Mercedes 2013 Annual Report Download - page 170

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Also in this meeting, the Committee discussed the report on
the fees paid to the external auditors in the year 2013 for auditing
and non-auditing services. The Audit Committee decided
to recommend to the Supervisory Board, and subsequently to
the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting, that KPMG be engaged
to conduct the annual external audit and the external auditors’
review of interim financial reports for financial year 2014;
in this context, the results of the independence review and the
discussion of the quality of the external audit were taken into
consideration. Subject to the consenting vote of the shareholders
in the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting, the Audit Committee
also discussed the proposal to be made regarding the fees to
be agreed upon with the external auditors for the year 2014.
Finally, on the basis of its responsibility, the Audit Committee
dealt with the draft agenda for the 2014 Annual Shareholders’
Meeting and the annual audit plan of the Internal Auditing
department.
As in previous years, the Audit Committee once again conducted
a self-evaluation of its own activities in 2013. This did not
result in any need for action with regard to the Committee’s
tasks, or with regard to the content, frequency or procedure
of its meetings.
Stuttgart, February 2014
The Audit Committee
Dr. h. c. Bernhard Walter
Chairman
In the meeting in July 2013, on the basis of the report by the
Group’s data protection officer, the Audit Committee dealt with
key topics and current developments in the field of data
protection. In its meeting in October 2013, for topical reasons,
the Committee received reports from the heads of the Legal
Affairs and Tax departments.
In a meeting attended by the external auditors in early February
2014, the Audit Committee dealt with the preliminary figures of
the annual company financial statements and the annual
consolidated financial statements for the year 2013, as well as
with the proposal on the appropriation of profits made by
the Board of Management. The preliminary key figures were pub-
lished at the Annual Press Conference on February 6, 2014.
In another meeting in February 2014, the Audit Committee exam-
ined and discussed the annual company financial statements,
the annual consolidated financial statements and the combined
management report for Daimler AG and the Daimler Group for
the year 2013, which had been issued with an unqualified audit
opinion by the external auditors, as well as with the proposal
on the appropriation of profits; this took place in the presence
of the external auditors, who reported on the results of their
audit and were available to answer supplementary questions and
to provide additional information. In preparation, the members
of the Audit Committee and all members of the Supervisory Board
were provided with comprehensive documentation, including
the Annual Report with the consolidated financial statements
according to IFRS and the combined management report for
Daimler AG and the Daimler Group, the corporate governance
report and the remuneration report, the annual financial
statements of Daimler AG, the proposal made by the Board of
Management on the appropriation of profits, the audit reports
of KPMG on the annual company financial statements and the
annual consolidated financial statements according to IFRS of
Daimler AG, each including the combined management report,
and the drafts of the reports of the Supervisory Board and
of the Audit Committee. The audit reports and important issues
related to financial reporting were discussed with the external
auditors. In this context, the Audit Committee also dealt with the
monitoring of the financial reporting process, the effectiveness
of the internal control system, the risk management system and
the internal auditing system, as well as questions of compliance.
Following an intensive review and discussion, the Audit Com-
mittee recommended that the Supervisory Board approve the
annual financial statements and adopt the recommendation of
the Board of Management to pay a dividend of €2.25 per share
entitled to a dividend.
Furthermore, the Audit Committee approved the Report of the
Audit Committee in the current version.