Siemens 2012 Annual Report Download - page 307

135 D. Consolidated Financial Statements 239 E. Additional Information
140 D. Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity
142 D. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
232 D. Supervisory Board and Managing Board
136 D. Consolidated Statements of Income
137 D. Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income
138 D. Consolidated Statements of Financial Position
139 D. Consolidated Statements of Cash Flow

  Principal accountant fees
and services
Fees related to professional services rendered by the Company ’s
principal accountant, Ernst & Young (E&Y), for fiscal  and
 were as follows:
Year ended September ,
(in millions of €)  
Type of Fees
Audit fees 44.2 42.0
Audit-related fees 10.6 14.8
Tax fees 0.4 0.7
All other services ––
Total 55.2 57.5
Audit fees and audit-related fees consist of fees associated
with the services pre-approved by the Audit Committee de-
scribed below. Tax fees, which require specific pre-approval by
the Audit Committee, include primarily fees for support servic-
es provided in connection with the documentation of transfer
pricing arrangements and assistance for competent authority
procedures according to Article  of the OECD Model Tax Con-
vention regarding transfer pricing issues.
In fiscal  and , % and %, respectively, of the total
fees related to Ernst & Young GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsge-
sellschaft, Germany.
  - 
In accordance with German law, Siemens’ independent auditor
is appointed by the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting based on a
recommendation of the Supervisory Board. The Audit Commit-
tee of the Supervisory Board prepares the board’s recommen-
dation on the election of the Company ’s independent auditor.
Subsequent to the auditor’s appointment, the Audit Commit-
tee engages the auditor and in its sole authority approves the
terms and scope of the audit and all audit engagement fees. In
addition, it monitors the auditor’s independence.
In order to ensure the integrity of independent audits,
Siemens’ Audit Committee has established a policy to approve
all audit and permissible audit-related services provided by our
independent auditor prior to the auditor’s engagement. As part
of this approval process, the Audit Committee adopted pre-ap-
proval policies and procedures pursuant to which the Audit
Committee annually pre-approves certain types of services to
be performed by Siemens’ independent auditor. Under the pol-
icies, the Company ’s independent auditor is not allowed to
perform any non-audit services which either () may impair
the auditor’s independence under applicable German regula-
tions or the rules and regulations of the International Ethics
Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA), the International
Federation of Accountants (IFAC), the U.S. Securities and Ex-
change Commission (SEC) or the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board (PCAOB) or () which can be more effectively
or economically provided by another provider, even if permis-
sible under the relevant independence rules. Furthermore, the
Audit Committee has limited the sum total of all fees that may
be incurred during a fiscal year for non-audit services, includ-
ing audit-related services, tax services and other services, to
% of the audit fees agreed upon for the respective fiscal year.
The Audit Committee waived this limitation for fiscal , pri-
marily due to the audit-related services pertaining to the sale
of Siemens IT Solutions and Services in that year and the then-
planned initial public offering of OSRAM.
The Audit Committee has generally pre-approved the perfor-
mance by E&Y of audit and audit-related services, including
among others the following:
 
> Annual audit of Siemens’ Consolidated Financial
Statements and its internal control over financial reporting
> Quarterly review of Siemens’ interim consolidated
financial statements
> Audit and review services that are required by statute
or regulation, including statutory audits of financial
statements of Siemens AG and of its subsidiaries under
the rules of their respective countries
> Opening balance sheet audits in connection with
acquisitions, including audits with regard to the allocation
of purchase prices
- 
> Voluntary local GAAP audits
> Due diligence relating to actual or contemplated acquisitions
and carve-outs, including consultation in accounting matters
> Post-closing audits
> Carve-out audits and attestation services in the context
of carve-outs
> Certification services required by regulation, law or
contractual agreement
> Consultation concerning financial accounting and report-
ing standards based on the auditor’s knowledge of Siemens-
specific circumstances, including:
> Accounting advice relating to actual or contemplated
transactions or events
> Advice on the introduction and review of new or revised
accounting guidelines and requirements
> Training regarding accounting-related topics