Kroger 2013 Annual Report Download - page 51

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49
The฀Committee฀(or฀the฀Chair)฀will฀approve฀only฀those฀Related฀Person฀Transactions฀that฀are฀in,฀or฀are฀
not฀ inconsistent฀ with,฀ the฀ best฀ interests฀ of฀ Kroger฀ and฀ its฀ shareholders,฀ as฀ the฀ Committee฀ (or฀ the฀ Chair)฀
determines฀in฀good฀faith฀in฀accordance฀with฀its฀business฀judgment.
No director will participate in any discussion or approval of a Related Person Transaction for which he
or฀she,฀or฀an฀immediate฀family฀member฀(as฀defined฀above),฀is฀a฀Related฀Person฀except฀that฀the฀director฀will฀
provide฀all฀material฀information฀about฀the฀Related฀Person฀Transaction฀to฀the฀Committee.
C . D I S C L O S U R E
Kroger฀ will฀disclose฀all฀ Related฀ Person฀Transactions฀in฀Kroger’s฀ applicable฀ filings฀as฀ required฀by฀the฀
Securities฀Act฀of฀1933,฀the฀Securities฀Exchange฀Act฀of฀1934฀and฀related฀rules.
AU D I T C O M M I T T E E R E P O R T
The฀primary฀function฀of฀the฀Audit฀Committee฀is฀to฀represent฀and฀assist฀the฀Board฀of฀Directors฀in฀fulfilling฀
its฀oversight฀responsibilities฀regarding฀the฀Company’s฀financial฀reporting฀and฀accounting฀practices฀including฀
the฀ integrity฀ of฀ the฀ Company’s฀ financial฀ statements;฀ the฀ Company’s฀ compliance฀ with฀ legal฀ and฀ regulatory฀
requirements;฀the฀independent฀public฀accountants’฀qualifications฀and฀independence;฀the฀performance฀of฀the฀
Company’s฀internal฀audit฀function฀and฀independent฀public฀accountants;฀and฀the฀preparation฀of฀this฀report฀
that฀SEC฀rules฀require฀be฀included฀in฀the฀Company’s฀annual฀proxy฀statement.฀The฀Audit฀Committee฀performs฀
this฀work฀pursuant฀to฀a฀written฀charter฀approved฀by฀the฀Board฀of฀Directors.฀The฀Audit฀Committee฀charter฀
most฀recently฀was฀revised฀during฀fiscal฀2012฀and฀is฀available฀on฀the฀Company’s฀website฀at฀ir.kroger.com.฀The฀
Audit Committee has implemented procedures to assist it during the course of each fiscal year in devoting the
attention that is necessary and appropriate to each of the matters assigned to it under the Committee’s charter.
The Audit Committee held five meetings during fiscal year 2013. The Audit Committee meets separately
with฀the฀Company’s฀internal฀auditor฀and฀PricewaterhouseCoopers฀LLP,฀the฀Company’s฀independent฀public฀
accountants, without management present, to discuss the results of their audits, their evaluations of the
Company’s฀ internal฀ controls฀ over฀ financial฀ reporting,฀ and฀ the฀ overall฀ quality฀ of฀ the฀ Company’s฀ financial฀
reporting.฀The฀Audit฀Committee฀also฀meets฀separately฀with฀the฀Company’s฀Chief฀Financial฀Officer฀and฀General฀
Counsel when needed. Following these separate discussions, the Audit Committee meets in executive session.
Management฀of฀the฀Company฀is฀responsible฀for฀the฀preparation฀and฀presentation฀of฀the฀Company’s฀financial฀
statements, the Company’s accounting and financial reporting principles and internal controls, and procedures
that฀ are฀ designed฀ to฀ provide฀ reasonable฀ assurance฀ regarding฀ compliance฀ with฀ accounting฀ standards฀ and฀
applicable฀laws฀and฀regulations.฀The฀independent฀public฀accountants฀are฀responsible฀for฀auditing฀the฀Company’s฀
financial statements and expressing opinions as to the financial statements’ conformity with generally accepted
accounting principles and the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
In the performance of its oversight function, the Audit Committee has reviewed and discussed
with management and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP the audited financial statements for the year ended
February฀ 1,฀ 2014,฀ management’s฀ assessment฀ of฀ the฀ effectiveness฀ of฀ the฀ Company’s฀ internal฀ control฀ over฀
financial฀reporting฀as฀of฀February฀1,฀2014,฀and฀PricewaterhouseCoopers’฀evaluation฀of฀the฀Company’s฀internal฀
control over financial reporting as of that date. The Audit Committee has also discussed with the independent
public฀ accountants฀ the฀ matters฀ that฀ the฀ independent฀ public฀ accountants฀ must฀ communicate฀ to฀ the฀ Audit฀
Committee฀under฀applicable฀requirements฀of฀the฀Public฀Company฀Accounting฀Oversight฀Board.
With฀ respect฀ to฀ the฀ Company’s฀ independent฀ public฀ accountants,฀ the฀ Audit฀ Committee,฀ among฀ other฀
things, discussed with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP matters relating to its independence and has received
the฀ written฀ disclosures฀ and฀ the฀ letter฀ from฀ the฀ independent฀ public฀ accountants฀ required฀ by฀ applicable฀
requirements฀ of฀ the฀ Public฀ Company฀ Accounting฀ Oversight฀ Board฀ regarding฀ the฀ independent฀ public฀
accountants’ communications with the Audit Committee concerning independence. The Audit Committee
has฀reviewed฀and฀approved฀in฀advance฀all฀services฀provided฀to฀the฀Company฀by฀PricewaterhouseCoopers฀LLP.
The Audit Committee annually reviews PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s independence and performance
in฀connection฀with฀the฀Audit฀Committee’s฀responsibility฀for฀the฀appointment฀and฀oversight฀of฀the฀Company’s฀
independent฀public฀accountants.฀The฀Audit฀Committee฀considers,฀among฀other฀things,฀PricewaterhouseCoopers฀
LLP’s historical and recent performance on the Company’s audit, including an internal survey of their service