Experian 2016 Annual Report Download - page 75

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Independent
assessment
Management
assurance
Through a
combination of
ongoing and
annual reviews,
the Board is
able to review
the ongoing
effectiveness of
the Group’s risk
management and
internal control
systems
Board/Audit
Committee
approved
• Internal audit reports
• Internal audit fraud and confidential helpline reports
• External auditor’s report
• Corporate responsibility independent assurance report
• Review by relevant regulatory bodies (e.g. US Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau)
• Evaluation of external auditor
• Evaluation of Internal Audit
• Annual executive certification of compliance with UK
Financial Reporting Council guidance and control adequacy
• Risk management reports
• Compliance reports
• Information security reports
• Material litigation reports
• Impairment, going concern and viability reviews
• Annual Report and half-yearly financial report review
• Management representation letters
• Annual internal audit plan
• External auditor’s engagement letter
• External auditor’s annual audit plan
• Treasury policy review
• Tax policy
• Compliance policy review
• Global Delegated Authorities Matrix, which defines
internal approval procedures
The UK Corporate Governance Code requires companies to review the effectiveness of their risk management and internal control
systems each year. As shown below, the Audit Committee performs this review under delegated authority from the Board. Following
the review, it is the Board’s view that the information enabled it to review the effectiveness of the Group’s system of internal control
in accordance with the FRC’s ‘Guidance on Risk Management, Internal Control and Related Financial and Business Reporting’, and
that the system has no significant failings or weaknesses. In addition, and in line with the UK Corporate Governance Code, the Audit
Committee monitors the Group’s risk management and internal control systems and robustly assesses the Group’s principal risks
and uncertainties identified by the Group’s risk assessment processes (including those that would threaten the business model,
future performance, solvency or liquidity), and monitors actions taken, where possible, to mitigate them.
Additional financial reporting internal controls
We have detailed policies and procedures to ensure the accuracy and reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of
Group financial statements. This includes our comprehensive Group Accounting Manual (‘GAM’), which contains the detailed
requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards (‘IFRS’). The Group’s finance team owns the GAM and we have rolled
it out across the Group, obliging all Experian companies to follow its requirements. The GAM’s aims are to: provide guidance on
accounting issues; enable consistent and well-defined information for IFRS reporting; provide uniform quantitative and qualitative
measures of Group performance; and increase the efficiency of the Group’s reporting process.
73Governance •Corporate governance report