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 28 April 2009 for a statutory period of one year. The PricewaterhouseCoopers SA mandate began in 1985. It has been under the responsibility of Mr Félix Roth since 1 January 2003. The auditor in charge is replaced at the latest seven years after the year in which he first occupied this position, as specified in article 730a paragraph 2 of the Swiss Code of Obligations.
8.2. Auditing fees
The Kudelski Group paid PricewaterhouseCoopers for auditing services for the year 2009 the sum of CHF 1 031 000.
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 2009 the sum of CHF 298 000, representing CHF 203 000 for tax advisory services and CHF 95 000 for other additional services. 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 reviews of IT projects.
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.
PricewaterhouseCoopers provides the Audit Committee with a detailed report before each Committee meeting regarding the execution and results of its work within the Kudelski Group, proposals to correct or improve identified problems and the implementation status of decisions made by the Audit Committee.
The auditor's representatives, including the auditor in charge of the Group's audit, are regularly invited to take part in meetings of the Audit Committee as external participants. Representatives from PricewaterhouseCoopers were invited to all three meetings of the Audit Committee with the exception of discussions and decisions of the Audit Committee regarding the auditors. The auditor in charge of the internal audit attended the parts of these three meetings that were relevant for him.
For more information on the Audit Committee, please refer to points 3.5.2 and 3.5.3 of this report.