48 / 136
Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited
Annual Report 2016
46
Directors' Report
Auditors
No indemnities have been given or insurance premiums paid during or since the end of the financial year in
respect of any person who is or has been an auditor of the Parent Company or its controlled entities.
Proceedings on behalf of the Company
No person has applied for leave of Court to bring proceedings on behalf of the Parent Company or to intervene
in any proceedings to which the Parent Company is a party for the purpose of taking responsibility on behalf of
the Parent Company for all or any part of those proceedings. The Parent Company was not a party to any such
proceedings during the year.
Non Audit Services
During the year, Pitcher Partners Sydney, the Parent Company’s auditor, performed certain other services in
addition to their statutory duties. An entity associated with Pitcher Partners Sydney was paid $173,491 for
providing tax compliance and other services in respect of the Group. Details of the amounts paid to the auditors
are disclosed in note 36 of the financial statements.
The Board has considered the non-audit services provided during the year by the auditor and is satisfied that the
provision of those non-audit services by the auditor is compatible with, and did not compromise, the auditor
independence requirements of the
Corporations Act 2001
for the following reasons:
4
All non-audit services were subject to the corporate governance procedures adopted by the Parent Company
and have been reviewed by the Audit Committee to ensure they do not impact the integrity and objectivity
of the auditor, and
4
the non-audit services provided do not undermine the general principles relating to auditor independence
as set out in Professional Statement APES 110: Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants, as they did not
involve: reviewing or auditing the auditor’s own work; acting in a management or decision making capacity
for the Parent Company; acting as an advocate for the Parent Company; or jointly sharing risks and rewards.
Auditor’s Independence Declaration
The lead auditor’s independence declaration for the year ended 31 July 2016 has been received and is included
on page 47.
Rounding of Amounts
The company is of a kind referred to in ASIC Corporations (Rounding in Financial/ Directors' Reports) Instrument
2016/191, and in accordance with that legislative instrument, amounts in the Directors' Report and financial
report have been rounded off to the nearest thousand dollars, unless otherwise stated.
Signed in accordance with a resolution of the Board of Directors:
R D Millner
T J Barlow
Director – Chairman
Managing Director
Dated this 25th day of October 2016.