Universal registration document and annual financial report 2019

112 2019 Universal registration document and annual financial report - BNP PARIBAS

2 CorPorate GovernanCe and internal Control

Internal control

The main duties of the Group Data Office are:

■ in close cooperation with the Group s businesses and functions, to define a Group data vision in view of the business s strategy and objectives;

■ to implement this vision with the support of the Group IT Manager and make the data easy to handle in order to support the analytical and digital transformation;

■ to use the Group business and function community s management and coordination process to strengthen the data culture within the Group;

■ to improve data management measures, including compliance with BCBS 239 and the data protection regulation.

PERIODIC CONTROL General Inspection has a dedicated Finance channel (the Finance Audit Line) with a team of inspectors who specialise in accounting and financial auditing, thus reflecting the Department s strategy of having an auditing capability in accountancy, as regards both the technical complexity of its work and its coverage of accounting and financial risk.

Its action plan is based on an annual risk assessment exercise, the practical details of which have been established by General Inspection based on the risk evaluation chart defined by the Risk Function.

The core aims of the team are as follows:

■ establishing a hub of accounting and financial expertise in order to reinforce the capability of General Inspection when carrying out inspections in such areas;

■ disseminating internal audit best practices and standardising the quality of related audit work;

■ identifying and inspecting areas of accounting and financial risk at Group level.

RELATIONS WITH THE STATUTORY AUDITORS Each year, as part of their statutory assignment, the Statutory Auditors issue a report in which they give their opinion concerning the consistency and fairness of the consolidated financial statements of the BNP Paribas Group as well as the annual financial statements of the Group s companies. The Statutory Auditors also carry out limited reviews on the closing of the half-yearly accounts, and specific tasks in relation to the quarterly accounts.

Thus, as part of their statutory mission:

■ they examine any significant changes in accounting standards and present their opinions to the Financial Statements Committee concerning the accounting choices with a material impact;

■ they present their conclusions to the Finance Functions in the entities/ business lines/divisions and at a Group level, and in particular any observations and recommendations to improve certain aspects of the internal control system that contributes to the preparation of the accounting and financial information that they reviewed during their audit.

FINANCIAL COMMUNICATION (PRESS RELEASES, SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS, ETC.) Financial communications for publication are written by the Investor Relations and Financial Information Department within Finance. It is directed at retail and institutional shareholders, financial analysts and rating agencies, and presents the Group s different activities, explains its results and describes its development strategy, while maintaining the financial information homogenous with that used at an internal level.

The team, which reports to Executive Management and the Chief Financial Officer, devises the format in which financial information is published by the BNP Paribas Group. It works with the divisions and functions to prepare the presentation of financial results, strategic projects and specific topics. It distributes them to the financial community.

The Statutory Auditors are associated with the validation and review phase of communications relating to the closing of quarterly, half-yearly or annual financial statements, before their presentation to the Financial Statements Committee and to the Board of directors, who approve them.