RBS 2007 Annual Report Download - page 120

RBS Group • Annual Report and Accounts 2007
118
Independent auditors’ report to the members of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc
Financial statements
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 2007
which comprise the accounting policies, the balance sheets as
at 31 December 2007 and 2006, the consolidated income
statements, the cash flow statements, the statements of
recognised income and expense for each of the three years in
the period ended 31 December 2007 and the related Notes 1
to 43. 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
The directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report,
the directors’ remuneration report and the financial statements
in accordance with applicable law and International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS), as adopted by the European
Union, are set out in the statement of directors’ responsibilities.
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 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 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 as
regards the Group’s consolidated financial statements, Article
4 of the IAS Regulation. We also report to you whether in our
opinion, the information given in the directors’ report is
consistent with the financial statements. The information given
in the directors’ report includes that specific information
presented in the Business review that is cross referred from the
business review section of the directors’ report.
In addition we report to you if, in our opinion, the company has
not kept proper accounting records, we have not received all
the information and explanations we require for our audit, or if
information specified by law regarding directors’ remuneration
and other transactions is not disclosed.
We review whether the corporate governance statement
reflects the company’s compliance with the nine provisions of
the 2006 Combined Code specified for our review by the
Listing Rules of the Financial Services Authority, and we report
if it does not.
The Listing Rules do not require us to consider whether the
Board or management’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 other information contained in the Annual Report
and Accounts 2007 as described in the contents section,
including 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. Our
responsibilities do not extend to any further information outside
the Annual Report and Accounts 2007.
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 Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States). 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. 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.