AbbVie 2013 Annual Report Download - page 167

AUDIT INFORMATION
Dismissal of Deloitte & Touche LLP
The combined balance sheet of AbbVie as of December 31, 2012 and the related combined
financial statements for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2012 were audited by
Deloitte & Touche LLP (‘‘Deloitte’’). On December 14, 2012, AbbVie’s audit committee approved the
dismissal of Deloitte as AbbVie’s independent registered public accountant, effective as of the date of
Deloitte’s completion of the audit services for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2012 and the filing
of the company’s 2012 Annual Report on Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-K. Deloitte
completed the audit services for such fiscal year and the filing of AbbVie’s 2012 Annual Report was
completed on March 15, 2013, and, therefore, the effective date of Deloitte’s dismissal was March 15,
2013.
The report of Deloitte on the combined financial statements of AbbVie for the fiscal years ended
December 31, 2012 and 2011 did not contain any adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion, and was not
qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principle, and included an
explanatory paragraph relating to the preparation of the company’s financial statements from the
separate financial statements and accounting records of Abbott.
As it relates to the fiscal years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, and through March 15, 2013,
the effective date of Deloitte’s dismissal, (i) there were no disagreements (as that term is defined in
Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K and the related instructions) between the company and Deloitte
on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or
procedure, which, if not resolved to the satisfaction of Deloitte would have caused Deloitte to make
reference to the subject matter of the disagreement in connection with its report, and (ii) there were
no ‘‘reportable events’’ (as that term is defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K).
In connection with filing a Current Report on Securities and Exchange Commission Form 8-K/A,
the company provided Deloitte with a copy of the disclosures in such Current Report and requested
that Deloitte provide the company with a letter addressed to the Securities and Exchange Commission
stating whether or not Deloitte agreed with the disclosures therein. A copy of Deloitte’s letter, dated
March 19, 2013, is attached as Exhibit 16.1 to AbbVie’s Current Report on Securities and Exchange
Commission Form 8-K/A filed on March 19, 2013.
Appointment of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm Ernst & Young LLP
On December 14, 2012, AbbVie’s audit committee approved the appointment of Ernst &
Young LLP as the company’s independent registered public accounting firm to perform independent
audit services beginning with the fiscal year ending December 31, 2013. On October 9, 2013, AbbVie’s
audit committee approved the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP to perform independent audit
services for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2014. Through December 14, 2012, neither the
company, nor anyone on its behalf, consulted Ernst & Young regarding either (i) the application of
accounting principles to a specified transaction, either completed or proposed, or the type of audit
opinion that might be rendered with respect to the combined financial statements of Abbott’s research-
based pharmaceuticals business or the consolidated financial statements of the company, in any case
where a written report or oral advice was provided to the company by Ernst & Young that Ernst &
Young concluded was an important factor considered by the company in reaching a decision as to any
accounting, auditing or financial reporting issue; or (ii) any matter that was the subject of a
disagreement (as that term is defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K and the related
instructions) or a ‘‘reportable event’’ (as that term is defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K).
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