Auditors

Duration of the mandate and term of office of the lead auditor

At the AGM on July 5, 2001, PricewaterhouseCoopers AG was elected auditor for Sonova Holding AG and the Sonova Group. At the 2019 AGM, PricewaterhouseCoopers AG was re-elected for another one-year term. Sandra Boehm has served as lead auditor for the existing auditing mandate since June 18, 2013. As part of its commitment to good corporate governance, Sonova invited tenders for audit services commencing in the 2020/21 financial year. The current auditor also participated in the tender process since it had always performed its task to Sonova’s complete satisfaction. After a carefully conducted review, the Board of Directors decided to follow the Audit Committee’s recommendation and proposes the appointment of Ernst & Young as auditor of the statements of the Group and of Sonova Holding AG for the 2020/21 financial year.

Fees

PricewaterhouseCoopers charged the following fees during FY 2019/20 and 2018/19:

Audit services are defined as the standard audit work performed each year in order to issue an audit opinion on the parent company and consolidated financial statements of the Sonova Group, as well as opinions on the local statutory financial accounts or statements. Also included is extra work within the audit that can only be provided by the Sonova Group auditor, such as auditing of non-recurring transactions or the implementation of new accounting policies, as well as consents and comfort letters in relation to regulatory filings.

Audit-related services consist of support to the audit, such as providing advice on new accounting rules; this could be provided by sources other than the auditor who signs the audit report.

Tax services consist of services in connection with compliance with tax laws.

Non-audit services mainly consisted of consulting fees in connection with local regulatory requirements.

The values of audit, audit-related, tax, and non-audit services are in line with ratios suggested by commonly applied good practice standards that relate to the independence of auditors. A formal policy issued by the Audit Committee is in place that regulates all non-audit assignments of the auditors.

Informational instruments pertaining to the external audit

The external auditors report their findings semi-annually directly to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors. In FY 2019/20, the external auditors attended 3 out of 4 Audit Committee meetings physically or by telephone conference. The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors reviews the performance, compensation, and independence of the external auditors on a regular basis. The Audit Committee reports its findings to the Board of Directors quarterly.