External auditors
The external auditors are appointed by the General Meeting of
Shareholders, on the recommendation of the Supervisory Board, which receives
advice on this matter from both the audit committee and the Management Board.
The remuneration of the external auditors and their terms of engagement to
provide non-audit services are proposed by the Audit Committee and approved by
the Supervisory Board after it has consulted the Management Board. The external
auditors report the findings of their audit of the financial statements
simultaneously to the Management Board and the Supervisory Board. The external
auditors can be questioned by the General Meeting of Shareholders regarding their
auditors’ report on the fairness of the financial statements. The external
auditors therefore attend and are entitled to address this Meeting. The
contents of the financial statements are primarily the responsibility of the
Management Board. The company’s external auditors, KPMG Accountants N.V. (KPMG)
will be reappointed to carry out the audit of the 2009 financial statements on
the recommendation of the Supervisory Board and subject to the approval of the
General Meeting of Shareholders on 17 April 2009.
Source: Annual Report 2008, Chapter Corporate governance, page 127 (PDF, 72 kB)
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