COMMERZBANK AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT

28
Commerzbank AG
Group Audit promptly prepares a written report on each audit; the responsible members of
the Board of Managing Directors are among the recipients of the report. On the basis of these
audit reports, Group Audit oversees and documents the steps taken to remedy the deficiencies
identified within the specified time. If such deficiencies are ignored, an escalation process
comes into effect. In addition, Group Audit prepares an annual report on the audits that it
has carried out during the course of the financial year, the material deficiencies identified
and the measures taken, and presents this report to the Board of Managing Directors.
The financial reporting process
The financial reporting procedures at Commerzbank are supported by various IT systems
integrated into each process. As part of the input process for financial reporting, all information
relevant for drawing up the financial statements of Commerzbank Group under IFRS and
Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft under the German Commercial Code is submitted to head
office by the reporting units (Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft Germany, subsidiaries and
foreign branches). Data is transmitted via a separate online system directly into SAP EC-CS
consolidation software, which has been adapted to meet the Bank’s requirements. Subsidiaries
generally submit IFRS data, German and foreign branches also submit data under the German
Commercial Code. Data is automatically checked for consistency before transmission to head
office. Once the plausibility checks have been successfully completed, individual reports can
be finalised. Further plausibility checks are carried out using this data in head office. After
these controls have been successfully completed, all the necessary steps are taken to produce
the consolidated Commerzbank Group financial statements under IFRS and Commerzbank
Aktiengesellschaft single-company financial statements under the German Commercial
Code. Drawing up the Group financial statements involves various individual steps (e.g. consolidating
equity, liabilities, income and expenses), currency translation and the elimination of
intra-Group profits.
Segment reporting is done on a separate IT system. This involves reconciliation with the
data from accounting.
Measures to further enhance the ICS as regards financial reporting
The ICS has been adapted to meet the needs of the Commerzbank Group as regards financial
reporting, and it is further enhanced on an ongoing basis. To this end, the internal Control
Environment Initiative (CEI) has been permanently implemented at GM-F. The aim of CEI is
to manage all risk-related processes by applying a uniform method to report and assess risk.
In addition, it seeks to strengthen the ICS in the area of financial reporting by a regular assessment
of the effectiveness and efficiency of controls and by regularly checking how controls
are implemented.
The CEI is based on a refined version of the GMF “process map”, which is a top-down representation
of all key processes with descriptions of procedures. For this, risks affecting the
reliability of financial reporting are identified using the COSO framework. The Bank also follows
the recommendations of ISA 315. This involves checking whether a risk can be assigned
to one of the following three categories and their various aspects:
• Statements on types of business transaction: their occurrence, completeness, accuracy,
allocation to the correct period and the correct account.
• Statements on account balances at the reporting date: availability, rights and obligations,
completeness, measurement and allocation.