ING Direct 2011 Annual Report Download - page 81

1 Who we are 2 Report of the Executive Board 3 Corporate governance 4 Consolidated annual accounts 5 Parent company annual accounts 6 Other information 7 Additional information
In our opinion, ING Groep N.V. maintained, in all material respects,
effective internal control over financial reporting as of 31 December
2011, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the
consolidated balance sheet of ING Groep N.V. as of 31 December
2011, the consolidated profit and loss account, consolidated
statement of comprehensive income, consolidated statement of
cash flows and consolidated statement of changes in equity for
the year then ended. Our report dated 12 March 2012 expressed
an unqualified opinion thereon.
AMSTERDAM, 12 MARCH 2012
ERNST & YOUNG ACCOUNTANTS LLP
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC
ACCOUNTING FIRM
TO THE SHAREHOLDERS, THE SUPERVISORY BOARD AND
THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF ING GROEP N.V.
We have audited ING Groep N.V.’s internal control over financial
reporting as of 31 December 2011, based on criteria established in
Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee
of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the
COSO criteria). ING Groep N.V.’s management is responsible for
maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and
for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over
financial reporting included in the accompanying Report of the
Executive Board on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on the company’s internal
control over financial reporting based on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those
standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over
financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our
audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over
financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness
exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating
effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and
performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in
the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable
basis for our opinion.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process
designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability
of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements
for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial
reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to
the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately
and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of
the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions
are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial
statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are
being made only in accordance with authorisations of management
and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance
regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorised
acquisition, use or disposition of the company’s assets that could
have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial
reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also,
projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are
subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of
changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the
policies or procedures may deteriorate.
79ING Group Annual Report 2011
Section 404 Sarbanes-Oxley Act continued