ING Direct 2013 Annual Report Download - page 82

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
2013, the consolidated profit and loss account, consolidated
statement of comprehensive income, consolidated statement of
cash flows and consolidated statement of changes in equity for
theyear then ended. Our report dated 17 March 2014 expressed
anunqualified opinion thereon.
AMSTERDAM, 17 MARCH 2014
ERNST & YOUNG ACCOUNTANTS LLP
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 2013, based on criteria established in
Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee
of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (1992
framework) (“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 unauthorised
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
2013, based on the COSO criteria.
80 ING Group Annual Report 2013
Section 404 Sarbanes-Oxley Act continued