8 Statutory auditors
Duration of mandate and term of office of the lead auditor
KPMG AG, Zurich, has been the statutory and Group auditor of Autoneum Holding Ltd and the Autoneum Group since the financial year 2011. Reto Benz, licensed audit expert, has been lead auditor for the Autoneum mandate at KPMG since the financial year 2018. The term of office of the lead auditor is limited to seven years.
Audit fees and additional fees
KPMG charged Autoneum approximately CHF 1.1 million for the 2018 financial year for services in connection with auditing the annual financial statements of Group companies, the consolidated Autoneum Group accounts and the Remuneration Report. KPMG also charged Autoneum approximately CHF 1.6 million for additional services in the year under review, mainly for tax and transaction advisory services. Additional auditors received from Autoneum approximately CHF 0.3 million for the 2018 financial year for services in connection with auditing the annual financial statements of Group companies. They also received approximately CHF 0.3 million for additional services in the year under review, mainly for tax advisory services.
Information instruments of the external auditors
The external auditor informs the Audit Committee in writing and verbally at every meeting about relevant auditing activities and other important facts and figures related to the Company. Representatives of the external and internal auditors attend Audit Committee meetings to explain their activities and answer questions. Please also refer to the section on the Audit Committee under "Board of Directors". The statutory auditors have access to the minutes of the meetings of the Board of Directors. The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors makes an annual assessment of the performance, fees and independence of the statutory and Group auditors. It submits a proposal to the Board of Directors regarding who should be proposed for election as statutory auditors at the General Meeting. In addition, the Audit Committee reviews the scope of external auditing, the auditing plans and relevant procedures annually, and discusses auditing results with the external auditors in each case.