The dog's breakfast that is German corporate governance continues.

Just days after Siemens chairman Heinrich Von Pierer announced he was stepping down in the wake of investigations into bribery and slush funds, we have Klaus Kleinfeld announcing that he won't renew his contract with the industrial and engineering conglomerate.

Mind you, the Siemens board had left him with little alternative. It had refused to discuss renewing his contract.

Kleinfeld's decision coincides with the widening of investigations. The US Securities and Exchange Commission and US Justice Department are also looking into the matter.

Still, Kleinfeld had never been under suspicion and had beefed up the company's safeguards to stop these sorts of activities from occurring. He had also turned the company around, producing strong growth and a big increase in earnings. More of that here.

The entire affair is an indictment of German corporate governance, says The Economist.

"Mr Kleinfeld's main problem was his lack of allies in Germany's chummy corporate elite. His American management methods seemed brash to industrialists and union representatives on Siemens's board, who were more used to Germany's consensual style of corporate leadership."

Siemens directors, desperate to restore their reputations in this sordid mess, may well come to regret sacrificing him to save their skins.