RBS 2006 Annual Report Download - page 129
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Please find page 129 of the 2006 RBS annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.RBS Group • Annual Report and Accounts 2006
128
Independent auditors’ report to the members of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc
Financial statements
We have audited the financial statements of The Royal Bank of
Scotland Group plc (“the company”) and its subsidiaries
(together “the Group”) for the year ended 31 December 2006
which comprise the accounting policies, the balance sheets as at
31 December 2006 and 2005, the consolidated income
statements, the cash flow statements, the statements of
recognised income and expense for each of the three years in
the period ended 31 December 2006 and the related Notes 1 to
49. These financial statements have been prepared under the
accounting policies set out therein. We have also audited the
information in the part of the directors’ remuneration report that is
described as having been audited.
This report is made solely to the company’s members, as a body,
in accordance with section 235 of the Companies Act 1985. Our
audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the
company’s members those matters we are required to state to
them in an auditors’ report and for no other purpose. To the fullest
extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume
responsibility to anyone other than the company and the
company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report,
or for the opinions we have formed.
Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
As described in the statement of directors’ responsibilities, the
company’s directors are responsible for the preparation of the
financial statements in accordance with applicable law and
International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as adopted
by the European Union. They are also responsible for the
preparation of the other information contained in the 2006 Annual
Report including the directors’ remuneration report.
Our responsibility is to audit the financial statements and the part
of the directors’ remuneration report described as having been
audited in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory
requirements and International Standards on Auditing (UK and
Ireland).
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 part of the directors’ remuneration report described as
having been audited have been properly prepared in accordance
with the Companies Act 1985, and as regards the 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 director’s report includes that specific information
presented in the Operating and Financial Review that is cross
referred from the business review section of the directors’ report.
In addition we report to you if, in our opinion, the company has
not kept proper accounting records, 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 statement reflects
the company’s compliance with the nine provisions of the 2003
Combined Code specified for our review by the Listing Rules of
the Financial Services Authority, and we report if it does not.
The Listing Rules do not require us to consider whether the
Board or management’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 the other information contained in the 2006 Annual
Report as described in the contents section including the
unaudited part of the directors’ remuneration report and consider
whether it is consistent with the audited financial statements. 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
further information outside the 2006 Annual Report.
Basis of audit opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International
Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing
Practices Board and with the standards of the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States). An audit includes
examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts
and disclosures in the financial statements and the part of the
directors’ remuneration report described as having been audited.
It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and
judgements made by the directors in the preparation of the
financial statements, and of whether the accounting policies are
appropriate to the circumstances of the company and the Group,
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 part of the
directors’ remuneration report described as having been audited
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 part of the directors’
remuneration report described as having been audited.
UK opinion
In our opinion:
•the Group financial statements give a true and fair view, in
accordance with IFRS as adopted by the European Union, of
the state of the Group’s affairs as at 31 December 2006 and
of its profit and cash flows for the year then ended;
•the company financial statements give a true and fair view, in
accordance with IFRS as adopted by the European Union as
applied in accordance with the requirements of the Companies
Act 1985, of the state of affairs of the company as at 31
December 2006;
•the financial statements and the part of the directors’
remuneration report described as having been audited have
been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies
Act 1985 and, as regards the financial statements, Article 4 of
the IAS Regulation; and
•the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with
the financial statements.