HSBC 2002 Annual Report Download - page 190

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC
Independent auditors’ report to the Members of HSBC Holdings plc
188
We have audited the financial statements on pages 190 to 313. We have also audited certain of the information in
the directors’ remuneration report that is required to be audited by the Companies Act 1985; this information is set
out on pages 180 to 186.
Respective responsibilities of Directors and Auditors
The directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report, the Annual Report on Form 20-F and the directors’
remuneration report. As described on page 187, this includes responsibility for preparing the financial statements in
accordance with applicable United Kingdom law and accounting standards; the Directors have also presented
additional information under US requirements. Our responsibilities, as independent auditors, are established in the
United Kingdom by statute, the Auditing Practices Board in the United Kingdom and the auditing standards
generally accepted in the United States, the Listing Rules of the UK Financial Services Authority, the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission and by our profession’ s ethical guidance.
We report to you in our United Kingdom 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 required to be audited have
been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985. We also report to you if, in our opinion, the
directors’ report is not consistent with the financial statements, if HSBC Holdings has not kept proper accounting
records, if we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit, or if information
specified by law regarding directors’ remuneration and transactions with HSBC Holdings together with its
subsidiary undertakings (‘HSBC’ ) is not disclosed.
We review whether the statement on pages 162 to 164 reflects HSBC Holdings’ compliance with the seven
provisions of the Combined Code specified for our review by the Listing Rules, and we report if it does not. We are
not required to consider whether the board’ s statements on internal control cover all risks and controls, or form an
opinion on the effectiveness of HSBC’ s corporate governance procedures or its risk and control procedures.
We read the other information contained in the Annual Report, including the corporate governance statement
and 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.
Basis of audit opinion
We conducted our audit of the financial statements in accordance with auditing standards issued by the Auditing
Practices Board in the United Kingdom and those generally accepted in the United States. An audit includes
examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. 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 HSBC’ s circumstances, consistently
applied and adequately disclosed. We conducted our audit of the part of the directors’ remuneration report required
to be audited by the Companies Act 1985 in accordance with auditing standards issued by the Auditing Practices
Board in the United Kingdom.
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 required to be audited by the Companies Act 1985 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 required to be audited by the Companies Act 1985.