8. Auditors
8.1. Duration of the mandate and term of office of the lead auditor
The auditors of Kudelski SA are PricewaterhouseCoopers SA (Lausanne). Some companies affiliated to the Group are audited by other auditors. The auditors were reappointed by the General Meeting of Shareholders of Kudelski SA of 22 April 2008 for a statutory period of one year. The PricewaterhouseCoopers SA mandate began in 1985. It has been under the responsibility of Mr Felix Roth since 1 January 2003.
8.2. Auditing fees
The Kudelski Group paid PricewaterhouseCoopers for auditing services for the year 2008 the sum of CHF 966 000.
Auditing services are understood to mean the work required each year to examine the consolidated accounts of the Group and its subsidiaries and to prepare the reports required under the laws of each country, performed by PricewaterhouseCoopers. In addition, some audit assignments were entrusted to other auditors.
8.3. Additional fees
The Kudelski Group paid PricewaterhouseCoopers for additional services for the year 2008 the sum of CHF 180 000.
Additional services mean in particular services such as the auditing of occasional transactions, the implementation of new or modified accounting methods and other services such as advice on mergers, acquisitions and sales of companies. They also include services related to the monitoring of international laws on corporations as well as advice concerning tax and risk management.
8.4. Monitoring and control instruments pertaining to the audit
The aim of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors is to provide effective and regular supervision of the company's financial reporting processes in order to ensure their integrity, transparency and quality. To this end and under its terms of reference, it is responsible for monitoring the work of the external auditors.
Representatives from the auditors of the Kudelski Group, including the partner in charge of the Group's audit, are regularly invited to take part in meetings of the Audit Committee as external participants. This year they were invited to three meetings of the Audit Committee.
For more information on the Audit Commi-ttee, please refer to points 3.5.2 and 3.5.3 of this report.