Euronext - 2020 Universal Registration Document

Other Information

Independent auditor’s report

OUR AUDIT APPROACH

Scope of the group audit Euronext N.V. is at the head of a group. The financial information of this group is included in the consolidated financial statements of Euronext N.V. Because we are ultimately responsible for the opinion, we are also responsible for directing, supervising and performing the group audit. In this respect we have determined the nature and extent of the audit procedures to be carried out for group components. Decisive were the size and the risk profile of the group entities or operations. On this basis, we selected components for which an audit or review had to be carried out on the complete set of financial information or specific items. We have: n performed audit procedures ourselves at the components in the Netherlands and France; n used the work of other auditors within our EY network when auditing components in Norway, Ireland and Portugal; n used the work of non-EY auditors for the audit of components in Denmark and the United States of America. In total these procedures represent 94% of revenue and 99.7% of the group’s total assets. Component performance materiality was determined using judgment, based on the relative size of the component and our risk assessment. Component performance materiality did not exceed EUR 3.2 million and the majority of our component auditors applied a component performance materiality that is significantly less than this threshold. Because of the international travel restrictions and social distancing requirements due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been unable to visit component management and auditors to perform our oversight procedures on site. Instead, we predominantly used video or teleconferencing facilities, as well as EY’s electronic audit file platform and screen sharing to communicate. Based on our risk assessment, we held virtual site visits supported with the on-site support of the local EY office at the new component location in Denmark. Our communication with all component teams included discussions relating to, among others, the business activities and the identified significant risks, as well as the matters arising from their audit procedures and our evaluation. By performing the procedures mentioned above at the group components, together with additional procedures such as analytical reviews on out of scope entities at group level, we have been able to obtain sufficient and appropriate audit evidence about the group’s financial information to provide an opinion about the consolidated financial statements. Teaming and use of specialists We ensured that the audit teams both at group and at component levels included the appropriate skills and competences which are needed for the audit of a listed client in the market infrastructure industry. We included specialists in the areas of IT audit, forensic, legal and income tax and have made use of our own experts in the areas of valuation of derivatives, hedge accounting, employee benefits, fair value disclosures, purchase price accounting and impairment analysis of goodwill.

Our understanding of the business Euronext N.V. is a European market infrastructure group which offers a diverse range of products and services in amongst others Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, Dublin and Oslo. The group is structured in components and we tailored our group audit approach accordingly. We paid specific attention in our audit to a number of areas driven by the operations of the group and our risk assessment. We start by determining materiality and identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud, non-compliance with laws and regulations or error in order to design audit procedures responsive to those risks, and to obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. We were forced to perform our procedures related to the audit of the 2020 financial statements to a great extent remotely due to the Covid-19measures. In order to compensate for the limitations related to physical presence and direct observation, we more extensively used communication technologies and written information exchange to obtain the audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Materiality

Materiality

€22 million (2019: €16 million)

Benchmark applied

5% of the profit before income tax (2019: 5%)

Explanation

We consider profit before income tax as the most appropriate basis to determine materiality as it is one of the key performance measures for the users of the financial statements. Profit before tax of Euronext increased in 2020 compared to the prior year, primarily because of the full year inclusion of the acquisitions in Norway and the higher general trading volumes in this year’s volatile markets. Our materiality increased accordingly.

We have also taken into account misstatements and/or possible misstatements that in our opinion are material for the users of the financial statements for qualitative reasons. We agreed with the supervisory board that misstatements in excess of €1.1 million, which are identified during the audit, would be reported to them, as well as smaller misstatements that in our view must be reported on qualitative grounds.

9

305

2020 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT