Annual Report 2019

5. EXTERNAL AUDIT The external auditors of the Company and the Group are Ernst & Young (‘EY’) who were first appointed as external auditors at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on 31 March 2017. The selection and appointment of EY as auditors was carried out following a tender issued by the RMAC in November 2016. Following responses received, three external audit firms were shortlisted and presented their proposals before the RMAC, after which EY was recommended for appointment as external auditors. The RMAC discusses critical policies and external audit issues with EY as and when necessary, and meets them at least once a year without management being present. The RMAC assesses the effectiveness of the external audit process via feedback received from the management team and the chairmen of the other audit committees of the Group. Areas of improvement are thereafter discussed with the external auditor. The Group has implemented a policy for the provision of non-audit service by the external auditor. The objectives of the policy are: • To ensure that neither the nature of service nor the level of reliance placed on it by the Group could be perceived to impair the independence and objectivity of the external auditor’s opinion on financial statements. • To establish a straightforward and transparent process and reporting mechanism to enable the RMAC to monitor and control the independence of the external auditors and compliance with this policy. • To avoid unnecessary restrictions on the purchase of services from the external auditors who are expected to provide a higher quality and a more cost effective service than other providers. For the year under review, the fees paid to the external auditors for non-audit work are set out on page 54. To guarantee objectivity and independence, the Board ensures that the team providing non-audit services is different from the one providing audit services. 6. HUMAN RESOURCES The human resource initiatives of the Group are set out on pages 46 to 47. 7. PROFILES OF SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM The profiles of the senior management team can be found on pages 24 to 25. 8. OTHER MATTERS 8.1. Related party transactions Please refer to page 150 of the Annual Report. 8.2. Management agreements The Company has no management contracts. 8.3. Dividend Policy An interim dividend is declared in May and paid in June and a final dividend is declared in December and paid in January. The payment of dividends is subject to the net profits of the Company, its cash flow and its needs with regard to capital expenditure. CIM FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD / ANNUAL REPORT 2019 Corporate Governance Report 44