Barclays 2008 Annual Report Download - page 193

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Financial statements
Barclays PLC Annual Report 2008 191
Independent Auditors’ report
Independent Auditors’ Report to the members of Barclays PLC
We have audited the Group and Parent company financial statements
(the ‘financial statements’) of Barclays PLC (the ‘Company’) for the year
ended 31st December 2008 which comprise the Consolidated and Parent
company income statements, Consolidated and Parent company balance
sheets, Consolidated and Parent company cash flow statements,
Consolidated and Parent company statements of recognised income and
expense, the accounting policies and the related notes in the section
headed Notes to the accounts. These financial statements have been
prepared under the accounting policies set out in the section headed
Accounting Policies. We have also audited the information in the
Remuneration Report that is described as having been audited
(‘the auditable part’).
Respective responsibilities of Directors and Auditors
The Directors’ responsibilities for preparing the Annual Report and the
financial statements in accordance with applicable United Kingdom law
and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the
European Union are set out in the statement of Directors’ responsibilities
for the accounts within the section headed Accountability and audit.
The Directors are also responsible for preparing the Remuneration Report.
Our responsibility is to audit the financial statements and the
auditable part of the Remuneration Report in accordance with relevant
legal and regulatory requirements and International Standards on Auditing
(UKand Ireland). This report, including the opinion, has been prepared for
and only for the Company’s members as a body in accordance with
Section 235 of the Companies Act 1985 and for no other purpose.
We do not, in giving this opinion, accept or assume responsibility for
any other purpose or to any other person to whom this report is shown
or into whose hands it may come, save where expressly agreed by our
prior consent in writing.
We report to you our opinion as to whether the financial statements
give a true and fair view and whether the financial statements and the
auditable part of the Remuneration Report have been properly prepared
in accordance with the Companies Act 1985 and, as regards the group
financial statements, Article 4 of the IAS Regulation. We also report to you
whether in our opinion the information given in the Directors’ report is
consistent with the financial statements. The information given in the
Directors’ Report includes that specific information presented in the
Financial Review that is cross referred from the Corporate Governance
section of the Directors’ Report.
In addition, we report to you if, in our opinion, the Company has not
kept proper accounting records, if we have not received all the information
and explanations we require for our audit, or if information specified by law
regarding Directors’ remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed.
We review whether the Corporate Governance report reflects the
Company’s compliance with the nine provisions of the 2006 FRC
Combined Code specified for our review by the Listing Rules of the
Financial Services Authority, and we report if it does not. We are not
required to consider whether the board’s statements on internal control
cover all risks and controls, or form an opinion on the effectiveness of the
Group’s corporate governance procedures or its risk and control procedures.
We read other information contained in the Annual Report and
consider whether it is consistent with the audited financial statements.
The other information comprises only the Barclays Today, Key
Performance Indicators, Group Chairman’s Statement, Group Chief
Executive’s Review, Financial Review, Corporate Sustainability, Our People,
Risk Management, Directors’ Report, Corporate Governance report, the
unaudited part of the Remuneration Report, Accountability and Audit
and Presentation of Information. We consider the implications for our
report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material
inconsistencies with the financial statements. Our responsibilities do not
extend to any other information.
Basis of audit opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on
Auditing (UKand Ireland) issued by the Auditing Practices Board. An audit
includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts
and disclosures in the financial statements and the auditable part of the
Remuneration Report. It also includes an assessment of the significant
estimates and judgments made by the Directors in the preparation of
the financial statements, and of whether the accounting policies are
appropriate to the Group’s and Company’s circumstances, consistently
applied and adequately disclosed.
We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the
information and explanations which we considered necessary in order to
provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the
financial statements and the auditable part of the Remuneration Report
are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or other
irregularity or error. In forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall
adequacy of the presentation of information in the financial statements
and the auditable part of the Remuneration Report.
Opinion
In our opinion:
– the financial statements give a true and fair view, in accordance with
IFRSs as adopted by the European Union, of the state of the Group’s
and the Parent company’s affairs as at 31st December 2008 and of the
Group’s and the Parent company’s profit and cash flows for the year
then ended;
–the financial statements and the auditable part of the Remuneration
Report have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies
Act 1985 and, as regards the group financial statements, Article 4 of the
IAS Regulation;and
– the information given in the Directors’ report is consistent with the
financial statements.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London, United Kingdom
5thMarch 2009
Notes
aThe maintenance and integrity of the Barclays PLC website is the responsibility of the
directors;the work carried out by the auditors does not involve consideration of these
matters and, accordingly, the auditors accept no responsibility for any changes that
may have occurred to the financial statements since they were initially presented
on the website.
bLegislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of
financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.