FRANKFURT, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - The German industrial group Siemens said Tuesday it estimated the cost of a major restructuring plan at 3.0 billion euros (4.3 billion dollars).

Most of that amount would be booked in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year, Siemens said in a statement.

NUREMBERG, Germany, Sept 24, 2008 (AFP) - A former Siemens executive, Johannes Feldmayer, acknowledged Wednesday that he paid tens of millions of euros (dollars) to a small trade union that supported the management's goals.

NUREMBERG, Germany, Sept 24, 2008 (AFP) - A damaging bribery scandal at German conglomerate Siemens came to court for the first time on Wednesday as a former board member went on trial charged with breach of trust.

BERLIN, Sept 23, 2008 (AFP) - The German industrial group Siemens unveiled a foundation Tuesday to coordinate its philanthropic activities, on the eve of the trial of a former executive charged with breach of trust.

BERLIN, Sept 21, 2008 (AFP) - A few years ago Heinrich von Pierer was 'Mr Siemens', head of a successful German industrial titan making everything from nuclear power stations to mobile phones and master of all he surveyed.

PARIS, September 4, 2008 (AFP) - French software group Dassault Systemes on Thursday accused its German rival Siemens Software of trade secrets violation involving a 'protected' list of Dassault's customers.

FRANKFURT, August 28, 2008 (AFP) - German conglomerate Siemens wants to attract investment from sovereign wealth funds to enlarge its long-term investor base and improve access to fast-growing markets, its chief financial officer said in comments published Thursday.

German engineering giant Siemens ignored its own anti-corruption procedures in a slush fund scandal ...

ATHENS, August 6, 2008 (AFP) - A judge probing alleged kickbacks by Siemens to Greek politicians and corporate bigwigs to secure a giant contract will question a former company official in Germany, a legal source said Wednesday.

FRANKFURT, August 6, 2008 (AFP) - The German engineering group Siemens wants to sell its half of a computer joint venture with Fujitsu of Japan, a press report said on Monday, quoting people familiar with the matter.

BERLIN, August 2, 2008 (AFP) - Greek telephone company OTE wants a German court to force engineering giant Siemens to reveal whether it paid bribes to OTE employees to secure a one billion dollar contract, a report said Saturday.

FRANKFURT, August 1, 2008 (AFP) - The German industrial group Siemens announced on Friday another divestment in its telecoms activities, saying it would sell 80 percent of its SHC unit, which makes cordless phones, to Arques Industries.

The amount of the transaction was not provided, but the deal was to be finalised by October 1, a statement said.

BERLIN, July 29, 2008 (AFP) - German engineering giant Siemens said Tuesday it had spun off a controlling stake in its Enterprise Communications (SEN) unit to US investor The Gores Group.

SEN was to be integrated in a joint venture in which Siemens will invest 175 million euros (275 million dollars) and retain a 49 percent stake, it said in a statement.

FRANKFURT, July 29, 2008 (AFP) - The German engineering group Siemens will sue 11 former directors for damages in connection with a corruption scandal which broke nearly two years ago, the company said on Tuesday.

MUNICH, July 28, 2008 (AFP) - A German court convicted former Siemens director Reinhard Siekaczek of corruption and gave him a two-year suspended sentence Monday in its first ruling involving an executive at the scandal-hit industrial giant.

Siekaczek, 57, was convicted on 49 counts of breach of trust and was ordered to pay 108,000 euros (170,000 dollars) in fines.

BERLIN, July 23, 2008 (AFP) - The German engineering group Siemens is mulling the sale of a Czech factory, where 950 workers make trains, as part of the restructuring of its transport division, it said on Wednesday.

Siemens wants to divest the unit by the end of its 2009 exercise, and considers that a sale is one option, a statement said.

BERLIN, July 23, 2008 (AFP) - The German engineering group Siemens is mulling the sale of a Czech factory ,where 950 workers make trains, as part of broad staff cuits, it said on Wednesday.

'Siemens wants to divest (the unit) by the end of its 2009 exercise at the latest,' and considers that 'a sale is a possible option,' a statement said.

BERLIN, July 22, 2008 (AFP) - The German engineering group Siemens is to pursue former directors for damages suffered in a scandal that broke nearly two years ago, a press report said on Tuesday.

BERLIN, July 8, 2008 (AFP) - Engineering giant Siemens, Germany's third biggest company, unveiled 16,750 job cuts on Tuesday in a giant restructuring plan that is set to pit boss Peter Loescher against trade unions.

BERLIN, July 8, 2008 (AFP) - German engineering giant Siemens unveiled on Tuesday one of its biggest restructuring plans ever, saying 16,750 jobs would be cut worldwide, almost one-third of which would be at home.

BERLIN, July 8, 2008 (AFP) - German engineering giant Siemens announced Tuesday that it planned to cut 16,750 jobs worldwide as part of a major restructuring.

Siemens, which employs 400,000 people worldwide, said most of the cuts would be in administration and management services. Of the total, 5,250 jobs would be eliminated in Germany.

OSLO, July 1, 2008 (AFP) - The Norwegian police service said Tuesday it was imposing a fine on the local unit of German engineering giant Siemens of two million kroner (250,000 euros, 400,000 dollars) for alleged corruption.

BERLIN, June 29, 2008 (AFP) - The head of German engineering group has confirmed that a major restructuring is on the cards, after reports said the firm wanted to lay off 17,000 workers, according to comments published Sunday.

BERLIN, June 28, 2008 (AFP) - The German conglomerate Siemens is set to announce over 17,000 job cuts worldwide, more than a third of them in Germany, according to press reports on Saturday.

MUNICH, Germany, May 26, 2008 (AFP) - The first hearing on corruption at Siemens began Monday with a defendant acknowledging the existence of a slush funds at the giant German industrial group.

Reinhard Siekaczek, 58, a former head of Siemens' fixed telephone unit ICN, said he had set up, with the approval of his superior, a fund used to pay kickbacks.

MUNICH, Germany, May 9, 2008 (AFP) - Heinrich von Pierer, former Siemens chief and supervisory board president, will not face penal charges in connection with a vast corruption scandal at the German engineering giant, prosecutors in southern Munich said in a statement on Friday.

BERLIN, April 30, 2008 (AFP) - German engineering and electronics group Siemens, gripped by an unprecedented corporate scandal, said Wednesday its second quarter net profit plunged by two-thirds following a review of its industrial projects.

But orders rose 12 percent to 23.37 billion euros (36.4 billion dollars), the group added, helping to push up its share price.

FRANKFURT, April 30, 2008 (AFP) - German engineering and electronics group Siemens, gripped by an unprecedented corporate scandal, said Wednesday its second quarter net profit plunged by two-thirds following a review of its industrial projects.

FRANKFURT, April 30, 2008 (AFP) - German engineering and electronics group Siemens posted Wednesday a 67 percent slump in its second quarter net profit following a comprehensive review of its wide range of industrial projects.

Profit in the second quarter to March of Siemens' 2007/2008 fiscal year fell to 412 million euros (640 million dollars), a company statement said.

FRANKFURT, April 29, 2008 (AFP) - An internal probe at German industrial group Siemens has found that almost all its sectors of activity were subject to active corruption, a company statement said Tuesday.

FRANKFURT, April 28, 2008 (AFP) - German insurers could face claims of up to 250 million euros (390 million dollars) from former Siemens executives in connection with a corruption scandal at the engineering group, a press report said Monday.

Insurance giant Allianz faced possible payments of 70 million euros, the Financial Times Deutschland reported, citing industry sources.

, April 23, 2008 (AFP) - Siemens said Wednesday that Erich Reinhardt, head of its healthcare sector, would resign on April 30, amid a vast corruption scandal at the German engineering group.

BERLIN, April 20, 2008 (AFP) - German prosecutors are investigating 270 suspects as the Siemens corruption probe takes on a truly international dimension, according to a German press report to appear Monday.

BERLIN, April 19, 2008 (AFP) - The former head of German engineering giant Siemens, Heinrich von Pierer, has been fingered for the first time by a witness in relation to the group's vast corruption scandal, press reports said Saturday.

BERLIN, April 17, 2008 (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday said she planned to disband the country's Innovation Council, headed by former Siemens boss Heinrich von Pierer.

Merkel told ZDF television in an interview that the council, which advises her on questions regarding technology, would be replaced by 'two different institutions.'

BERLIN, April 15, 2008 (AFP) - The head of German engineering giant Siemens on Tuesday slammed what he called 'criminal practices' within the group that is still taking hits from a dogged corruption scandal.