1 Accounting regulations The Consolidated Financial Statements have been established on the basis of sec- tion 315a of the German Commercial Code (HGB) in compliance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the European Union. In the business year 2007, IFRS 7 "Financial Instruments: Disclosures" and the resulting amendments of IFRS 4: "Insurance Contracts" were applied for the first time. IFRS 7 requires detailed disclosures in the Notes on financial instruments and on the financial risk exposures of an enterprise. This involves changes regarding the disclosures made in the Notes in compliance with IFRS 4 "Insurance Contracts". Furthermore the amendments of IAS 1 "Presentation of Financial Statements" were applied in the Consolidated Financial Statements for the year 2007 with regard to additional disclosures on the capital. Since these new rules refer only to disclosures in the Notes, the first-time applica- tion of the new or revised standards does not involve any changes in the methods of accounting and measurement. IFRS 8 "Operating Segments" dealing with changes in segment reporting was not applied early. The application of IFRS 8 will become mandatory starting from the busi- ness year 2009. The implementation of IFRS 8 will not have a major impact. Indications of standards in the Consolidated Financial Statements always refer to the version of the standard applied in preparing the Consolidated Financial State- ments. 2 Consolidation Consolidation scope In compliance with IAS 27 in conjunction with SIC 12, the Consolidated Financial State- ments as at December 31, 2007 comprise AMB Generali as well as 63 subsidiaries and 24 investment funds. In addition, after the acquisition of the stake in Generali Invest- ments S.p.A., four companies are measured at equity. These are companies on which the AMB Generali Group may exercise a material influence. Furthermore a stake in a joint venture is measured at equity in compliance with IAS 31. On p. 134 of this Report, a table showing major subsidiaries and companies measured at equity provides informa- tion on the consolidation scope. A complete list of the shareholdings is disclosed in the electronic version of the Official German Gazette (Bundesanzeiger) according to section 313 para. 2 of the Commercial Code. Consolidation principles Subsidiaries are consolidated if AMB Generali Holding, directly or indirectly, holds a majority of votes. Furthermore companies and/or special purpose entities are consoli- dated in compliance with SIC 12. A business combination exists if the AMB Generali Group obtains control of another enterprise. In compliance with IFRS 3 "Business Com- bination", a business combination is accounted for by the purchase method. Under that Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements 2007 Chap. 3 CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES 086