Mercedes 2015 Annual Report Download - page 175

182 D | CORPORATE GOVERNANCE | REPORT OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
individual discussions, for example with the external auditors,
the members of the Board of Management responsible for
Finance and Controlling and for Integrity and Legal Affairs, and,
if required, the heads of the specialist departments. Such
individual discussions were mainly held to prepare for the next
committee meetings.
Reporting to the Supervisory Board
The Chairman of the Audit Committee informed the Supervisory
Board about the activities of the Committee and about the
contents of its meetings and discussions in the following Super-
visory Board meetings.
Topics in 2015
In a meeting on February 4, 2015, the Audit Committee dealt
with the preliminary figures of the annual company financial
statements and the annual consolidated financial statements
for the year 2014, as well as with the proposal on the appro-
priation of profits made by the Board of Management. Follow-
ing an in-depth review, the Audit Committee took positive
note of the presented figures and determined that no objections
could be made to their proposed publication. The Committee
further recommended that the Supervisory Board adopt the same
view. The preliminary key figures for financial year 2014 and
the proposal on the appropriation of profits were published at
the Annual Press Conference on the next day (February 5,
2015).
In another meeting held on February 13, 2015, the Audit Com-
mittee dealt with 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 2014, which had been issued with an unqualified
auditor’s opinion by the external auditors, as well as with the
proposal on the appropriation of profits. At the meeting, the
external auditors reported on the results of their audit and
were available to answer supplementary questions and to pro-
vide additional information. The audit reports on the com-
pany and consolidated financial statements and on the internal
control system (ICS), the report on the risk management sys-
tem for the year 2014, the Annual Report 2014 and important
Dear Shareholders,
As Chairman of the Audit Committee, I am pleased to report
to you on the tasks and activities performed by that body in
financial year 2015.
Responsibility
On the basis of applicable law, the German Corporate Gover-
nance Code and the Rules of Procedure of the Supervisory
Board and its committees, the Audit Committee deals primarily
with questions of accounting and financial reporting. In addi-
tion, it deals with the annual audit and reviews the qualifications
and independence of the external auditors. Furthermore, it
discusses the effectiveness and functional capabilities of the
risk management system, the internal control system, the
internal auditing system and compliance management. After
the external auditors are elected by the Annual Shareholders’
Meeting, the Audit Committee engages the external auditors
to conduct the annual audit and the auditors’ review of interim
financial statements, determines the important audit issues
and negotiates the audit fees with the external auditors.
Equal representation
Following several personnel changes that occurred in the
prior year, the makeup of the four-member Audit Committee
remained unchanged in 2015. Audit Committee Chairman
Dr. Clemens Börsig and Joe Kaeser served as the shareholder
representatives. Both are independent and have expertise
in the field of financial reporting, as well as special knowledge
and experience in the application of methods of internal
control. During financial year 2015, the employees were repre-
sented on the Audit Committee by Michael Brecht as the
Deputy Chairman of the Committee and by Dr. Sabine Maaßen.
Meetings and participants
The Audit Committee met six times in financial year 2015.
All of those meetings were also attended by the Chairman
of the Supervisory Board, Dr. Manfred Bischoff, as a permanent
guest. The meetings were also attended by the Chairman
of the Board of Management, the members of the Board
of Management responsible for Finance and Controlling and
for Integrity and Legal Affairs, and the external auditors.
The heads of specialist departments such as those for account-
ing, auditing, compliance and law, as well as other experts,
were also present for the appropriate items of the agenda.
In addition, the Chairman of the Audit Committee held regular
Report of the Audit Committee