GE 2015 Annual Report Download - page 151

REPORTS
GE 2015 FORM 10-K 123
MANAGEMENT AND $8',725¶6 REPORTS
0$1$*(0(17¶6 DISCUSSION OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
We believe that great companies are built on a foundation of reliable financial information and compliance with the spirit and letter of the
law. For General Electric Company, that foundation includes rigorous management oversight of, and an unyielding dedication to,
controllership. The financial disclosures in this report are one product of our commitment to high-quality financial reporting. In addition,
we make every effort to adopt appropriate accounting policies, we devote our full resources to ensuring that those policies are applied
properly and consistently and we do our best to fairly present our financial results in a manner that is complete and understandable.
Members of our corporate leadership team review each of our businesses routinely on matters that range from overall strategy and
financial performance to staffing and compliance. Our business leaders monitor financial and operating systems, enabling us to identify
potential opportunities and concerns at an early stage and positioning us to respond rapidly. Our Board of Directors oversees
PDQDJHPHQW¶V business conduct, and our Audit Committee, which consists entirely of independent directors, oversees our internal
control over financial reporting. We continually examine our governance practices in an effort to enhance investor trust and improve the
%RDUG¶V overall effectiveness. The Board and its committees annually conduct a performance self-evaluation and recommend
improvements. Our lead director chaired three meetings of our independent directors this year, helping us sharpen our full Board
meetings to better cover significant topics. Compensation policies for our executives are aligned with the long-term interests of GE
investors.
We strive to maintain a dynamic system of internal controls and procedures²including internal control over financial reporting²
designed to ensure reliable financial recordkeeping, transparent financial reporting and disclosure, and protection of physical and
intellectual property. We recruit, develop and retain a world-class financial team. Our internal audit function, including members of our
Corporate Audit Staff, conducts thousands of financial, compliance and process improvement audits each year. Our Audit Committee
oversees the scope and evaluates the overall results of these audits, and members of that Committee regularly attend GE Capital
Board of Directors, Corporate Audit Staff and Controllership Council meetings. Our global integrity policies²³7KH Spirit & The /HWWHU´²
require compliance with law and policy, and pertain to such vital issues as upholding financial integrity and avoiding conflicts of interest.
These integrity policies are available in 35 languages, and are provided to all of our employees, holding each of them accountable for
compliance. Our strong compliance culture reinforces these efforts by requiring employees to raise any compliance concerns and by
prohibiting retribution for doing so. To facilitate open and candid communication, we have designated ombudspersons throughout the
Company to act as independent resources for reporting integrity or compliance concerns. We hold our directors, consultants, agents
and independent contractors to the same integrity standards.
We are keenly aware of the importance of full and open presentation of our financial position and operating results, and rely for this
purpose on our disclosure controls and procedures, including our Disclosure Committee, which comprises senior executives with
detailed knowledge of our businesses and the related needs of our investors. We ask this committee to review our compliance with
accounting and disclosure requirements, to evaluate the fairness of our financial and non-financial disclosures, and to report their
findings to us. In 2015, we further ensured strong disclosure by holding approximately 125 analyst and investor meetings with GE
leadership present.
We welcome the strong oversight of our financial reporting activities by our independent registered public accounting firm, KPMG LLP,
engaged by and reporting directly to the Audit Committee. U.S. legislation requires management to report on internal control over
financial reporting and for auditors to render an opinion on such controls. Our report and the KPMG LLP report for 2015 follow.
GE 2015 FORM 10-K 123