Assurance report of the independent auditor
Assurance report on the effectiveness of
internal control over the consolidated
financial reporting
Contents Introduction Management report Appendices Corporate governance Consolidated Financial Statements Company Financial Statements
To: The General Members Council and Supervisory Board of Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A.
Our opinion
In our opinion the effectiveness of internal control over
the consolidated financial reporting of Rabobank as at
31 December 2017, is prepared in all material respects, in
accordance with the COSO criteria.
What we have audited
The object of our assurance engagement concerns the
effectiveness of the internal control over the consolidated
financial reporting of Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A. (hereafter:
Rabobank) as at 31 December 2017 (hereafter: 'the internal
control').
The basis for our opinion
We conducted our assurance engagement, in accordance with
Dutch law, including the Dutch Standard 3000A'Assurance
engagements, other than audits or reviews of historical
financial information (attestation engagements)'('Assurance-
opdrachten anders dan opdrachten tot controle of beoordeling
van historische financiële informatie (attest-opdrachten))'.
This assurance engagement is aimed to provide reasonable
assurance. Our responsibilities under this standard are further
described in the section 'Our responsibilities for the assurance
engagement'of our report.
We believe that the assurance information we have obtained is
sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
Independence and quality control
We are independent of Rabobank in accordance with the 'Code
of Ethics for Professional Accountants, a regulation with respect
to independence'('Verordening inzake de onafhankelijkheid
van accountants bij assurance-opdrachten'-ViO) and other
relevant independence requirements in the Netherlands.
Furthermore we have complied with the 'Code of Ethics for
Professional Accountants, a regulation with respect to rules of
professional conduct'('Verordening gedrags-en beroepsregels
accountants'-VGBA). We apply the 'detailed rules for auditing
firms on assurance engagements (RA)'('Nadere voorschriften
accountantskantoren terzake van assurance-opdrachten
(RA)') and accordingly maintain a comprehensive system of
quality control including documented policies and procedures
regarding compliance with ethical requirements, professional
standards and other applicable legal and regulatory
requirements.
Criteria for our assurance engagement
The company's internal control over consolidated financial
reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance
that the company maintained, in all material respects, effective
internal control over the consolidated financial reporting as at
31 December 2017, based on the COSO criteria. A company's
internal control over consolidated financial reporting includes
those policies and procedures that:
1pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable
detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and
dispositions of the assets of the company;
2. provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded
as necessary to permit preparation of consolidated financial
statements in accordance with International Financial
Reporting Standards as adopted in the European Union and
Part 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code, and that receipts
and expenditures of the company are being made only
in accordance with authorisations of management of the
company; and
3. provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely
detection of unauthorised acquisition, use, or disposition of
the company's assets that could have a material effect on the
consolidated financial statements.
Inherent limitations
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial
reporting may not prevent or detect all misstatements. Also,
projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods
are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate
because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of
compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Rabobank Annual Report 2017 - Company financial statements
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