Audit Report according to SA-CH and / or ISA

The statutory auditor or the independent auditor has the option to omit in their report a further description of their responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements [1]. Instead, a reference to this website may be included in the auditor's report.
Below is a further description of the responsibilities of the statutory auditor or of the independent auditor for the audit of the financial statements [1]. This further description forms an integral part of the report of the statutory auditor or of the independent auditor.

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As part of an audit in accordance with [Swiss law and SA-CH][Swiss law, ISA and SA-CH][SA-CH][SA-CH and ISA][ISA] [2], we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. We also:

  • Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements [1], whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
  • Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity's [3] internal control. [4]
  • Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made.
  • Conclude on the appropriateness of the Board of Directors' [5] use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the entity's [3] ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor's report to the related disclosures in the financial statements [1] or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor's report. However, future events or conditions may cause the entity [3] to cease to continue as a going concern.
  • Only applicable to financial statements [1] prepared in accordance with a fair presentation (true and fair) financial reporting framework:
    Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements [1], including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements [1] represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.
  • Only applicable to audits of consolidated financial statements:
    Obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the financial information of the entities or business activities within the Group to express an opinion on the consolidated financial statements. We are responsible for the direction, supervision and performance of the group audit. We remain solely responsible for our audit opinion.

We communicate with the Board of Directors or its relevant committee [6] regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

Only applicable to listed entities:
We also provide the Board of Directors with a statement that we have complied with relevant ethical requirements regarding independence, and to communicate with them all relationships and other matters that may reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, actions taken to eliminate threats or safeguards applied.

Only applicable if key audit matters are communicated:
From the matters communicated to the Board of Directors, we determine those matters that were of most significance in the audit of the financial statements [1] of the current period and are therefore the key audit matters. We describe these matters in our auditor's report unless law or regulation precludes public disclosure about the matter or when, in extremely rare circumstances, we determine that a matter should not be communicated in our report because the adverse consequences of doing so would reasonably be expected to outweigh the public interest benefits of such communication.

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[1] Depending on the subject of the audit, also correspondingly for annual financial statements / consolidated financial statements / interim financial statements / a single financial statement / specific elements of a financial statement

[2] Correspondingly for the provisions and standards mentioned in the "Basis for opinion" section of the Audit Report.

[3] Correspondingly also for of the company / of the group / of the occupational pension scheme.

[4] If the auditor is also responsible for issuing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity's internal control in connection with the audit of the financial statements, then the statement "but not with the objective of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity's [3] internal control" is not applicable.

[5] or with management and – where relevant – with those charged with governance.

[6] If no other relevant committee exists, "or its appropriate committee" does not apply.