External auditors
Ernst & Young Accountants (Ernst & Young) and KPMG Accountants N.V. (KPMG) were the appointed auditors of ING. Ernst & Young was responsible for auditing the financial statements of ING Group and ING Verzekeringen N.V., while KPMG was responsible for the audit of the financial statements of ING Bank N.V. The external auditors, Ernst & Young and KPMG, both attended the meetings of the Audit Committee.
At the annual General Meeting of Shareholders on 27 April 2004, Ernst & Young was appointed to audit the financial statements of ING Group for the financial years 2004 to 2007 inclusive, to report on the outcome of these audits to the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board and to provide an audit opinion on the financial statements of ING Group. Furthermore, Ernst & Young also audited and reported on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of 31 December 2007.
In 2006, the Supervisory Board, at the suggestion of the Audit Committee and the Executive Board, concluded that it is more efficient that the financial audit of ING Group and its subsidiaries be assigned to one single audit firm, instead of being shared between two firms. Accordingly, both Ernst & Young and KPMG were invited to tender for the financial audit of ING Group and all of its subsidiaries in 2007. This resulted in the nomination of Ernst & Young for appointment by the annual General Meeting of Shareholders in 2008 as sole external auditor as of 2008 onwards for ING Group and its subsidiaries. ING appreciates the excellent service that KPMG has provided as an auditor of ING Bank N.V. over many years.
After a maximum period of five years of performing the financial audit of ING Group or ING Verzekeringen N.V. or ING Bank N.V., the lead audit partners of the external audit firms and the audit partners responsible for reviewing the audits, have to be replaced by other partners of the respective external audit firms. The Audit Committee provides recommendations to the Supervisory Board regarding these replacements, among others, based on an annual evaluation of the provided services. In line with this requirement, the lead audit partner of Ernst & Young has been succeeded after the year-end audit 2006. The rotation of other partners involved with the audit of the financial statements of ING, are subject to applicable independence legislation.
The external auditors may be questioned at the annual General Meeting of Shareholders in relation to their audit opinion on the annual accounts. The external auditors will therefore attend and be entitled to address this meeting.
Both Ernst & Young and KPMG may only provide audit and non-audit services to ING Group and its subsidiaries with the permission of the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee has generally pre-approved certain types of audit, audit-related, tax and non-audit services to be provided by ING’s external audit firms on an annual basis. Services that have not been generally pre-approved by the Audit Committee should not be provided by the external auditor or should be specifically pre-approved by the Audit Committee after recommendation of local management.
The Audit Committee also sets the maximum annual amount that may be spent for pre-approved services. Throughout the year the external audit firms and ING monitor the amounts paid versus the pre-approved amounts. The external auditor provides the Audit Committee with a full overview of all services provided to ING, including related fees, supported by sufficiently detailed information. This overview is periodically evaluated by the Audit Committee during the year.
More details on ING’s policy regarding external auditor’s independence are available on the website of ING Group (www.ing.com).
In 2007 and 2006, the following amounts were paid to Ernst & Young and KPMG for audit services and non-audit services:
Fees Ernst & Young and KPMG (1)
| in EUR millions | 2007 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|
| Audit fees | 61 | 63 |
| Audit-related fees | 7 | 4 |
| Tax fees | 5 | 4 |
| All other fees | 2 | 3 |
| Total | 75 | 74 |
(1)all amounts excluding VAT
