JUST GROUP PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2021
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT continued
• Assessment of matters reported on the Group’s whistleblowing register and the results of management’s investigation of such matters where applicable; • Reviewing correspondence with the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to compliance with laws and regulations; • Meeting with the PRA supervisory team to discuss matters in relation to compliance with laws and regulations; • Attendance at Group Audit Committee and Group Risk and Compliance Committee meetings; • Reviewing relevant meeting minutes including those of the Board of Directors, Group Audit, Group Risk and Compliance, Investment and Remuneration Committees; • Reviewing data regarding policyholder complaints, the Group’s register of litigation and claims, Internal Audit reports, and Compliance reports in so far as they related to non-compliance with laws and regulations and fraud; • Procedures relating to the valuation of life insurance contract liabilities, in particular annuitant mortality, credit default and expense assumptions, and the valuation of investments classified as Level 3 under IFRS 13, including Lifetime Mortgages, described in the related key audit matters; • Validating the appropriateness of journal entries identified based on our fraud risk criteria; • Designing audit procedures to incorporate unpredictability around the nature, timing or extent of our testing; and • Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on the inherent risk of fraud, including potential opportunities for fraud with more remote working and where internal controls may not be operating the way they usually do. There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above. We are less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations that are not closely related to events and transactions reflected in the financial statements. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion. Our audit testing might include testing complete populations of certain transactions and balances, possibly using data auditing techniques. However, it typically involves selecting a limited number of items for testing, rather than testing complete populations. We will often seek to target particular items for testing based on their size or risk characteristics. In other cases, we will use audit sampling to enable us to draw a conclusion about the population fromwhich the sample is selected.
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the FRC’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities . This description forms part of our auditors’ report. Use of this report
This report, including the opinions, has been prepared for and only for the Company’s members as a body in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and for no other purpose. We do not, in giving these opinions, accept or assume responsibility for any other purpose or to any other person to whom this report is shown or into whose hands it may come save where expressly agreed by our prior consent in writing.
OTHER REQUIRED REPORTING
COMPANIES ACT 2006 EXCEPTION REPORTING Under the Companies Act 2006 we are required to report to you if, in our opinion: • we have not obtained all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or • adequate accounting records have not been kept by the Company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or • certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or • the Company financial statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns.
We have no exceptions to report arising from this responsibility.
APPOINTMENT Following the recommendation of the Group Audit Committee, we were appointed by the members on 14 May 2020 to audit the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2020 and subsequent financial periods. The period of total uninterrupted engagement is 2 years, covering the years ended 31 December 2020 to 31 December 2021. OTHER MATTER As required by the Financial Conduct Authority Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rule 4.1.14R, these financial statements form part of the ESEF-prepared annual financial report filed on the National Storage Mechanism of the Financial Conduct Authority in accordance with the ESEF Regulatory Technical Standard (“ESEF RTS”). This auditors’ report provides no assurance over whether the annual financial report has been prepared using the single electronic format specified in the ESEF RTS. Lee Clarke (Senior Statutory Auditor)
for and on behalf of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors London 9 March 2022
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