REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITORS TO THE MEMBERS OF ZENITH BANK PLC
Report on the financial statements
We have audited the accompanying separate and consolidated financial statements of Zenith Bank Plc ("the bank") and its subsidiaries (together, "the group") which comprise the balance sheets as of 31 December 2009 and the profit and loss accounts and statements of cash flow for the fifteen months then ended and a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes.
Directors' responsibility for the financial statements
The directors are responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with Nigerian Statements of Accounting Standards and with the requirements of the Companies and Allied Matters Act and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act. This responsibility includes: designing, implementing and maintaining internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error; selecting and applying appropriate accounting policies; and making accounting estimates that are reasonable in the circumstances.
Auditor's responsibility
Our responsibility is to express an independent opinion on the financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing. Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform our audit to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement.
An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor's judgement, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity's preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in orderto design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the company's internal control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by the directors, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements.
We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
Opinion
In our opinion the accompanying financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the financial affairs of the bank and the group as of 31 December 2009 and of their profits and cash flows for the period then ended in accordance with Nigerian Statements of Accounting Standards, the Companies and Allied Matters Act and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act.
Report on other legal requirements
The Companies and Allied Matters Act and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act and require that in carrying out our audit we consider and report to you on the following matters. We confirm that:
i) we have obtained all the information and explanations which to the best of our knowledge and belief were necessary for the purposes of our audit;
ii) in our opinion proper books of account have been kept by the bank, so far as appears from our examination of those books;
iii) the bank's balance sheet and profit and loss account are in agreement with the books of account;
iv) our examination of loans and advances was carried out in accordance with the Prudential Guidelines for licensed banks issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria;
v) related party transactions and balances are disclosed in Note 37 to the financial statements in accordance with the Central Bank of Nigeria Circular BSD/1/2004;
vi) to the best of our knowledge, the bank did not contravene any regulations of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act during the period
vii) to the best of our knowledge, the bank has complied with the requirements of the relevant circulars issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Chartered Accountants 1 March, 2010.
Lagos.
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