8. auditors
Duration of the Mandate and Term of Office of the Lead Auditor
External auditing of the consolidated financial statements and those of the holding company was first time assigned to PricewaterhouseCoopers at the Annual General Meeting of shareholders held on 14 May 2003. The auditor in charge, Christian Kessler, has held the position as auditor in charge since 2009.
Audit fees of CHF 452,000 to PricewaterhouseCoopers and CHF 30,000 to other auditors were incurred in 2010.
Additional fees totaling CHF 64,000 were charged by PricewaterhouseCoopers in the year under review.
Audit Supervision and Control Instruments
The Audit Committee is responsible for monitoring and controlling external auditing. The Audit Committee convened three times in the year under review. The external auditor in charge is also invited to attend these meetings for the purpose of providing information. In addition to the regular audit reports, reporting by the external auditor also includes a management letter.