Porsche 2009 Annual Report Download - page 94

Opportunities and risks of
significant investments
Risk report of the Porsche
Zwischenholding GmbH group
Integrated internal control and risk
management system relevant for the
financial reporting process
The accounting-related internal control sys-
tem that is relevant for the financial statements of
Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH and the Porsche
Zwischenholding GmbH group is designed to ensure
the complete, accurate and timely transmission of the
information required for the preparation of the sepa-
rate financial statements of Porsche Zwischenholding
GmbH and the consolidated financial statements and
the group management report of Porsche Zwischen-
holding GmbH, and to minimize the risk of material
misstatement in the accounts and in the external re-
porting.
The separate financial statements of Porsche
Zwischenholding GmbH and the subsidiaries are pre-
pared in accordance with the applicable national laws,
reconciled to IFRSs and transmitted to the group. The
Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH group monitors de-
velopments in IFRSs centrally on an ongoing basis,
checks their relevance and defines uniform, in-
tragroup rules for implementing new accounting re-
quirements. The group accounting manual ensures
the application of uniform accounting policies based
on the requirements applicable to the parent. Compo-
nents of the reporting packages required to be pre-
pared by the group companies are also set out in de-
tail and requirements established regarding the pres-
entation and settlement of intragroup transactions and
the associated balance reconciliation process.
Control activities at group level include ana-
lyzing and, if necessary, adjusting the separate financial
statements presented by subsidiaries, taking into ac-
count the reports submitted by the auditors and the
meetings on the financial statements with representa-
tives of the individual companies, at which both the
plausibility of the separate financial statements and
specific critical issues at the subsidiaries are dis-
cussed.
Alongside reasonableness reviews, the clear
delineation of areas of responsibility and the applica-
tion of the dual control principle are further control
mechanisms applied during the preparation of the fi-
nancial statements of Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH.
Matters arising from agreements that are relevant in
terms of accounting and subject to disclosure re-
quirements are identified in full and presented appro-
priately as part of the accounting process. In addition,
there are authorization and access rules that apply to
IT systems of relevance for the financial reporting
process.
The internal control system relevant for the
financial reporting process is reviewed and enhanced
as appropriate on an ongoing basis.
Risk management in line with the KonTraG
Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH is required
by Sec. 91 (2) German Stock Corporation Act (AktG)
to maintain an early warning system for the detection
of risk. The group’s risk situation and risk manage-
ment is reviewed and documented annually in accor-
dance with the requirements of the German Act on Con-
trol and Transparency in Business (KonTraG). The
completeness and adequacy of documentation of the
Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH group’s early warning
system for the detection of risk, which is also part of
the Porsche SE group’s early warning system for the
detection of risk, was assessed by Porsche SE’s in-
dependent auditors as part of their annual audit of the
consolidated financial statements. Risk management,
which forms an operational component of the busi-
ness processes, is designed to identify risks in a
timely manner, assess their extent and, where appro-
priate, take countermeasures.
94 Group management report