
11
Independent auditor’s report continued
Responsibilities of the managing agent
As explained more fully in the statement of managing agent’s responsibilities, the managing
agent is responsible for the preparation of the Syndicate Annual Accounts and for being
satisfied that they give a true and fair view and for such internal control as the managing agent
determines is necessary to enable the preparation of Syndicate Annual Accounts that are free
from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the Syndicate Annual Accounts, the managing agent is responsible for assessing
the Syndicate’s ability to continue to write new business, disclosing, as applicable, matters
related to its ability to continue to operate and using the going concern basis of accounting,
unless the managing agent intends to cease to operate the Syndicate or has no realistic
alternative but to do so.
Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the Syndicate Annual Accounts
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the Syndicate Annual
Accounts as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and
to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of
assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will
always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or
error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be
expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these Syndicate
Annual Accounts.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We
design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material
misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures
are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:
We obtained an understanding of the Syndicate and the insurance sector in which it operates
to identify laws and regulations that could reasonably be expected to have a direct effect on
the Syndicate Annual Accounts such as The Insurance Accounts Directive (Lloyd’s Syndicate
and Aggregate Accounts) Regulations 2008 and the Lloyd’s Syndicate Accounts Instructions.
We obtained our understanding in this regard through discussions with management, industry
research and the application of our cumulative audit knowledge and experience of the
insurance sector.
We determined the principal laws and regulations relevant to the Syndicate in this regard to be
those arising from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Prudential Regulation Authority
(PRA), Lloyd’s of London and the Insurance Accounts Directive (Lloyd’s Syndicates and
Aggregate Accounts) Regulations 2008, and the financial reporting framework (UK GAAP).
The Company operates in the insurance industry which is a highly regulated environment. As
such the Senior Statutory Auditor considered the experience and expertise of the engagement
team to ensure that the team has the appropriate competence and capabilities to perform the
audit.
We designed our audit procedures to ensure the audit team considered whether there were
any indications of non-compliance by the Syndicate with those laws and regulations. These
procedures included, but were not limited to:
• agreement of the Syndicate Annual Accounts disclosures to underlying supporting
documentation;
• enquiries of management and review of minutes of Board, committee and
management meetings throughout the period;