6. Responsibilities of Management and persons involved in corporate governance in relation to the consolidated financial statements
Management is responsible for preparing consolidated financial statements that present a true and fair view, in accordance with IFRSs as endorsed by the European Union, and for setting up the internal controls it deems necessary for preparing consolidated financial statements that do not contain any material misstatements, whether due to fraud or error.
When preparing the consolidated financial statements, Management is responsible for assessing the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, for presenting in those statements any necessary information relating to its status as a going concern, and for applying the accounting concept of going concern, except where there is a plan to liquidate the Company or discontinue its operations.
The Audit Committee is responsible for monitoring the process of preparing the financial information and for monitoring the effectiveness of internal control and risk management systems, and internal audit systems as the case may be, as regards procedures relating to the preparation and treatment of accounting and financial information.
The consolidated financial statements have been approved by the Board of Directors.
7. Responsibilities of the Statutory Auditors in relation to auditing the consolidated financial statements
Audit objective and procedure
Our responsibility is to prepare a report on the consolidated financial statements. Our objective is to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, are free of material misstatement. Reasonable assurance means a high level of assurance, although there is no guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with professional standards will systematically detect all material misstatements. Misstatements may arise from fraud or error, and are regarded as material when they can reasonably be expected, individually or together, to influence the economic decisions that users of the financial statements take on the basis of those statements.
As stated by Article L.823-10-1 of the French Commercial Code, our audit assignment does not involve guaranteeing the viability of your Company or the quality of its management.
When conducting an audit in accordance with professional standards in France, Statutory Auditors use their professional judgment throughout the audit. In addition:
- They identify and assess the risks that the consolidated financial statements contain material misstatements, whether through fraud or error, define and implement audit procedures to address those risks, and collect information that they regard as sufficient and appropriate as the basis for their opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from error, because fraud may involve collusion, falsification, voluntary omissions, false statements or the circumvention of internal controls.
- They familiarise themselves with the internal controls relevant to the audit, in order to define audit procedures appropriate to the situation in hand, and not in order to express an opinion on the effectiveness of internal control.
- They assess the appropriateness of accounting policies adopted and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by Management, along with information about those estimates provided in the consolidated financial statements.
- They assess whether Management has applied appropriately the going concern convention and, based on information collected, whether or not there is a material uncertainty arising from events or circumstances likely to call into question the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. That assessment is based on information collected until the date of the auditors’ report, although it should be borne in mind that subsequent circumstances or events may call into question the Company’s status as a going concern. If the Statutory Auditors conclude that there is a material uncertainty, they draw the attention of those reading their report to information provided in the consolidated financial statements in relation to that uncertainty or, if that information is not provided or is not relevant, they certify the financial statements with reservations or refuse to certify them.
- They assess the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements and assess whether the consolidated financial statements reflect the underlying operations and events so that they give a true and fair view.
- Regarding financial information relating to persons or entities included in the scope of consolidation, they collect the information that they regard as sufficient and appropriate to express an opinion on the consolidated financial statements. The Statutory Auditors are responsible for managing, supervising and conducting the audit of the consolidated financial statements and for the opinion expressed on those financial statements.
