Freddie Mac 2015 Annual Report Download - page 388

Principal Accounting Fees and Services
Freddie Mac 2015 Form 10-K 386
PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND
SERVICES
DESCRIPTION OF FEES
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP has served as our independent public accountants since 2002. The
following is a description of fees billed to us by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP during 2015 and 2014.
AUDITOR FEES(1)
2015 2014
(in thousands)
Audit Fees(2) $23,321 $27,997
Audit-Related Fees(3) 3,888 2,461
Tax Fees(4) 64 27
All Other Fees(5) 264 357
Total $ 27,537 $30,842
(1) These fees represent amounts billed within the designated year and include reimbursable expenses for 2015 and 2014.
(2) Audit fees include fees in connection with quarterly reviews of our interim financial information and the audit of our annual
consolidated financial statements.
(3) The 2015 and 2014 audit-related fees include: (i) fees for the performance of certain agreed-upon procedures regarding
aspects of compliance with the Purchase Agreement covenants; (ii) compliance evaluation of the minimum servicing standards
as set forth in the Uniform Single Attestation Program for Mortgage Bankers; and (iii) transaction validation and attestation
related to certain of Freddie Mac’s risk transfer and structured transactions.
(4) The tax fees billed in 2015 and 2014 related to non-audit tax consulting services to provide advice and recommendations
related to tax planning or reporting matters, as well as non-audit tax services to provide assistance with the IRS tax audit
matters and ongoing examinations, including information requests and associated responses.
(5) All other fees for 2015 and 2014 include: (i) our subscription to a web-based suite of human resources benchmark data; (ii)
advice and recommendations related to retention strategies; (iii) our subscription to accounting research software; and (iv) non-
audit services in connection with certain of our project deployments as part of implementing regulatory initiatives.
APPROVAL OF INDEPENDENT AUDITOR
SERVICES AND FEES
Under its charter, the Audit Committee is responsible for the following:
• Appointing our independent public accounting firm (subject to FHFA approval as required);
• Approving all audit and non-audit services permitted under applicable law to be performed by the
independent public accounting firm (subject to FHFA approval as required); and
• Approving the scope of the annual audit.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and related SEC rules require that all services provided to companies
subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act by their independent auditors be pre-approved
by their audit committee or by authorized members of the committee, with certain exceptions. The Audit
Committee’s charter requires that the Audit Committee pre-approve any audit services, and any non-audit
services permitted under applicable law, to be performed by our independent auditors (or to designate