TomTom 2005 Annual Report Download - page 29

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29
Audit฀
The฀Supervisory฀Board฀assumes฀the฀roles฀and฀
responsibilities฀normally฀associated฀with฀an฀Audit฀
Committee.฀As฀the฀number฀of฀Supervisory฀Board฀
members฀did฀not฀exceed฀four฀during฀any฀given฀period฀of฀
the฀2005฀financial฀year฀a฀separate฀Audit฀Committee฀has฀
not฀been฀appointed.฀All฀members฀of฀the฀Supervisory฀
Board฀are฀independent฀Non-Executive฀Directors฀of฀the฀
Company.฀The฀Dutch฀Corporate฀Governance฀Code฀
requires฀the฀Supervisory฀Board฀to฀be฀satisfied฀that฀at฀
least฀one฀member฀of฀the฀Supervisory฀Board฀is฀a฀financial฀
expert.฀The฀Supervisory฀Board฀considers฀that฀there฀is฀a฀
sufficient฀breadth฀of฀financial฀and฀audit฀expertise฀across฀
the฀Supervisory฀Board฀that,฀collectively,฀the฀members฀
have฀the฀requisite฀skills฀and฀attributes฀to฀enable฀them฀
to฀properly฀discharge฀their฀responsibilities฀relating฀to฀
audit฀matters.฀
Following฀the฀IPO฀in฀May฀2005,฀the฀Supervisory฀Board฀
met฀two฀times฀during฀the฀2005฀financial฀year,฀and฀once฀
in฀2006฀prior฀to฀the฀publication฀of฀the฀2005฀financial฀
statements.฀Audit฀and฀Risk฀Management฀matters฀were฀
discussed฀at฀each฀of฀these฀meetings.฀One฀of฀these฀
meetings฀included฀a฀meeting฀with฀the฀external฀auditor฀
without฀the฀Management฀Board฀being฀present.฀The฀
purpose฀of฀this฀meeting฀was฀to฀facilitate฀free฀and฀open฀
discussions฀between฀the฀Supervisory฀Board฀and฀the฀
external฀auditor.฀
The฀Supervisory฀Board฀assists฀the฀Company฀in฀meeting฀
its฀responsibilities฀in฀respect฀of฀the฀following฀areas:฀
•
฀ ฀the฀integrity฀of฀annual฀and฀interim฀financial฀reporting฀
as฀presented฀under฀IFRS฀together฀with฀related฀press฀
releases;
•
฀ ฀the฀maintenance฀of฀an฀effective฀system฀of฀internal฀
control฀and฀risk฀management฀relating฀to฀strategic,฀
financial,฀operational฀and฀compliance฀risks;
•
฀ ฀compliance฀with฀the฀recommendations฀and฀
observations฀of฀the฀internal฀and฀external฀auditors;฀
•
฀ ฀assessment฀of฀the฀scope฀and฀plans฀of฀the฀internal฀and฀
external฀auditors฀including฀review฀of฀the฀internal฀audit฀
charter;฀
•
฀ ฀the฀re-appointment฀of฀the฀external฀auditors฀after฀
assessment฀of฀their฀relationship฀with฀the฀company฀
and฀of฀their฀independence;฀and฀
•
฀ ฀review฀of฀the฀policies฀for฀managing฀cash฀and฀foreign฀
exchange฀risk.
Financial฀reporting
The฀Supervisory฀Board฀reviews฀the฀interim฀and฀full฀
year฀financial฀statements.฀Attention฀is฀paid฀to฀critical฀
accounting฀policies,฀clarity฀of฀disclosure,฀and฀Euronext฀
and฀other฀corporate฀governance,฀legal฀and฀regulatory฀
requirements.฀
Risk฀management฀and฀internal฀audit฀
The฀Company฀monitors฀its฀internal฀controls฀through฀a฀
systematic฀program฀of฀risk฀analysis,฀internal฀audits฀and฀
self฀assessments฀of฀controls.฀Internal฀Audit฀reviews฀inter-
nal฀controls฀and฀acts฀as฀a฀source฀of฀constructive฀advice฀
and฀best฀practice,฀assisting฀senior฀management฀with฀its฀
responsibility฀to฀improve฀controls฀where฀risks฀are฀
identified.฀The฀Chief฀Internal฀Auditor฀is฀responsible฀for฀
risk฀management฀and฀internal฀audit฀and฀reports฀to฀the฀
Supervisory฀Board฀and฀administratively฀to฀the฀Chief฀
Financial฀Officer.฀Risk฀management฀and฀internal฀control฀
reporting฀is฀performed฀monthly฀for฀the฀Management฀
Board฀and฀quarterly฀for฀the฀Supervisory฀Board.
The฀independence฀and฀objectivity฀of฀the฀function฀is฀
maintained฀primarily฀through฀the฀following฀two฀principles:
•
฀ ฀The฀right฀of฀access฀to฀the฀Supervisory฀Board฀in฀relation฀
to฀risk฀assessments฀and฀audit฀findings;
•
฀ ฀The฀department฀maintains฀an฀advisory฀role฀relating฀
to฀mitigating฀risk,฀while฀the฀Board฀and฀senior฀
management฀retain฀responsibility฀for฀establishing฀the฀
appetite฀for฀risk฀and฀the฀implementation฀and฀
monitoring฀of฀appropriate฀mitigating฀controls฀to฀
maintain฀risk฀within฀tolerable฀limits.