Audit Committee members are appointed for their financial and/or accounting skills, assessed with particular regard to their past career (positions held in general or financial management or in an audit firm), academic background or specific knowledge of the Company’s business.
Three-quarters of the Audit Committee members are independent:
> Véronique Morali* , Chairman of the Committee
* Independent Director.
The main tasks of the Audit Committee are:
- monitoring the financial reporting process and, where appropriate, making recommendations to ensure its integrity;
- examining the draft annual and half-yearly parent company and consolidated financial statements of Lagardere SA (the “Company”) and its subsidiaries (together referred to as the “Group” or the “Lagardère Group”) before they are submitted to the Board;
- ensuring the relevance and consistency of the accounting methods and principles adopted for the preparation of the Company’s consolidated and parent company financial statements, and the quality, completeness, accuracy and fairness of the financial statements;
- monitoring the effectiveness of the internal control and risk management systems, and where appropriate the internal audit, with respect to procedures relating to the preparation and processing of accounting and financial information;
- ensuring the existence and reliability of internal control procedures, particularly with regard to risk exposure, including social and environmental risks;
- to issue a recommendation on the Statutory Auditors proposed for appointment by the General Meeting or for renewal, as well as on their remuneration;
- ensure that a corruption prevention and detection system is in place;
- to examine the agreements between Group companies and the Company’s managers;
- to ensure the independence of the Statutory Auditors.