Announcement on transition to a company with an Audit & Supervisory Committee

TOKYO, February 2, 2016 — Kobe Steel, Ltd. announces that at its Board of Directors meeting held today it passed a resolution to adopt a policy to transition to a company with an Audit & Supervisory Committee, in accordance with the Act for Partial Revision of the Companies Act (Act No. 90 of 2014), which went into effect on May 1, 2015.

This transition is subject to approval at Kobe Steel’s 163rd Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders to be held in June this year.

To ensure continued growth and improve its corporate value over the years, Kobe Steel has strengthened its corporate governance with the appointment of more than one outside director and five Audit & Supervisory Board members, in which the Companies Act stipulates that three or more must be appointed from outside the company. In the future, to further strengthen the supervisory function of the Board of Directors and to accelerate decision-making with regard to management, Kobe Steel has decided to transition from a company with an Audit & Supervisory Board to a company with an Audit & Supervisory Committee.

Kobe Steel plans to obtain approval for the necessary alterations to the Articles of Incorporation at the 163rd Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders to be held in June this year and transition to a company with an audit and supervisory committee.