Klaus Kleinfeld, CEO of the German technology giant Siemens, announced yesterday that he would resign.
The forced resignation comes in the wake of a massive corruption scandal that has hit the company.
Investigations launched in November last year have revealed that Siemens had been spending hundreds of millions of euros since the mid-1990s on bribes aimed at winning contracts.
Kleinfeld's departure has implications for Finland and Nokia; Kleinfeld had been a key figure in the establishment of Nokia Siemens Networks.
"We do not comment on matters related to other companies, and this is no exception", said Nokia Communications Director Arja Suominen by telephone.
Kleinfeld's resignation leaves open the post of Vice Chairman of the Board of Nokia Siemens Networks.
Pushing for Kleinfeld's resignation were two members of the Siemens Supervisory Board, Gerhard Cromme, as well as Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann.
Just a few weeks ago Ackermann expressed his full support for Kleinfeld.
