Auditors

The external auditor is appointed by the AGM on proposal of the Supervisory Board. The appointment is reviewed every four years and the results of this review and assessment are reported to the AGM. The external auditor attends all regular Audit Committee meetings, as well as the majority of the additional meetings, and the meeting of the Supervisory Board at which the financial statements are approved.

During these meetings, the auditor discusses the outcome of the audit procedures and the reflections thereof in the auditors’ report and the management letter. In particular, the key audit matters are highlighted. The auditor receives the financial information and underlying reports of the quarterly figures and can comment on and respond to this information.

The lead external auditor is present at the AGM and may be questioned with regard to his statement on the fairness of the financial statements.

Auditor independence

The Audit Committee and Board of Management report their dealings with the external auditor to the Supervisory Board annually and discuss the auditor’s independence.

As the current lead audit partner will retire in 2019, it was decided to appoint a new lead audit partner as per the start of the audit on the financial year 2019. In close cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers Accountants N.V. and after having interviews with potential candidates, the Audit Committee decided on the succession of the current lead audit partner.

Other services

One area of particular focus in corporate governance is the independence of the auditors. The Audit Committee has been delegated direct responsibility for the compensation and monitoring of the auditors and the services they provide to the company. Pursuant to the Audit Profession Act, the auditors are prohibited from providing the company with services in the Netherlands other than “audit services aimed at providing reliability concerning the information supplied by the audited client for the benefit of external users of this information and also for the benefit of the Supervisory Board,” as referred to in the reports mentioned.

The company has taken the position that no additional services may be provided by the external auditor and its global network that do not meet these requirements, unless local statutory requirements so dictate. In order to anchor this in our procedures, the Supervisory Board adopted the AkzoNobel Rules on External Auditor Independence and Selection and the related AkzoNobel Guidelines on Auditor Independence. These documents are available on our website.

Internal Audit

The Internal Audit function is mandated to provide the Board of Management, Executive Committee and Audit Committee with independent, objective assurance on the adequacy of the design and operating effectiveness of the internal control framework described in Internal controls. The Corporate Director of Internal Audit reports to the Board of Management and has direct access to the Audit Committee and its Chairman. The function performs its mandate based on a risk-based audit plan, which is approved by the Board of Management and the Audit Committee. It reports a summary of the audit findings bi-annually to the Board of Management and Executive Committee, and the Audit Committee, which culminates in an annual assessment of the quality and effectiveness of the company’s internal control systems. (See Audit Committee earlier in this section).

During 2018, the mandatory external evaluation of the performance and quality of the Internal Audit function by the Dutch Institute of Internal Auditors was conducted. The assessors were satisfied with the effectiveness of the function.