To: the General Meeting of Shareholders of BinckBank N.V.
Auditor’s report
Report on the financial statements
We have audited the accompanying financial statements 2009 of BinckBank N.V., Amsterdam. The financial statements consist of the consolidated financial statements and the company financial statements. The consolidated financial statements comprise the consolidated balance sheet as at 31 December 2009, the consolidated income statement, consolidated statement of comprehensive income, consolidated statement of changes in equity and consolidated cash flow statement for the year then ended, and a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes. The company financial statements comprise the company balance sheet as at 31 December 2009, the company income statement and company statement of changes in equity for the year then ended and the notes.
Management’s responsibility
Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union and with Part 9 of Book 2 of the Netherlands Civil Code, and for the preparation of the management board report in accordance with Part 9 of Book 2 of the Netherlands Civil Code. This responsibility includes: designing, implementing and maintaining internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of the 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 opinion on the financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with Dutch law. This law requires that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether 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 judgment, 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 order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by management, 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 audit opinion.
Opinion with respect to the consolidated financial statements
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial position of BinckBank N.V. as at 31 December 2009, and of its result and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union and with Part 9 of Book 2 of the Netherlands Civil Code.
Opinion with respect to the company financial statements
In our opinion, the company financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial position of BinckBank N.V. as at 31 December 2009, and of its result for the year then ended in accordance with Part 9 of Book 2 of the Netherlands Civil Code.
Report on other legal and regulatory requirements
Pursuant to the legal requirement under 2:393 sub 5 part f of the Netherlands Civil Code, we report, to the extent of our competence, that the management board report is consistent with the financial statements as required by 2:391 sub 4 of the Netherlands Civil Code.
Amsterdam, 18 February 2010
Ernst & Young Accountants LLP
Signed by N.G.D. Warmer