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12. Auditors

12.1 Duration of the mandate and term of office of the auditor in charge

The auditors are elected annually at the Annual General Meeting for a term of one year. The grounds for selection of external auditors are customary criteria such as independence, quality, reputation and cost of services. PricewaterhouseCoopers AG, St. Jakobstrasse 25, 4002 Basel, Switzerland (“PwC”) have been the statutory auditors of the Company since the migration of the Company from Luxembourg to Switzerland on 27 September 2018 and were re-elected at the AGM 2021. Prior to the Company’s migration, the independent registered auditors (réviseur d’entreprises agréé) of SIG Combibloc Group AG (formerly SIG Combibloc Group Holdings S.à r.l.) were PricewaterhouseCoopers, Société cooperative, Luxembourg, who have been the independent registered auditors of the Company since the period ended 31 December 2015. The main Group companies are also audited by PwC.

Bruno Rossi (Audit expert) as auditor in charge is responsible for auditing the financial statements of the Company as well as the consolidated financial statements of the Group since March 2020. The lead auditor has to rotate every seven years in accordance with Swiss law.

12.2 Fees

The fees charged by PwC as the auditors of the Company and of the Group companies audited by them, as well as their fees for audit-related and additional services, are as follows:

(in CHF 1,000)

 

2021

Audit

 

1,531

Audit-related services

 

195

Tax and other services

 

159

Total

 

1,885

12.3 Informational instruments pertaining to the auditors

The Board exercises its responsibilities for supervision and control of the external auditors through the Audit and Risk Committee. The Audit and Risk Committee assesses the professional qualifications, independence, quality and expertise of the auditors as well as the fees paid to them each year and prepares an annual appraisal. It recommends to the Board proposals for the general shareholders meeting regarding the election or dismissal of the Company’s independent auditors. The assessment of the performance of the external auditor is based on key criteria, such as efficiency on the audit process, validity of the priorities addressed in the audit, objectivity, scope of the audit focus, quality and results of the audit reports, resources used and the overall communication and coordination with the Audit and Risk Committee and Group Executive Board as well as the audit fees. The Audit and Risk Committee further coordinates cooperation between the external auditors and the internal auditors.

Prior to the audit, the auditors agree the proposed audit plan and scope, approach, staffing and fees of the audit with the Audit and Risk Committee. Special assignments from the Board of Directors are also included in the scope of the audit.

PwC presents to the Audit and Risk Committee, on an annual basis, a comprehensive report on the results of the audit of the consolidated financial statements, the findings on significant accounting and reporting matters, and findings on the internal control system, including any significant changes in the Company’s accounting principles, the selection and disclosure of critical accounting estimates, and the effect of alternative assumptions, estimates or accounting principles on the Company’s financial statements as well as the status of findings and recommendations from previous audits. The results and findings of this report are discussed in detail with the CFO and the Audit and Risk Committee where representatives of the auditor explain their activities and respond to questions. The Audit and Risk Committee also monitors whether and how the Group Executive Board implements measures based on the auditor’s findings.

Each year, the Audit and Risk Committee evaluates the effectiveness of the external audit, performance, fees and independence of the auditors and the audit strategy. The Board of Directors discusses and reviews the scope of the audits and the resulting reports. On this basis, it decides on any changes or improvements to be made. Representatives of the auditor attend individual meetings or individual agenda items of meetings of the Audit and Risk Committee. There is also regular contact between the auditors, the Group Executive Board, and the Audit and Risk Committee outside of meetings. PwC as external auditor of the Group partially attended the 5 ordinary meetings of the Audit and Risk Committee meetings in 2021 at which they discussed, amongst other topics, the scope and certain results of the audit and reviews.

Additional services or consulting assignments are delegated to the auditors only if they are permitted by law and the auditor’s code of independence. The auditors are required to confirm that their performance of these additional services will not affect the independence of their auditing mandate. The Audit and Risk Committee pre-approves all permitted non-audit services performed by the auditors, and reviews the compatibility of non-audit services performed by them with their independence requirements. This procedure is aimed at ensuring PwC’s independence in their capacity as auditors to the Group. PwC monitors its independence throughout the year and confirms its independence to the Audit and Risk Committee annually.