ING Direct 2008 Annual Report Download - page 74

ING Group Annual Report 2008
1.3 Our Governance
72
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC
ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders, the Supervisory Board and the
Executive Board of ING Groep N.V.
We have audited ING Groep N.V.’s internal control over financial
reporting as of 31 December 2008, based on criteria established in
Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee
of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the
COSO criteria). ING Groep N.V.’s management is responsible for
maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and
for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over
financial reporting included in the accompanying Report of the
Executive Board on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting.
Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the company’s
internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States).
Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to
obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal
control over financial reporting was maintained in all material
respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of
internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a
material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and
operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed
risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered
necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides
a reasonable basis for our opinion.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process
designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability
of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements
for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial
reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain
to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately
and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of
the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions
are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial
statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company
are being made only in accordance with authorisations of
management and directors of the company; and (3) provide
reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection
of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the company’s
assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial
reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also,
projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are
subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because
of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with
the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
In our opinion, ING Groep N.V. maintained, in all material
respects, effective internal control over financial reporting
as of 31 December 2008, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States),
the consolidated balance sheet of ING Groep N.V. as of
31 December 2008, the consolidated profit and loss account,
consolidated statement of cash flows and consolidated statement
of changes in equity for the year then ended. Our report dated
16 March 2009 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
AMSTERDAM, 16 MARCH 2009
ERNST & YOUNG ACCOUNTANTS LLP
Section 404 Sarbanes-Oxley Act (continued)