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As required by Dutch law, the external auditor of the company is appointed by the General Meeting of Shareholders based on the proposal of the Supervisory Board, after the latter has been advised by the Audit Committee and the Managing Board. The Managing Board and the Audit Committee shall report on their dealings with the external auditor to the Supervisory Board on an annual basis, particularly with regard to the auditor's independence. The Supervisory Board shall take this into account when deciding its nomination for the appointment of an external auditor.
At least once every four years the Managing Board and the Audit Committee conduct a thorough evaluation and assessment of the functioning of the external auditor. The main conclusions of this assessment shall be communicated to the General Meeting of Shareholders.
The current auditor of the company, Ernst & Young, was appointed by the General Meeting of Shareholders in 1967. In 2003 the Audit Committee conducted an evaluation and assessment of the functioning of the external auditor. In line with the Auditor Policy to rotate the auditor partner every 7 years, in 2004 Ernst & Young appointed a new lead auditor for DSM.
The external auditor attends, in principle, all meetings of the Audit Committee. The findings of the external auditor, the audit approach and DSM’s risk management are among the issues discussed at these meetings.
The external auditor attends the meeting of the Supervisory Board, at which the report of the external auditor with respect to the audit of the annual accounts is discussed, and at which the annual accounts are approved.
The external auditor attends the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders.
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