RBS 2005 Annual Report Download - page 136

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Independent auditors’ report to the members of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc
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 2005
which comprise the accounting policies, the balance sheets as
at 31 December 2005 and 2004, the consolidated income
statement, the cash flow statements, the statements of
recognised income and expense for each of the two years in
the period ended 31 December 2005 and the related Notes 1 to
47. 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 United
Kingdom law and International Financial Reporting Standards
(“IFRS”) as adopted for use in the European Union. They are
also responsible for the preparation of the other information
contained in the 2005 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
United Kingdom 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 in accordance with the
relevant framework 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 Article 4 of the
IAS Regulation. We also report to you if, in our opinion, the
directors’ report is not consistent with the financial statements,
if the company 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 the
company and other members of the Group is not disclosed.
We also report to you if, in our opinion, the company has not
complied with any of the four directors’ remuneration
disclosure requirements specified for our review by the Listing
Rules of the Financial Services Authority. These comprise the
amount of each element in the remuneration package and
information on share options, details of long term incentive
schemes, and money purchase and defined benefit schemes.
We give a statement, to the extent possible, of details of any
non-compliance.
We review whether the corporate governance statement
reflects the company’s compliance with the nine provisions of
the Combined Code specified for our review by the Listing
Rules of the Financial Services Authority, 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 the Group’s corporate
governance procedures or its risk and control procedures.
We read the directors’ report and the other information
contained in the 2005 Annual Report as described in the
contents section including the unaudited part of the directors’
remuneration report and 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 in accordance with International
Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing
Practices Board and with the standards of the United States
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. 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. The Group is not required to have, nor
were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control
over financial reporting. An audit includes consideration of
internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing
audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances,
but not for the purposes of expressing an opinion on the
effectiveness of the Group’s internal controls over financial
reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. 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.
Independent auditors’ report to the members of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc
Neither an audit nor a review provides assurance on the maintenance and integrity of the website, including controls used to achieve this,
and in particular on whether any changes may have occurred to the financial information since first published. These matters are the
responsibility of the directors but no control procedures can provide absolute assurance in this area.