Aviva 2005 Annual Report Download - page 77

Governance
Aviva plc 2005
Independent auditor’s report to the shareholders of Aviva plc
We have audited the group and parent company financial
statements (the “financial statements”) of Aviva plc for the year
ended 31 December 2005 which comprise the Accounting Policies,
the Consolidated and Parent Company Income Statements, the pro
forma reconciliation of Group Operating Profit to Profit Before Tax,
the Consolidated and Parent Company Balance Sheets, the
Consolidated and Parent Company Statement of Recognised
Income and Expense, the Consolidated and Parent Company
Statements of Change in Shareholders’ Equity, the Consolidated
and Parent Company Cash Flow Statements and the related notes
1 to 53 and A to J. These financial statements have been prepared
under the accounting policies set out therein. We have also audited
the information in the Directors’ Remuneration Report that is
described as having been audited.
This report is made solely to the company’s members, as a body,
in accordance with Section 235 of the Companies Act 1985.
Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the
company’s members those matters we are required to state to them
in an auditors’ report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent
permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to
anyone other than the company and the company’s members as
a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we
have formed.
Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
The directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report, the
Directors’ Remuneration Report and the financial statements in
accordance with applicable United Kingdom law and International
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European
Union as set out in the Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities.
Our responsibility is to audit the financial statements and the part
of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited in accordance
with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and International
Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland).
We report to you our opinion as to whether the financial
statements give a true and fair view and whether the financial
statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report
to be audited have been properly prepared in accordance with
the Companies Act 1985 and Article 4 of the IAS Regulation.
We also report to you if, in our opinion, the Directors’ Report is
not consistent with the financial statements, if the company has
not kept proper accounting records, if we have not received all
the information and explanations we require for our audit, or if
information specified by law regarding directors’ remuneration
and other transactions is not disclosed.
We review whether the Corporate Governance Statement reflects
the company’s compliance with the nine provisions of the 2003 FRC
Combined Code specified for our review by the Listing Rules of the
Financial Services Authority, and we report if it does not. We are not
required to consider whether the board’s statements on internal
control cover all risks and controls, or form an opinion on the
effectiveness of the group’s corporate governance procedures or
its risk and control procedures.
We read other information contained in the Annual Report and
consider whether it is consistent with the audited financial
statements. The other information comprises only the Overview,
the Management Review, the Directors’ Report, the Corporate
Governance statement, the Audit Committee report, the
Nomination Committee Report and the unaudited part of the
Directors’ Remuneration Report. We consider the implications for
our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements
or material inconsistencies with the financial statements.
Our responsibilities do not extend to any other information.
Basis of audit opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards
on Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing Practices Board.
An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant
to the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements and the
part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited. It also
includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgments
made by the directors in the preparation of the financial
statements, and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate
to the group’s and company’s circumstances, consistently applied
and adequately disclosed.
We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the
information and explanations which we considered necessary in
order to provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable
assurance that the financial statements and the part of the
Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited are free from material
misstatement, whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error.
In forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall adequacy of
the presentation of information in the financial statements and the
part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited.
Opinion
In our opinion:
– The financial statements give a true and fair view, in accordance
with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union, of the state of the
group’s and the parent company’s affairs as at 31 December 2005
and of the group’s and the parent company’s profit for the year
then ended; and
– The financial statements and the part of the Directors’
Remuneration Report to be audited have been properly prepared
in accordance with the Companies Act 1985 and Article 4 of the
IAS Regulation.
Separate opinion in relation to IFRSs
As explained in the Accounting Policies to the group financial
statements, the group in addition to complying with its legal
obligations to comply with IFRSs as adopted by the European
Union, has also complied with the IFRSs as issued by the
International Accounting Standards Board.
In our opinion the group financial statements give a true and fair
view, in accordance with IFRSs, of the state of the group’s affairs as
at 31 December 2005 and of its profit for the year then ended.
Ernst & Young LLP
Registered Auditor
London
1 March 2006
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