Auditors

The Swedish state’s ownership policy states that responsibility for election of auditors of state-owned companies shall always rest with the owner by decision of the Annual General Meeting. Pursuant to the Act on audits of state enterprises, the Swedish National Audit Office can appoint one or more auditors to participate in the annual audit.

Vattenfall’s Articles of Association stipulate that a minimum of one and maximum of three auditors are to be appointed at the Annual General Meeting, along with a minimum of one and a maximum of three deputies, and that a chartered auditing firm can be appointed as auditor or deputy auditor.

The 2008 Annual General Meeting re-elected Ernst & Young AB as auditor, with Authorised Public Accountant Hamish Mabon as new auditor-in-charge. This appointment applies for a term lasting through the 2012 AGM. In addition to his assignment with Vattenfall, Hamish Mabon has auditing assignments with the following companies, among others: Hexagon AB, Relacom Holding AB, Scania Sverige AB and Softronic AB. Hamish Mabon has no assignments with companies that affect his independence as an auditor of Vattenfall.

The Swedish National Audit Office has appointed Authorised Public Accountant Per Redemo to serve until the 2012 AGM, with Authorised Public Accountant Göran Selander as deputy during the same time period. Per Redemo has held this position since 2004. Per Redemo is the appointed auditor for Posten AB, Sveriges Radio AB and Chalmers Tekniska Högskola AB, and he is auditor-in-charge for the following authorities/state enterprises: the Swedish Tax Agency, the Swedish National Board of Student Aid (CSN), and Swedish State Railways. Per Redemo has no assignments for companies that affect his independence as an auditor of Vattenfall.

The auditors reported on their audit of the year-end book-closing to the entire board at the board meetings on 6 February 2008 and 13 March 2008. In connection with the report on 13 March 2008, the Board met the auditor without the presence of the CEO or other person from management. The auditors have also provided more detailed reports at meetings of the Audit Committee. In addition, the auditors meet Vattenfall’s CEO and CFO on a number of occasions during the year.

In cases where more extensive consulting activities are to be performed by the elected auditors, the assignment must first be discussed and approved by the Audit Committee or CFO. The Audit Committee has approved guidelines for how procurement of other services than auditing shall take place. These guidelines apply for all of the Group’s external auditors. The Group’s auditing costs are described in more detail in Note 50 to the consolidated accounts and Note 39 to the parent company accounts in the annual report.

Download Vattenfall's Annual Report 2008 (PDF 4616 kB)

Consulting provided by Ernst & Young AB from 2006-2008 pertained primarily to tax and accounting issues, as well as to project routines and management.