteria were particularly important? In the face of increasing criticism, are you considering a review of the Green DAX, especially concerning biodiversity, fossil energies or human rights? How do you make sure that your ESG products do not become greenwashing products, where investors cannot really check the underlying sustainability? What mechanisms, what criteria, what transparency standards do you have in this regard? Just to conclude, there is criticism from civic organizations, from academia, or from affected communities. To what extent is that information factored into your ESG activities at Deutsche Börse Group? How are you planning to make your internal debates, conflicts of interests, and assessments more transparent? With that, thank you very much for your attention. I look forward to your answers. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Massa. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your contributions. You've raised a number of questions which will now be answered by the relevant executive board members. Where questions concern the supervisory board, the answers will be given by myself. I've agreed with the executive board that they will endorse my answers in line with legal requirements. Stephan, may I ask you to answer the first set of questions? Thank you, Clara. Mr. Kienle and Mr. Schaefer both addressed the same issue concerning the format of this AGM. You're asking, why is this not a face-to-face meeting? When are you planning to hold the next face-to-face meeting? Are you planning to change between formats, swap between formats? Every year, we take a decision on a case-by-case basis, bearing in mind the interests of the company and shareholders. This is what we did this year. An important aspect here is, of course, the agenda. This is standard practice when it comes to deciding on the format of AGMs. Last year, we deliberately decided to have a face-to-face AGM, and this is going to be an option going forward. Every year we're going to review this question on a case-by-case basis. Next, a number of questions raised by Mr. Kienle. Of course, I'm happy to pass on your word of thanks to our colleagues. First of all, the general market issues that you mentioned, Mr. Kienle. Why should the legislator interfere with the financial markets? Don't we need freedom of action? Free and open markets only work, in our opinion, in the long term if everyone trusts rules, the environment, and the stable framework. The legislator creates such a framework by ensuring transparency and fair competition. Especially in the financial markets, a lack of rules can lead to a loss of trust with significant consequences for investors and the real economy. From the point of view of DBAG, regulation does not contradict the concept of a free market. It's the foundation for an efficient and a smoothly running market. Next, the framework and European fragmentation that you mentioned. Do we need a reduction here? There's a package on market integration and supervision as part of the Savings and Investments Union. Here the European Union is pursuing the right goal, if you ask us. That trying to improve the sector capital markets. What is important is that the fragmentation of the trading landscape needs to be reduced in order to strengthen liquidity. In this case, it's particularly important that fair competition is ensured and regulatory arbitrage is reduced, something that we're seeing over and over again nowadays. Next, you asked about mergers in Europe. We share your opinion that the European capital market is fragmented compared with the U.S. I just mentioned that when I talked about the trading menus. This causes structural disadvantages, and those disadvantages cannot be eliminated through exchange consolidation. We at DBG are in principle willing to play an active role in the consolidation of Europe if that makes sense financially. Above all, those are far-reaching steps, and for them to be successful, we need the right regulatory and antitrust framework, and I'm sure there's a lot to be done in this regard. Moving on to something else you mentioned, Mr. Kienle, relations to the EU or between the EU and the U.K. in connection with Euro clearing. The EU and the U.K. are coming closer, which creates more stability. That doesn't change the strategic alignment of Europe. With the active account regime and EMIR 3.0, the regime will become broader and more robust. Infrastructure providers such as Deutsche Börse can benefit from that. Deutsche Börse is extremely well-positioned for that. Lastly, you also ask about the valuation of DBG compared to U.S. exchanges. The valuation is influenced by various factors. It fluctuates. We are closely monitoring the perception of us by the market. Currently, our valuation level is in line with our major competitors. We are convinced that the fundamental strength and the quality of our business model is going to be reflected in the medium term in our valuation and that we are going to obtain competitive valuations for Deutsche Börse. Moving on to ISS STOXX. Also questions raised by Mr. Kienle. You asked about the position of technology and data offerings as part of our structure. Technology and data are part of our value chain. We've got investment management solutions offering software-based solutions and intelligent database products and index families. Our markets run on an innovative technology that we also license to other stock exchanges, the technology and data offering is a central topic of our new strategy. In the same context, you ask about international competition and as the position of ISS STOXX compared to LSEG, the London Stock Exchange, especially in the data and software business. You also asked about what we do in data and software. Our IMS segment relies on a strategy that is built on the expansion of our technology leadership using synergies within the IMS segment. For SimCorp, the focus is on artificial intelligence, SaaS transformation, expansion of the front office and above all, an important trend, namely alternatives. Scalability and North America are topics that we have been driving since the acquisition. At the same time, ISS STOXX, among others, is focusing on customer-specific product specifications, cross and upselling, and also AI to improve its operational efficiency. As you can see, we're taking or have taken a number of measures, and we are quite confident that we are well-positioned in the competitive environment. Next, Mr. Kienle, you asked about the criticism of ISS in the United States. I'd like to address that because there are also press articles on that. Are these mainly questions of consumer protection? ISS works with all relevant authorities, and it is being supported by renowned law firms. Please understand, however, that we comment on pending proceedings. It's still early days. To conclude, Clara, if I may, a number of questions raised by Mr. Thomae. They also concern ISS and STOXX. You asked about the buyout of General Atlantic and the resulting changes. The buyout of the minority share made it possible for Deutsche Börse Group to implement our strategy in this particular business and to accelerate it. This gives us the opportunity to achieve sustainable long-term growth and to harvest the full value of ISS STOXX. The research and advisory business of ISS, however, is still subject to the established guidelines. We'll come back to that later, especially the principle of non-interference. This is a central element of independence in the research of ISS, and this is very important to us. Just one last thing, Mr. Thomae, two questions on M&A. You asked about our buy-side strategy. Our buy-side strategy tries to integrate the buy-side ecosystem to a larger extent to create customer value beyond individual technology solutions. We integrate the front to back platform of SimCorp with other DBG solutions in trading, in data, in fund services. At the end of the day, we're going to have a truly integrated offering for the buy side. That completes my set of questions. Clara, back to you. Thank you, Stephan. Jens, you have some answers, don't you? I do. Thank you, Clara. I'm also going to start with Mr. Kienle's question. Question number 1, let me explain the underlying reasons for the share price development last year. The share price development is based on several factors. In Q2 25, there was a record high and there was some correction. Main drivers were the rotation towards banking shares, a risk-friendly environment with low volatility and the perceived risks by new technologies such as artificial intelligence. In addition, there was a political discussion on ESG and proxy advisory services, which had a negative impact on the ISS STOXX business in the U.S. Those were, however, temporary factors, so that in 2026, the share price went up again considerably. We are convinced that the fundamental strength of our company is going to be reflected in the share price. Mr. Kienle, you asked about recurring income. How do we want to increase those? You said this is one central aspect of our strategy. Yes. Our overarching goal is to grow across all areas. Recurring revenue are an important building block, but not the only one. The structural growth drivers are clearly defined. Number 1, we expand our business with asset managers. We have positioned ourselves as a neutral and scalable long-term partner. Secondly, our growth is driven by digitalization. Thirdly, we benefit from the structural growth in fixed income securities, which is driven by global state debt and changing interest momentum. Number four, we transferred regulatory requirements to an ever-increasing extent to our own platforms. Next question, Mr. Kienle. What is our aim for recurring income in 2025? Recurring income accounted for 63%, and by 2028 we expect a slight increase. However, we do not have a specific target in mind. The actual percentage also depends on the cyclical developments in the respective periods. What's important is not a certain percentage. It's all about the quality and the sustainability of our growth, which is driven by clearly defined secular drivers. Mr. Kienle, you asked about what we think about the success of the SimCorp acquisition. Our expectations are being fulfilled. We are on track to achieve our 2026 goals, including synergies, the integration of Axioma, and growth across all regions. There is strong demand for SaaS solutions. The recurring growth rate, the annual recurring revenue, or ARR of SimCorp is around 16%. At SimCorp, that's the average for 2022 until 2025, this is very much in line with our own targets. Mr. Kienle, you asked about other audit services. At the level of DBAG, fees amounting to EUR 93,000 have been paid. They are part of the fees for audit services. For the report of the CSRD report, we spent fees of EUR 425,000 as part of other services. Other services include EUR 25,000 for 2 statutory assurance services. Moving on to Ms. Schaefer's questions on how reliable, how strong our growth model is. We believe that our models are extremely viable and strong. We showed that last year in a low volatility environment, low interest rates and a dampened trading activity. We actually hit the bull's eye. This is driven by our business model. Around 63%, as mentioned before, of our revenue is recurring revenue, and expected growth is driven by secular drivers, irrespective of the short-term activities on the market. Next, your question on secular growth, Ms. Schaefer. The growth of 8% between now and 2028, excluding treasury, will be almost exclusively driven by secular drivers. Next, a question concerning the secular recurring in income or revenue. Question raised by Mr. Thomae. As mentioned before, the average growth of 8% between now and 2028 is almost exclusively driven by structural drivers. The percentage of recurring revenues in 2025 was 63% and at constant portfolio between now and 2028, we're going to see a slight increase. This underlines the high quality and the long-term sustainability of our revenue basis. Concerning your question on the higher-than-expected interest income, a positive development indeed. Originally, we expected a treasury result of around EUR 700 million. In Q1, there were higher cash deposits. There were changes in the interest momentum, therefore we expect a little more than EUR 700 million actually. As for your last question in my first block, Mr. Thomae, you asked about recurring revenue in software solutions and about the accounting change at SimCorp. The amount of recurring income in IMS is 5%. We don't publish a percentage for software solutions, the company is happy with the SaaS transformation. SaaS net revenue grew by 50% because we attracted significant new customers, this is why we switched from one time to recurring revenue. Second part, the realization of revenue at SimCorp as of 2027, it will be changed in line with standard practice. We're going to switch to a pro rata accounting basis. This means that revenue will be more evenly distributed, and it also reflects the continuity of SaaS contracts. With that, back to you, Clara. Thank you, Jens. Stephan has a number of answers. Thank you, Mr. Thomae. A number of questions on the global environment and our general situation. You asked about the impact of the global uncertainties on our business model. Insecurities as a result of the conflicts in the Middle East have had a very positive impact on our trading activities because market participants had to do more hedging. I mentioned that in my speech. In April, however, the situation went back to normal. It was a short-term effect, but our strategic core focus is on the continuous realization of secular growth to create long-term value for us and our shareholders. This is underlined by our diversified and resilient business model. There was another question about the European Union and the Savings and Investments Union, whether we could benefit that. As a leading market infrastructure provider in Europe, we are following both of these developments very closely. Higher public debt, for instance, will lead to more issuances and more hedging activities. Essential parts are Clearstream and Eurex. Higher debt also makes it clear that we really need the SIU. We expect that the SIU is going to mobilize savings assets and capital in Europe. This will increase value and the market activity across a whole range of our activities. You asked about our market share in the U.S. and our ambition in Asia. In the U.S. market, SimCorp is growing. Since 2023, it has attracted an additional 10 platform customers, among them some of the largest investors worldwide. SimCorp, including Axioma, has more than 230 clients in this market, and in Asia they have a strong starting position with over 60 clients, among them some of the largest sovereign wealth funds. The ambition of Deutsche Börse is to expand SimCorp's activity in the Middle East and other markets such as Japan. You can see, these international markets are increasingly important for us. Your last question, at least in this part, Mr. Thomae, you asked about further acquisitions. Our M&A strategy remains selective and value-driven, and we are consistent in our communication. The most important thing is the successful completion of the Allfunds acquisition. In addition, Deutsche Börse will do and review and consider M&A activities as part of our Leading the Transformation strategy. Next, there were two questions concerning AI, questions raised by Mr. Thomae. What is the impact on us? Well, 3 quarters of our computing activities are in the cloud. This is a robust digital business model, and I think it's important to emphasize that. So AI is already an integral part of our product process. We use internal efficiencies and also customer efficiencies, improve them. This is all based on the preparations we made over the last few years. As for the risks of AI, we believe that they are manageable because less than 5% of our revenue is immediately affected by the AI debate. I'm not saying that 5% are jeopardized. 5% are potentially affected, and therefore our focus is very much on those 5%. Miss Schaefer, also a question concerning artificial intelligence. You asked about specific applications. At DBG, AI is a measurable lever for revenue and costs. In revenues, AI creates new, better products for our clients. A specific example, SimCorp enables AI assistance to improve productivity and better decision-making processes for investment managers. In terms of costs, AI is a central part of our One Group initiative. It makes an important contribution to our target of increasing costs by only 3% annually. Again, examples, the automation of routine tasks in compliance, document processing, and customer service. One last thing. A question addressed by Mr. Thomae and Mr. Massa concerning the position of Deutsche Börse regarding a reform of the stock corporation law. Now, in principle, DBG supports the right of shareholders to present their own motions at AGMs. This is a fundamental part of shareholder rights and good corporate governance. The existing bureaucratic hurdles could be eliminated, in our opinion, through pan-European harmonization. With that, I'm gonna hand back to Clara. Thank you very much, Stephan. I would ask Thomas Book to answer a few questions. Thank you, Clara. Let me start by answering questions asked by Mr. Kienle. Mr. Kienle, you asked why we currently offer no commodities products and whether we plan to venture into that segment and whether it's a potential growth segment, and we'd be happy to give you our position on that. Our product offer follows the clear focus on environmental and energy markets close to energy by added value through clearing management. Commodities markets such as metals are more of a physical nature and less integrated through liquid spot markets, making for less synergies of our trading and clearing model. Where there are synergies, we do check whether there is a selective option for enlargements, but a broad-based entry into classic commodities market is not something we pursue at the moment. Your question, Mr. Kienle, about the interest rate and energy market, how we want to catch up with the dominant U.S. vendors, let me answer that question from the two points of view. Firstly, EEX. EEX in Europe, both for electricity and gas spot markets and power derivatives markets, is clearly playing a leading role. A comparison with U.S. providers therefore is something which is mostly applicable to the gas derivatives business here. We deliberately rely on our strong position in the European gas spot markets, and on that basis develop competitive derivatives and develop them further. This is carried by a high amount of liquidity, broad participation in the market, and the close interconnection of trading and clearing. As for the interest market. As for the Eurex rather, we hold a strong position. Eurex offers all of the relevant interest products of futures, options, swaps and repos with bonds as collateral. That helps our customers generate significant synergies, and that is also true for our U.S. American clients. Mr. Kienle, you asked for the practical problems and the current status regarding the shift of Euro clearing as planned by the EU from London to Frankfurt. Stephan already addressed that question. Generally speaking, the European Union with the European Market Infrastructure Regulation, EMIR 3.0, has provided the necessary legal foundation. As of 24th June 2025, according to this, financial service providers resident in the EU for the clearing of interest derivatives in EU currency need to hold an active account with a EU clearing house. Eurex is making good progress with onboarding these clients and has by now set up about 2,500 entities, 40% of those alone during the year 2025. Mr. Kienle, another question of yours was whether, in keeping with the futures on computing power of the CME exchange, whether we offer similar services. For the time being, we do not, we constantly review new products in dialogue with our clients and will react according to the market's needs. Mr. Thomae, thank you for your question regarding the market share with the Euro OTC clearing. Our market share in Euro OTC clearing during the first quarter 2026 was increased by five percentage points compared to previous quarter. In July 2026, the active account requirements directive will enter into force. As a consequence of that, we expect to further increase both of the activation rate of our registered end clients and also general trading activity for such clearing activities. Mr. Thomae, another question regarding interest. You asked for the trend for short-term interest rate futures, so-called STIR products. The trading volume of our STIR products in the past year increased by 60%. Given the increased market volatility of the first quarter 2026, we saw a slight decrease in volume. However, they've already stabilized again in the course of April. Similar to OTC clearing here too, customer activation as part of the requirements for active accounts under EMIR 3.0 plays an important role, and we therefore expect an increase in client activity. Mr. Thomae, also thank you for asking whether the trend towards more repo business will continue given the higher interest rates. The answer, yes. Growth in the repo business for the first quarter 26 amounted to about 70% versus previous year. The key drivers for that growth continue to be the reduction of excess liquidity in the Euro region and, as was mentioned, the higher issuing volumes of European sovereign debt. There's our unique client bases that we continuously plan to expand in that segment. Mr. Thomae, you've furthermore asked whether we observe a continuing trend towards higher need for renewables and hedging there. Yes, we can confirm that there is a trend for higher hedging for renewables, particularly given the increase of new renewable sources. Companies tend to hedge increasingly against price fluctuations, which increases the demand for power and electricity derivatives, to which EEX reacts with new products and continuous expansion of its offer range. Mr. Thomae, thank you for a question on more information incorporating with Kraken when it comes to digital assets. Our partnership with Kraken aims at connecting the regulated capital market infrastructure of Deutsche Börse and link it to the liquidity of Kraken, particularly when it comes to digital assets. Through this close interconnection trading, this results in a cross-asset class offer range, and at the same time, post-trading services such as custody, settlement, and collateral management are then connected via our subsidiary Crypto Finance and Clearstream and connected to the Kraken infrastructure. At the end of the day, to our clients, this means consistent access to traditional and digital assets over a standard scalable value chain. Mr. Thomae, regarding your question about our new platform for power derivatives in Japan and the progress we've made there, the Japanese power market has seen dynamic development in recent years. In 2025 alone, the trading volume doubled. EEX now generates revenues of more than EUR 5 million there by now, with an average annual growth of 175% since 2022. This makes Japan one of the most important growth markets of EEX. Mr. Thomae, next, your question about 360T and how much it profits from platform and clearing business. 360T is our globally regulated foreign exchange platform, which has a unique scalable platform model. Customers profit a lot from this integrated offer, which provides liquidity, data, and workflow solutions from a single source. That, over recent years, allowed us to come to attract a number of new professional clients in asset management. I'll next address a question by Ms. Schaefer. Ms. Schaefer, you asked for a potential margin erosion in the cash market given neo brokers' offers. Neo brokers have an offering that is mostly based on the business model of free execution of orders for retail investors. With Central Retail, which is a specific trading offer for retail investors, we as Deutsche Börse are already successfully offering such a product specifically made for retail investor for specific orders. A margin erosion, therefore, is something we do not need to expect. Finally, let me address a question of Mr. Massa. Mr. Massa, you asked whether Deutsche Börse in 2025 saw any violations regarding fossil energies and other violations of environmental law and whether we therefore limited or terminated any business relations or refused them. The answer is no, we did not do that in any way. Clara, back to you. Thank you, Thomas. I'd like to ask Stephanie Eckermann to answer a few questions next. I'll be happy to do that. Firstly, I'd like to address a number of questions to do with Allfunds. Mr. Thomae, you asked whether the acquisition of Allfunds was already factored into our business plan. Our current business plan reflects our fund business segment on a separate basis, so without excluding Allfunds. At the same time, we derived a detailed plan which at the end of the transaction will be transitioned into the overall business plan. Mr. Thomae, you also asked for the added value Allfunds provides for our fund business. The combination of Allfunds with our fund business at Clearstream comes with a very convincing strategic, commercial, and financial foundation. Both companies supplement each other excellently. Clearstream brings in highly efficient fund order settling and custody services, whereas Allfunds is leading in fund sales support. Together, this makes for a value proposition along the entire fund value chain. Moreover, we expect considerable economies of scale given the combination of the operating models and technology platforms of both entities and a joint innovation driving force which allows us to drive forward digital product innovation across segments. Also, Mr. Thomae, you asked for potential negative synergies and the competitive or competition law situation. The positioning of both companies is indeed largely complementary. We do not expect any major negative synergies. In view of authority approval, we have initiated the standard pre-registration procedure with the European Commission, which is an important procedural step which marks the start of the actual, you know, tests and investigation proceedings. In parallel to that, we are in the process of obtaining the necessary merger control and regulatory approvals in the relevant legal legislations, and all submissions are as planned and on time, and we are confident that we will obtain all the necessary approvals. Mr. Thomae, you also asked for the impact of the increase in national debt, infrastructure and defense spending and the return of capital flows into Europe and its influence on our business. Those are developments from which we profit immediately. The increase in government and sovereign debt leads to a higher bond issuance activity which directly impacts our custody settlement and securitization activities. At the same time, when it comes to capital flows being retransferred to Europe, we see an increase in demand for European market infrastructure. Clearstream, as a central post-trading platform across Europe, is excellently positioned in order to profit from these structural shifts sustainably and long-term. Thank you, Ms. Schaefer, for your question to do with the interdependence of interest rate income and measures taken within Clearstream to balance that out in case of negative interest. The interest rate share as a proportion of both Clearstream segments, we'll see a decrease to about one-fourth. We reduce our dependency of the interest rate result, but quite specifically, we do so by strategically expanding our services with fee-based revenue. One more question by Mr. Thomae. You asked whether real-time bookings based on blockchain technology is something which leads us to expect a decrease in income. We consider this less of a risk, but rather an opportunity. We are building up Europe's first hybrid, complete, pre-trade-post-trading infrastructure which can handle both traditional and tokenized assets through one single trusted infrastructure. With that, we connect both liquidity spheres and offer our clients the possibility to move assets in both directions. Because also in an increasingly digital world of securities, a neutral and regulated operator of the infrastructure remains indispensable. With that, I hand back to you, Clara. Thank you very much, Steffi. Christoph Böhm will now be addressing the next set of questions. Thank you very much, Clara. Ms. Schaefer, you asked a number of questions to do with cybersecurity. Regarding your first questions, investments into cybersecurity over the 25 financial year, that's what I'd like to answer first. Deutsche Börse Group sees the safety and reliability of our business and protection of data as one of their key priorities. For that reason, we continuously expand our methodology, instruments and processes which help prevent cyberattacks and to detect security gaps. For that, we provide considerable funds and resources. An exact amount regarding the quantity of those investments is something we do not provide information on for security reasons. Your next question, Ms. Schaefer, whether our management considers that the existing level of security is adequate in view of geopolitical tension around us. Deutsche Börse Group constantly analyzes geopolitical tensions and their impact on our business activities, particularly regarding the threat to the situation when it comes to physical security and cybersecurity. Security-relevant finding and information are used proactively in order to continuously improve existing security measures in place. Management Board reviews the existing security level and deems it appropriate, continuous further improvement will continue to remain necessary. Your final question, security incidents that have to be reported in the past year. Both in the past financial year and also in the current calendar year 26 to date, no security incidences requiring reported were noted in terms of cybersecurity. Back to you, Clara. Thank you, Christoph. Stephan Leithner would answer another few questions now. Yes, thank you, Ms. Schaefer. Building on your initial statements and your recognition of our strong position, for that, I'd like to say thank you. We can assure you that we continue to remain focused on long-term development. Specifically, I'd like to address questions that you asked that are to do with regulatory interventions. The management, the Executive Board at the moment does not see any substantial risk in terms of regulatory or antitrust interventions in the areas you mentioned: clearing, custody, and trading data. When it comes to EU competition law, we see positive signals. The current review of the merger acquisition regulations and rules to ensure global competitiveness for European champions are to be improved. That will provide a good foundation for our strategy. In that connection of our long-term orientation, you also asked for the valuation of our shares as part of the share buyback activities and what we make of that. Let me say that our share buyback program is a firm component of our capital allocation strategy, as I outlined in my speech. As a standard and regular program, it is in place regardless of daily share price developments. We believe it to be an important instrument of reliability. Also earlier, I addressed some of your first questions, Ms. Schaefer, in the connection of AI. Let me further elaborate or supplement this. You asked for the impact on need for personnel, operational risks, and also new revenue sources as a result of AI. The focus of our personnel resource planning in the context of AI is the specific buildup of future competencies across the entire group. At the moment, we see no specific and major impact of AI on the operational risk profile of the group. That too is very important to us. Obviously, that's again, something we continuously review. Third, on the revenue and sales side, AI helps us create better new products for our clients, and I addressed that quite specifically in my earlier answer. Furthermore, Ms. Schaefer, you answered quite a number of questions in the context of IMS. Let me start by what you said regarding the executive board's expectations regarding the development of ESG business. Long-term, we expect that market to continue to grow for ESG data and solutions. Short-term, however, we continue to see this as a challenging environment in the U.S. and also diverging views amongst the various stakeholders when it comes to ESG. STOXX as a neutral service provider, and with its capacity of offering customized solutions to their client, is well-positioned to meet those challenges. Moreover, you also addressed the topic of Let me quickly hand back to Clara and take those questions afterwards, the IMS questions. Okay. Thank you, Stephan. In that case, I would now ask Christian Kromann to answer 2 questions, please. Thank you, Mr. Kienle. You asked whether SimCorp could help to reduce the distance there is in the data and software business. The acquisition of SimCorp was and is important for the growth cause of Deutsche Börse Group. We build on the targeted expansion of our business on the buy side. The comparison of revenues of individual business segments, in our view, for the long-term competitiveness of our activities is not the key factor. The other question, Mr. Massa, you asked about the review of the methodology of the DAX 50 ESG. Our answer: We review our index and rating methodologies continuously and stand by the. In that connection are in regular exchange with all stakeholder groups. Thank you. Back to Clara. Thank you, Christian, also for answering those questions in German. Given the long words we tend to have, that's not to be taken for granted from a non-native speaker. Thank you for that. Next, I'd like to ask Heike Eckert to answer a question. Yes. Thank you. Mr. Thomae, thank you for your question on diversity. The Equal Opportunities Index in 2025 shows a slight decline, which in part has to do with an extension to that index in terms of content. With Deutsche Börse Group, we offer an environment in which all employees can contribute in the best possible manner. Our inclusion program 2026 targets 3 areas. 1. Promotion of an inclusive culture. 2. Collaboration across the entire group. 3. Measures to raise awareness. With that, back to you, Clara. Right. Thank you. Thomas Book has one more question to answer, please. Thank you. I would like to address Mr. Massa's question regarding our offers to be made in a responsible way. The risk analysis on human rights and the environment is something where Deutsche Börse Group focus on our own business operations and suppliers in keeping with the corresponding German legislation. Our trading venues and product and services as offers take place in the framework of the existing legal and supervisory framework conditions. With that, back to you, Clara. Thank you. At that point, Jens Schulte has 3 more questions to answer. Yes, happy to do so. First, 2 questions raised by Ms. Schaefer, thank you for those, to do with capital. First, you asked for our capital allocation and the decision about the share buyback program. Our capital allocation brings together strong investment activities and attractive shareholder returns, and that's not 2 things which are in contradiction of each other but rather are a natural supplementation of each other. First, there is focus on organic growth within an annual budget of about EUR 600 million. Strategic acquisitions, such as those of with in the Allfunds example are a deliberate addition to that. The program is financed from excess liquidity. It's not replacement for investment but expresses the strength of our business model. You asked a second question to do with capital. You asked for the SimCorp integration and the long-term return on capital employed. For the SimCorp acquisition, we follow the same financial discipline as we do for all M&A activities. We expect that the long-term return will exceed our weighted average cost of capital. The integration of SimCorp, including Axioma, is making progress as planned, and at the moment we do not see any major operational challenges. There is one more question by Mr. Thomae. Mr. Thomae, you asked for the influence of the Allfunds acquisition regarding the level of debt across the group. The acquisition of Allfunds will bring the current debt level a bit up from its currently very low level, but will still remain within the Standard & Poor's criteria for our AA- rating with a stable outlook. The ratio of net debt to EBITDA will, as expected, remain below the 2.25 multiple threshold, the ratio of funds inflow from current activities versus net debt might for a interim period remain slightly below the required 40% but then recover quickly. We are confident that we can lastingly defend our rating position. With that, back to you, Clara. Thank you. Dr. Leithner will answer a few more questions now. Yes. Thank you. Let me come back to your question, Ms. Schaefer, on the political and regulatory changes. Specific terms, you asked about what could be done to make Frankfurt and Europe remain competitive in the long term. As a starting point, we obviously support political and regulatory initiatives to strengthen the European and German capital markets in terms of structure. At the EU level, there's the Savings and Investments Union that we accompany and support closely, and there's also a number of series of measures in Germany that we supported. The future finance law, then the growth capital initiative, plus the Made for Germany initiative brought forward by the German industry. In Frankfurt, we are committed to the financial location cabinet, as it's called, in order to improve the financial ecosystem. In total, we're not just committed here, but also contribute in a positive manner. Beyond that, when it comes to regulation and framework conditions regarding restrictions imposed by the Trump administration on the ISS business model and whether there might be need for write-offs here. Let me tell you that ISS continues to operate in a changing regulatory and political environment in the U.S. The end point of any such development cannot yet be foreseen. STOXX is always pursuing a strategy of constructively cooperating with the authority. The solutions will always be provided in the interest of their clients. In relation to that, Deutsche Börse does not see any need for the write-offs. Next, let me address topics raised by both Mr. Massa and Mr. Thomae. That has to do with ISS and the question around the impact on Deutsche Börse or of Deutsche Börse to do with higher transparency because ISS when it comes to various methodologies. The answer on that, Deutsche Börse does not plan to influence the ESG rating methodology used by ISS. ISS already publishes comprehensive information on methodology and of the ratings on their homepage. For corporate ratings, this methodology document, for example, has a scope of 66 pages which allows investors to appropriately assess the methodology of those ratings. That is ISS position on that that we share. Mr. Massa, you asked for how we handle proxy instructions and recommendations of ISS and the connection of the independence of Deutsche Börse Group and versus their clients. When it comes to governance and ESG data, ISS generally operates independently of Deutsche Börse. Deutsche Börse commits to the principle of non-interference which protects the independence and integrity of research recommendations, ratings, and other analysis offers provided by ISS. Against this background, we also do not take comment on individual recommendations issued by ISS. The position of Deutsche Börse through ISS and the governance research report and the ISS corporate report is clearly disclosed. With that in mind, this really corresponds to the highest standard of transparency. Next, let me address the specific criteria you asked for, Mr. Massa, when it comes to the ISS resolutions. Here too, I can only refer you to this. ISS has their voting guidelines and such as the benchmark policy or also in the themed policies where they are defined, all of which can be seen on the ISS homepage and are therefore highly transparent and available. You asked further, Mr. Massa, and I'll be happy to come to that, the applicable human rights climate and environmental minimum standards that apply to Deutsche Börse Group. In that respect, Deutsche Börse Group focuses in their risk analyses on human rights and environmental aspects, mostly on our own operations and immediate suppliers. In keeping with legal requirements such as the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act in Germany, the office provided by our trading venues, products and services, all of which is in the framework of existing legal and regulatory frameworks. Definition of further standards that go beyond legal requirements are individual decisions taken by our clients, and with that as a standard, we do not directly interfere. Mr. Massa, you went on to ask about critical situations since the introduction of the DAX 50 ESG. We are convinced that the DAX 50 ESG follows a transparent set of rules based on the feedback by market participants. STOXX believes that this reflects and fulfills the key client requirements and are in keeping with industry standards and regulatory requirements. With that, I hope that this answers your question too. You also asked about the methodology of the DAX 50 ESG index. As I said, we are firmly convinced that it is transparent at all times and follows the rules-based calculation and computation method that's also publicly available. The composition of that index is monitored on an ongoing basis by STOXX, and information is publicly available. In the same context you asked, what are the companies That were excluded or not included in this index. Again, I can only refer to the information that ISS STOXX has made available on their website. We are convinced that this is full, transparent, fact-based, and rules-based, and everything is in line with those principles. The change in the index's composition is also fully published information. Based on the inclusions or exclusions in an index, Mr. Massa, you asked about specific exclusion criteria within sustainability-related index and ESG products. More general questions, that is. Again, let me refer to the methodology that's clearly rules-based and transparent, and the exclusion criteria for the respective indices are, of course, differentiated. The methodology is publicly available on the website by ISS STOXX. Beyond that, you asked about whether and how the development of index ratings, methodology, et cetera, is criticized. When it comes to the subsidiaries of Deutsche Börse, they constantly assess their methodology, and it's with the scientific community clients and the general public that they work with. ISS STOXX works based on a non-interference policy by Deutsche Börse AG that will ensure that Deutsche Börse AG has no influence on the ISS STOXX ESG ratings to make sure they remain independent. That's an important element in the positioning of ISS STOXX. Lastly, let me come back to your specific question, Mr. Massa, as to how Deutsche Börse avoids and prevents greenwashing of ESG information and indices. The indices reflect the relevant ESMA guidelines to ensure that index names and their composition are in line or in compliance, and that's monitoring done constantly by ISS STOXX to ensure that. There's 1 question by Miss Schaefer that I think I haven't answered. Christian Kromann answered it essentially. Let me repeat it. You asked about the synergies of the SimCorp transaction. The integration has developed as planned. We're very satisfied. The communicated synergies of EUR 60 million were achieved by year-end 2025, which makes it a very positive development, as Christian Kromann has explained. With that, Clara, I think with the exception of 1 question, I have answered all questions for me. Let me hand back to the chair and answer the last question. Thank you. Let me answer the 2 questions addressed at me. Mr. Kienle, you asked about the reasons for the early retirement or withdrawal of Shannon Johnston. There are work-related reasons for that. We very much regret Shannon Johnston leaving the Supervisory Board. She was a member and the chair of the technology committee, where she was instrumental in supporting and shaping our work. Miss Schaefer, you asked about the alignment of executive board remuneration based on operational performance rather than one-time effects. The remuneration effect makes sure there are balanced incentives for sustainable growth and profitability. The individual criteria, both short-term and long-term variable pay, the criteria for those are measurable and are in line with the Leading the Transformation strategy. 70% of the performance-based remuneration is measured with long-term variables, which by and large avoids the impact of one-time effects. I'll hand back to Stephan Leithner for the last question. Thank you. Mr. Thomae, you asked about the position of ISS proxy advisors with respect to the more tightening legislation in the U.S. with a view to restricting DSI and ESG. The recommendations are in line with applicable legislation and rules, recommendations by ISS, that is. Whenever that environment changes, ISS takes that into account, and it keeps reassessing its approach on an ongoing basis. They are very important developments, but they are fully processed and taken into account. That was the last question for me. Clara, back to you. Thank you. Thank you to all executive board members for the comprehensive answers to the questions. Ladies and gentlemen, currently I can see no more requests to speak. If anybody wishes to speak, can I ask you to click on the button in the online service requesting to speak? Please also tell us if there are any questions that we haven't answered or haven't answered in full. If not, I would close the general debate in a minute. We are going to enter into the vote on the resolutions before the meeting. Are there any requests to speak? [Foreign language] That is not the case. Thank you. I therefore state for the record that all questions have been duly answered and there are no more requests for the floor. I hereby close the general debate on agenda items one to nine. The online function for submitting requests to speak is now deactivated. There is in fact another request to speak when I was about to close the list. Mr. Thomas Weidenmüller. Please go to the virtual, the online waiting room, and then we will check your audio and video connection and admit this request to speak. Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately Mr. Weidenmüller was not able to be connected. Since there was a short break, let me ask again whether there are any other requests to speak. If that is not the case, I hereby close the general debate. Let me state again that all questions have been duly answered and that there are no more requests to speak. I hereby close the general debate on agenda items 1 to 9. The online function for submitting requests to speak is now deactivated. Let's now proceed to the voting. Please note that from now on, submitting or modifying instructions to the 2 company-appointed proxies or postal ballots will only be possible for another minute or so. The voting result will be determined using the addition procedure, meaning that we're only going to count the yes and no votes. Any abstentions will not be counted separately and disregarded. However, we are going to disclose the number of uncounted votes on our website after the AGM. Under Agenda Item 2, Appropriation of the Unappropriated Surplus, the meeting is going to vote on the amended proposal as published this morning and as available on the company's website. Under Agenda Items 3 through 9, the meeting is going to vote on the resolutions proposed by the management and published in the German Federal Gazette. With regard to Agenda Items 3 and 4, I'd like to remind everyone that pursuant to Section 136 of the German Stock Corporation Act, board members are not entitled to vote on the ratification of their own acts. The members of both boards have submitted the necessary declarations in writing. We can thus ensure compliance with these voting restrictions. For Agenda Items seven and eight, the notary will make attachments to the minutes, namely printouts of the remuneration system and the remuneration report as available on our website. Shareholders, as announced before, the online function for submitting or modifying votes or instructions to the two company-appointed proxies will be deactivated now. The two company-appointed proxies are voting on your behalf even as we speak. The votes cast on your behalf will be entered into the counting system and processed electronically to determine the result of the vote. I hereby declare the voting process closed. From now on, it will no longer be possible to submit or modify postal ballots either. The online postal ballot function has been deactivated. Any postal ballots submitted in time will also be entered into the counting system and processed electronically to determine the result of the vote. The votes will now be counted under the notary's supervision. I will now suspend this AGM until the voting results are available. The AGM and the webcast will resume in a few minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, I now call the meeting back to order. I have now the results of the votes on agenda items two through nine. The comprehensive results will be displayed in detail on your screens. I'm going to refer to these figures later on when announcing the results of the vote. When reading out the results, I'm going to state whether or not the required majority has been achieved. The full voting results will be available on the company's website after this AGM. I shall pass on a detailed version of the voting results to our notary, Dr. Schmidt, for inclusion in the minutes. Let me also point out that we will have reached the end of today's AGM and that I am going to close the meeting immediately after the voting results have been announced. Up to this point, you'll still have the possibility to lodge objections against the resolutions before the meeting should you deem that necessary. In other words, you will no longer have this possibility once I close the meeting. Let me announce the result of the vote. For the record, the voting results for agenda items 2 to 9 are as follows: This AGM has just voted on the resolutions proposed by the Executive and Supervisory Boards or under item 6 and 9 by the Supervisory Board only as with the exception of agenda item 2 published in the Federal Gazette on the 21st of April, 2026. Item 2, resolution on the appropriation of the unappropriated surplus was carried with the required majority. Under agenda item 3, the resolution on the ratification of the acts of the members of the Executive Board was carried with the required majority. Under item 4, the resolution on the ratification of the acts of the members of the Supervisory Board was carried with the required majority. Item 5, resolution on the cancellation of the existing authorized capital 1 and creating a new authorized capital 2026 with the option of excluding subscription rights for fractional amounts and on amending the articles of incorporation to that effect was carried with the required majority by the AGM, majority of votes and majority of capital represented at the time of the vote. Item 6, resolution on the election of a new member of the Supervisory Board was carried with the required majority. Under agenda item 7, resolution on amendments of the articles of incorporation to allow the appointment of a second deputy chairperson of the supervisory board and the related adjustment of the remuneration for members of the supervisory board, including the remuneration system on which it is based and the corresponding amendment to the articles of incorporation was carried with the required majority of votes and the majority of share capital represented at the time of the AGM. Item 8, resolution on the approval of the remuneration report was carried with the required majority. Under agenda item 9, the resolution on the election of the auditor and group auditor for the 2026 financial year, the auditor for the review of the condensed financial statements and the interim management report for the first half of the 2026 financial year was carried with the required majority. Item 9 B, resolution on the election of the auditor for the sustainability reporting for the financial year 2026. This again was carried with the required majority. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the business of the annual general meeting. I'd like to thank all those involved in the organization and smooth running of this AGM, and I'd like to say a particular word of thanks to all of you, our shareholders and shareholder representatives for having trust in Deutsche Börse, for following the AGM webcast online, and for your questions and comments. I'd like to thank you most sincerely for both the critical and the encouraging remarks you have made. Your many contributions have shown how important it is for us to engage in this dialogue with you. With that, today's AGM is closed, and I wish you all the best.