Mercedes 2015 Annual Report Download - page 177

184 D | CORPORATE GOVERNANCE | REPORT OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
Also in this meeting, the Audit Committee discussed the report
on the total fees paid to the external auditors in the year 2015.
The Audit Committee also decided to recommend to the Super-
visory Board, and subsequently to the Annual Shareholders’
Meeting, that KPMG be engaged to conduct the annual exter-
nal audit and the external auditors’ review of interim financial
reports for financial year 2016; the results of the independence
review and the discussion of the quality of the external audit
were taken into consideration. Subject to the outcome of voting
by the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting, the Committee also
discussed the proposal for the fees to be agreed upon with
the external auditors for financial year 2016. Finally, within
the framework of its responsibility, the Audit Committee dealt
with the draft agenda for the 2016 Annual Shareholders’
Meeting and the annual audit plan for 2016 of the Internal
Auditing department.
Efficiency review
As in previous years, the Audit Committee once again con-
ducted a self-evaluation of its own activities in 2015. The very
positive results of this efficiency review were presented and
discussed in the meeting in mid-February 2016. 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 2016
The Audit Committee
Dr. Clemens Börsig
Chairman
Also in the meeting on June 18, 2015, the Audit Committee dealt
with new developments in accounting and financial re porting
and other audit-relevant areas. Furthermore, the Committee
was informed in detail about the Group Legal System and Group
Legal Risk Reporting. Finally, the Committee was informed
in detail about the leasing business model and also discussed
with the Board of Management and the representatives
of the specialist departments issues related to residual-value
management and associated accounting processes.
In the meeting held on July 22, 2015, the Audit Committee
received the annual report from the Group’s Data Protection
Officer and was informed about the main topics and current
developments in the field of data protection. Here, the members
of the Committee addressed, for example, the data protection
principles for connected vehicles and data protection at the
Mercedes me online platform, which is designed to reconcile
the needs of data security and customer-friendly operation.
In the meeting held on October 21, 2015, the Committee dealt
with, among other things, current activities in the Compliance
department and was informed in particular about measures
designed to ensure the permanent establishment of the elements
of the Compliance Management System and the improvement
of specific processes.
Topics in 2016
In a meeting held on February 3, 2016, the Audit Committee
dealt with the preliminary figures of the annual company
financial statements and the annual consolidated financial
statements for the year 2015, as well as with the proposal
on the appropriation of profits made by the Board of Manage-
ment. Following 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 and the
proposal on the appropriation of profits were published at the
Annual Press Conference on February 4, 2016.
In another meeting on February 16, 2016, the Audit Committee
reviewed and discussed in detail 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 2015, each of which had been issued
with an unqualified auditor’s opinion by the external auditors,
as well as 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 provide additional information. The audit reports on
the company and consolidated financial statements and on the
internal control system (ICS), the report on the risk manage-
ment system for the year 2015, the Annual Report 2015 and
im portant issues related to financial reporting were discussed
with the external auditors. Following an intensive review
and discussion, the Audit Committee recommended that the
Su pervisory Board approve the annual financial statements
and the combined management report, and on this basis adopt
the recommendation of the Board of Management to pay a
dividend of €3.25 per share entitled to a dividend. Furthermore,
the Audit Committee approved the Report of the Audit
Committee for the year 2015.