In accordance with its terms of reference the
Audit Committee’s key duties include:

• monitoring the integrity of the Group’s financial statements and any formal announcements relating to the Company’s performance, reviewing significant financial reporting judgements contained in them before their submission to the Board for approval;
• on matters of financial reporting reviewing and challenging where necessary the consistency of and any changes to accounting and treasury policies; for example whether the Group has followed appropriate accounting policies and made appropriate estimates and judgements, the clarity and completeness of disclosure, significant adjustments resulting from the audit, and the going concern assumption and compliance with auditing standards;
• at the request of the Board, reviewing the content of the Annual Report and Accounts and advising the Board on whether, taken as a whole, it is fair, balanced and understandable and provides the information necessary for shareholders to assess the Company’s position and performance, business model and strategy;
• as requested by the Board, assisting in relation to the Board’s assessment of the principal risks facing the Company and the prospects of the Company for the purposes of disclosures required in the Annual Report and Accounts;
• reviewing the effectiveness of the Group’s internal financial controls, including the policies and overall process for assessing established systems of internal financial control and timeliness and the effectiveness of corrective action taken by management;
• reviewing the most appropriate fulfilment of the internal audit function, agreeing and assessing the annual internal audit plan and its effectiveness in the context of the Company’s overall risk management system;
• overseeing the Group’s policies, procedures and controls for preventing bribery, identifying money laundering, and the Group’s arrangements for whistleblowing; and
• overseeing the relationship with the Group’s external auditors, reporting to the Board each year whether it considers the audit contract should be put out to tender taking into account any legal requirements for tendering or rotation of the audit contract, reviewing and monitoring their objectivity and independence including seeking information from the external auditor on an annual basis about its policies and procedures for maintaining independence, agreeing the scope of their work and fees paid to them for audit, assessing the effectiveness of the audit process, and agreeing the policy in relation to the provision of non-audit services.