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 2005 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.
