Reference to "the Board" shall mean the Board of Directors of
the Company.
Reference to "the Company" shall mean AGA Rangemaster Group plc.
1. Membership
1.1 The committee shall comprise at least two
members. Members of the committee shall be appointed by the board,
on the recommendation of the nomination committee in consultation
with the chairman of the audit committee.
1.2 All members of the committee shall be independent
non-executive directors at least one of whom shall have recent and
relevant financial experience. The chairman of the board may also
serve on the committee as an additional member if he or she was
considered independent on appointment as chairman. The chairman of
the board shall not chair the committee.
1.3 Only members of the committee have the right to
attend committee meetings. However, other individuals such as the
chief executive, finance director, other directors, the heads of
risk, compliance and internal audit and representatives from the
finance function may be invited to attend all or part of any
meeting as and when appropriate and necessary.
1.4 The external auditor will be invited to
attend meetings of the committee on a regular basis.
1.5 Appointments to the committee shall be for a
period of up to three years, which may be extended for further
periods of up to three years, provided the director still meets the
criteria for membership of the committee.
1.6 The board shall appoint the committee
chairman who shall be an independent non-executive director. In the
absence of the committee chairman and/or an appointed deputy, the
remaining members present shall elect one of themselves to chair
the meeting. The chairman of the board shall not chair the
committee.
2. Secretary
2.1 The company secretary or his or her nominee
shall act as the secretary of the committee.
3. Quorum
3.1 The quorum necessary for the transaction of
business shall be two members. A duly convened meeting of the
committee at which a quorum is present shall be competent to
exercise all or any of the authorities, powers and discretions
vested in or exercisable by the committee.
4. Frequency of meetings
4.1 The committee shall meet at least three times
a year at appropriate times in the reporting and audit cycle and
otherwise as required.
5. Notice of meetings
5.1 Meetings of the committee shall be called by
the secretary of the committee at the request of any of its members
or at the request of external or internal auditor if they consider
it necessary.
5.2 Unless otherwise agreed, notice of each
meeting confirming the venue, time and date together with an agenda
of items to be discussed, shall be forwarded to each member of the
committee, any other person required to attend and all other
non-executive directors, no later than three working days before
the date of the meeting. Supporting papers shall be sent to
committee members and to other attendees as appropriate, at the
same time.
6. Minutes of meetings
6.1 The secretary shall minute the proceedings
and decisions of all meetings of the committee, including recording
the names of those present and in attendance.
6.2 The secretary shall ascertain, at the
beginning of each meeting the existence of any conflicts of
interest and minute them accordingly.
6.3 Draft minutes of committee meetings shall be
circulated promptly to all members of the committee. Once approved,
minutes should be circulated to all other members of the board
unless it would be inappropriate to do so.
7. Annual General Meeting
7.1 The committee chairman should attend the
annual general meeting to answer shareholder questions on the
committee's activities.
8. Duties
The committee should carry out the duties below for the parent
company, major subsidiary undertakings and the group as a whole, as
appropriate..
8.1 Financial Reporting
8.1.1 The committee shall monitor the integrity
of the financial statements of the company, including its annual
and half-yearly reports/results statements, interim management
statements, and any other formal announcement relating to its
financial performance, reviewing significant financial reporting
issues and judgements which they contain.
8.1.2 In particular, the committee shall review
and challenge where necessary:
8.1.2.1 the consistency of, and any changes to,
accounting policies both on a year on year basis and across the
company/group;
8.1.2.2 the methods used to account for
significant or unusual transactions where different approaches are
possible;
8.1.2.3 whether the company has followed
appropriate accounting standards and made appropriate estimates and
judgements, taking into account the views of the external
auditor;
8.1.2.4 the clarity of disclosure in the
company's financial reports and the context in which statements are
made; and
8.1.2.5 all material information presented with
the financial statements, such as the business review/operating and
financial review and the corporate governance statement (insofar as
it relates to the audit and risk management).
8.2 Internal controls and risk management
systems
The Committee shall:
8.2.1 keep under review the adequacy and
effectiveness of the company's internal financial controls and
internal control and risk management systems; and
8.2.2 review and approve the statements to be
included in the annual report concerning internal controls and risk
management.
8.3 Whistleblowing
The Committee shall:
8.3.1 review the adequacy and security of the
company's arrangements for its employees and contractors to raise
concerns, in confidence, about possible wrongdoing in financial
reporting or other matters. The committee shall ensure that these
arrangements allow proportionate and independent investigation of
such matters and appropriate follow up action;
8.3.2 review the company's procedures for
detecting fraud;
8.3.3 review the company's systems and controls
for the prevention of bribery and receive reports on
non-compliance;
8.3.4 keep under review the adequacy and
effectiveness of the company's anti-money laundering systems and
controls;
8.3.5 keep under review the adequacy and
effectiveness of the company's compliance function.
8.4 Internal audit
The Committee shall:
8.4.1 monitor and review the effectiveness of the
company's internal audit function in the context of the company's
overall risk management system;
8.4.2 approve the appointment and removal of the
head of the internal audit function;
8.4.3 consider and approve the remit of the
internal audit function and ensure it has adequate resources and
appropriate access to information to enable it to perform its
function effectively and in accordance with the relevant
professional standards. The committee shall also ensure the
function has adequate standing and is free from management or other
restrictions;
8.4.4 review and assess the annual internal audit
plan;
8.4.5 review reports addressed to the committee
from the internal auditor;
8.4.6 review and monitor management's
responsiveness to the findings and recommendations of the internal
auditor;
8.4.7 meet the head of internal audit at least
once a year, without management being present, to discuss their
remit and any issues arising from the internal audits carried out.
In addition, the head of internal audit shall be given the right of
direct access to the chairman of the board and to the
committee.
8.5 External audit
The Committee shall:
8.5.1 consider and make recommendations to the
board, to be put to shareholders for approval at the AGM, in
relation to the appointment, re-appointment and removal of the
company's external auditor. The committee shall oversee the
selection process for a new auditor and if an auditor resigns the
committee shall investigate the issues leading to this and decide
whether any action is required;
8.5.2 oversee the relationship with the external
auditor including (but not limited to):
8.5.2.1 recommendations on their remuneration,
whether fees for audit or non-audit services and that the level of
fees is appropriate to enable an adequate audit to be
conducted;
8.5.2.2 approval of their terms of engagement,
including any engagement letter issued at the start of each audit
and the scope of the audit;
8.5.2.3 assessing annually their independence and
objectivity taking into account relevant professional and
regulatory requirements and the relationship with the auditor as a
whole, including the provision of any non-audit services;
8.5.2.4 satisfying itself that there are no
relationships (such as family, employment, investment, financial or
business) between the auditor and the company (other than in the
ordinary course of business);
8.5.2.5 agreeing with the board a policy on the
employment of former employees of the company's auditor, then
monitoring the implementation of this policy;
8.5.2.6 monitoring the auditor's compliance with
relevant ethical and professional guidance on the rotation of audit
partner, the level of fees paid by the company compared to the
overall fee income of the firm, office and partner and other
related requirements;
8.5.2.7 assessing annually the qualifications,
expertise and resources of the auditor and the effectiveness of the
audit process, which shall include a report from the external
auditor on their own internal quality procedures;
8.5.2.8 seeking to ensure co-ordination with the
activities of the internal audit function.
8.5.3 meet regularly with the external auditor,
including once at the planning stage before the audit and once
after the audit at the reporting stage. The committee shall meet
the external auditor at least once a year, without management being
present, to discuss the auditor's remit and any issues arising from
the audit;
8.5.4 review and approve the annual audit plan
and ensure that it is consistent with the scope of the audit
engagement;
8.5.5 review the findings of the audit with the
external auditor. This shall include but not be limited to, the
following:
8.5.5.1 a discussion of any major issues which
arose during the audit;
8.5.5.2 any accounting and audit
judgements;
8.5.5.3 levels of errors identified during the
audit.
8.5.5.4 the effectiveness of the audit;
The Committee shall also review the effectiveness of the audit:
8.5.6 review any representation letter(s)
requested by the external auditor before they are signed by
management;
8.5.7 review the management letter and
management's response to the auditor's findings and
recommendations;
8.5.8 develop and implement a policy on the
supply of non-audit services by the external auditor, taking into
account any relevant ethical guidance on the matter.
8.6 Non-audit work
8.6.1 The finance director shall consult with the
chairman of the committee where the Company is looking to appoint
advisers to undertake work where the project fees are expected to
exceed £100,000.
9. Reporting
responsibilities
9.1 The committee chairman shall report formally
to the board on its proceedings after each meeting on all matters
within its duties and responsibilities.
9.2 The committee shall make whatever
recommendations to the board it deems appropriate on any area
within its remit where action or improvement is needed.
9.3 The committee shall produce a report on its
activities to be included in the company's annual report.
10. Other matters
The committee shall:
10.1 have access to sufficient resources in order
to carry out its duties, including access to the company
secretariat for assistance as required;
10.2 be provided with appropriate and timely
training, both in the form of an induction programme for new
members and on an ongoing basis for all members;
10.3 give due consideration to laws and
regulations, the provisions of the Code and the requirements of the
UK Listing Authority's Listing, Prospectus and Disclosure and
Transparency Rules and any other applicable Rules, as
appropriate;
10.4 be responsible for co-ordination of the
internal and external auditors;
10.5 oversee any investigation of activities
which are within its terms of reference;
10.6 arrange for periodic reviews of its own
performance and, at least annually, review its constitution and
terms of reference to ensure it is operating at maximum
effectiveness and recommend any changes it considers necessary to
the board for approval.
11. Authority
The committee is authorised:
11.1 to seek any information it requires from any
employee of the company in order to perform its duties;
11.2 to obtain, at the company's expense, outside
legal or other professional advice on any matter within its terms
of reference;
11.3 to call any employee to be questioned at a
meeting of the committee as and when required;
11.4 to have the right to publish in the
Company's annual report details of any issues that cannot be
resolved between the committee and the board.
Issue No 6 - Effective 1st January 2011