A fundamental goal of financial management is to control the liquidity of the Group’s companies. Intragroup finance transactions ensure that all operating companies remain solvent at all times. Due to our healthy liquidity situation, another focus is on financial investments. These investments are essentially oriented toward the short term with default risk minimized by careful selection of transaction partners and broadly dispersed investments. The focus on short-term investments means that Group funds are invested at near money-market rates. Exchange risks are monitored for all of the Group’s companies in the central treasury department and hedged using derivatives in accordance with internal guidelines. Only existing balance sheet items or anticipated cash flows are hedged.