Auditors

Ernst & Young Ltd, Zurich, has served as statutory auditors of Atel Holding Ltd/Alpiq Holding Ltd. and as Group auditors since 2002. The statutory and Group auditors are appointed by the Annual General Meeting for a one-year term of office. Their performance and fees are reviewed annually. Ernst & Young Ltd's current lead audit partner has performed this function since 2006. For the last financial year, Ernst & Young Ltd received fees of approximately CHF 7.61 million for serving as statutory and Group auditors. Of this amount, approximately CHF 5 million was paid for audit services, approximately CHF 1 million for audit-related services, approximately CHF1.37 million for tax services and approximately CHF 0.24 million for transaction support.

When approving the audit fees, the Audit and Risk Committee particularly took into account that the number of companies to be audited has increased since Atel and EOS merged. Another criterion was the key audit areas that had been agreed with the auditors in advance.

External audit information mechanisms

The Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) is the supervisory body for the external auditors. The external auditors report to the ARC at least once a year on the audits they have conducted and the resultant findings and recommendations. The ARC agrees the audit plans with the external auditors in advance and assesses their work. The external auditors submit a Management Letter to the full Board of Directors once a year. The ARC may at any time invite the external auditors to attend its meetings, and did so on two occasions last year.