BPCE - 2020 Universal Registration Document

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FINANCIAL REPORT

PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR AUDITING THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Persons responsible for auditing the financial 5.9 statements

5.9.1

Statutory Audit system

Within the Group, the main rules that govern the Statutory Audit system and aim to guarantee Statutory Auditor independence in Groupe BPCE companies are defined in the “Framework for Statutory Auditor Assignments at Groupe BPCE,” (the “Framework”) updated and validated by BPCE’s Supervisory Board on November 5, 2020. Applicable to all Group businesses, the “Framework” primarily defines: the rules governing the selection of Statutory Auditors for the • Group and its entities; the rules governing the services that may be provided by • Statutory Auditors (or their networks); the role of Audit Committees with respect to monitoring the • system. On the appointment of Group Statutory Auditors: in line with the regulations in force, the Group recommends that each Group company continues to designate at least one network of Statutory Auditors that certify BPCE’s consolidated and individual financial statements to ensure there is a consistent, harmonized financial audit system available across the Group. However, each company’s Audit Committee retains the authority to select Statutory Auditors subject to the approval of the company’s Annual General Shareholders’ Meeting. On the prior approval of services other than financial statement certification: in line with the opinion provided by the Haut Conseil du Commissariat aux Comptes (H3C) on July 26, 2017, BPCE’s Audit Committee introduced a prior approval procedure, for a one year period, of an exhaustive list of categories of services other than financial statement certification. These provisions are stated in the appendices to the “Framework”and were subject to an annual review validated by BPCE’s Audit Committee on November 3, 2020. They have been distributed to all Group entities.

In terms of system oversight: each company’s Audit Committee: examines the services rendered by the Statutory Auditors. • Aside from the prior approval of services other than financial statement certification in compliancewith provisions that have been defined in the “Framework”, the committee examines the fees and types of services rendered as recorded in each company’s income statement; ensures compliance with the principles laid out in the • “Framework”, rules governing the rotation of Statutory Auditors and the rotation of signatory partners and the implementation of a Statutory Auditor selection procedure at the end of each maximum term of office; this approach relies on the permanent control system • (Financial Control function). A Group standard on the verification of the independence of Statutory Auditors, which was updated and approved by the Standards and Methods Committee on December 12, 2018, sets out this function’s role in this respect and the main due diligence review it must complete. The work carried out within this framework is presented to each company’s Audit Committee and, on a consolidated basis, to the Group Audit Committee. In 2020, the central institution launched a Group call for tenders concerning, on the one hand, the renewal of the Statutory Auditors who signed the BPCE financial statements and the forthcoming renewal at Natixis and also updated the list of Statutory Auditors’ networks referenced by the central institution. The work resulted in the referencing (starting in the 2021 fiscal year and for the next six years) of six audit firms and the formalization of 20 general qualitative and financial commitments intended to strengthen the rationalization of the audit system in the Group.

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UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2020 | GROUPE BPCE

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