95 Legal and compliance Strategy sessions Educational sessions and Board review Results and budget Supervisory Board Committees The Supervisory Board requires its four Supervisory Board  Committees to prepare items requiring a Board decision. Each  Committee’s members are drawn from the Supervisory Board.  The Committees report their findings to the Supervisory Board  at Supervisory Board meetings.  No transaction with a potential or actual conflict of interest was  reported by members of the Board in 2013. In December, the Board and management reviewed the Group  Plan 2014-2016, including the budget for 2014. The plan  protects the company’s strategy execution, strong capital  position and disciplined cost management, and gives a key role to  technology and innovation to increase the frequency and quality  of contact with customers. The Board supported the Group Plan  and approved the budget for 2014. The Board also approved the  2014 Capital Plan and authorized the Executive Board to support  Aegon’s budgeted funding needs. The performance of the members of the Executive Board was  discussed regularly in 2013 at Executive Sessions, and at  a dedicated meeting of the Board in December, at which the  Board also reviewed the performance of the members of the  Management Board. In its meeting of February 14, 2013, the Supervisory Board  convened to discuss the results of the fourth quarter of 2012.  In March 2013, the Supervisory Board reviewed and adopted  Aegon’s 2012 Annual Report, the consolidated financial  statements of Aegon N.V., and the financial statements of  Aegon N.V. In May, August and November, the Supervisory Board  reviewed Aegon’s first, second and third quarter 2013 results. Throughout 2013, the Board regularly discussed aspects of  Aegon’s approach to sustainability for various business issues.  Further details of Aegon’s sustainability vision and progress are  in the Aegon Review 2013. In December, the Board reviewed Aegon’s Sustainability  Program and noted the significant advances made in areas such  as integrated reporting, responsible investing and employee  volunteering. The Board also stated the need for further  sustainability efforts, and its support and desire for management  to develop an updated Sustainability Program in 2014.  As in previous years the Supervisory Board carried out an  extensive Board self-evaluation, following an external  evaluation in 2012. The Chairman, supported by the Company  Secretary, interviewed each member of the Board on the basis  of a completed written questionnaire. The review assessed  the collective performance of the Board and its Committees,  and the performance of the Chairman. The Supervisory Board  met to review the results in the absence of management. The  Board concluded that the Board and its individual members had  functioned well and fulfilled their duties and responsibilities  in a satisfactory manner in 2013, and had addressed the  recommendations of the 2012 self-evaluation. The Board agreed  further improvements relating to agenda-setting and focus areas  in 2014.  The Board received presentations from internal and external  experts on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)  and other accounting topics, hedging programs, information  security and re-insurance.  The Supervisory Board’s annual strategy offsite meeting was  held in Baltimore and Washington in June. The Board reviewed  progress on the execution of the strategy for the three business  units in the Americas – Life & Protection, Employee Services  & Pensions and Individual Savings & Retirement – and the  Enterprise Business Services unit. The Board and management  also discussed consolidation developments in Aegon’s main  markets, and the Board approved the updated financial strategy.  The Board closely followed developments in the Solvency  II Directive, a European Union Directive governing capital  requirements, supervisory review and disclosures. On November  13, 2013, the European Parliament, the Council of the European  Union and the European Commission reached an agreement on  the Omnibus II Directive that amends the Solvency II Framework  agreed in 2009. The starting date for the application of Solvency  II is January 1, 2016. More detail on Solvency II can be found on  page 11 of this annual report.  In the year under review, the Chairman of the Board and  the chairs of the Audit Committee and Risk Committee  held discussions with officials of Aegon’s lead regulator, De  Nederlandsche Bank N.V. and monitored management interface  with regulators in the United States, the United Kingdom and  elsewhere. In 2013, the Supervisory Board and the Audit Committee  discussed with management, the General Counsel and the Group  Compliance Officer a number of compliance, regulatory and legal  issues from Europe, the United States and Asia. In particular,  the Board discussed the judgment of the Supreme Court of the  Netherlands in the so-called Koersplan case.  digital transformation by tracking digital and technological  innovation and market movements and trends, and generate  solid investment returns. 