Audit
Audit The General Meeting of OP Mortgage Bank elects an audit firm chartered by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office to act as the auditor.
The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of OP Cooperative (OP MB’s parent entity) puts audit services out to tender at some five years’ interval, on the basis of which it makes a recommendation to the Board of Directors on the auditor to be appointed. The Board of Directors makes a proposal to the Cooperative Meeting regarding the appointment of an auditor. The Audit Committee of OP Cooperative’s Board of Directors annually assesses the quality of the auditor’s performance and ancillary services and the independence of auditors and the statement of the ancillary services.
The auditor is tasked with auditing the accounting, internal control, accounting policies, management accounting judgements, presentation and structure of the financial statements of the company in order to obtain assurance that the financial statements have been prepared in compliance with the rules and regulations in force governing the preparation of financial statements and gives the company’s shareholders and other stakeholders a true and fair view of the financial position, financial performance and cash flows of the company.
KPMG Oy Ab, an audit firm, acted as the company’s auditor in 2022, with Tiia Kataja, APA, acting as the chief auditor, appointed by KPMG Oy Ab. KPMG Oy Ab has acted as the company’s auditor since 2002 and Tiia Kataja, APA, as chief auditor since 2019.
OP MB has used KPMG Oy Ab’s advisory services related mainly to the comfort letters of bond programmes.
In 2022, audit fees paid totalled EUR 53,000 (50,000), whereas fees for assignments as referred to in chapter 1, section 1(1)(2) of the Auditing Act totalled EUR 2,000 (0), fees for tax advisory services EUR 0 (0) and fees for other services EUR 55,000 (32,000). Nonaudit services provided by KPMG Oy Ab totalled EUR 55,000 (32,000) (excl. VAT). The corresponding figures for 2021 are shown in brackets.
Supervision by the central cooperative
OP MB belongs to the amalgamation of deposit banks, under applicable laws. The amalgamation comprises OP Cooperative as the central cooperative together with its member credit institutions as well as financial institutions and service companies in which the above-mentioned institutions jointly hold more than half of the voting rights. OP Cooperative controls the amalgamation’s operations and provides the companies within the amalgamation with guidelines on the qualitative requirements for safeguarding their liquidity and capital adequacy, as well as guidelines for their risk management, good corporate governance and internal control. The central cooperative may also confirm general principles to be followed by the member credit institutions in operations relevant to the amalgamation.
In addition, OP Cooperative supervises the operations of its member credit institutions, including OP MB, in the manner referred to in the Act on the Amalgamation of Deposit Banks. In its operations, the company takes account of OP Financial Group’s strategy, confirmed by OP Cooperative’s Supervisory Council, and regulations and guidelines on risk management and other operations issued by OP Cooperative to the member banks. The company reports to OP Cooperative in a separately agreed manner.
Regulatory supervision
As part of OP Financial Group, the company is supervised by the Financial Supervisory Authority and the European Central Bank as prescribed in the laws governing financial markets.