Strategic report Governance Financial statements Other information INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF HARGREAVES LANSDOWN PLC CONTINUED Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design items for testing based on their size or risk characteristics. In other cases, we will use audit sampling procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in to enable us to draw a conclusion about the population from which the sample is selected. respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below. the FRC’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Based on our understanding of the group and industry, we identified that the principal risks of non- auditors’ report. compliance with laws and regulations related to non-compliance with laws and regulations related to Use of this report breaches of regulatory principles, governed by the Financial Conduct Authority (the Listing Rules, the This report, including the opinions, has been prepared for and only for the parent company’s members Financial Conduct Authority’s Client Asset Sourcebook) and the UK tax legislation, and we considered as a body in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and for no other the extent to which non-compliance might have a material effect on the financial statements. We also purpose. We do not, in giving these opinions, accept or assume responsibility for any other purpose considered those laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the financial statements such as or to any other person to whom this report is shown or into whose hands it may come save where the Companies Act 2006. We evaluated management’s incentives and opportunities for fraudulent expressly agreed by our prior consent in writing. manipulation of the financial statements (including the risk of override of controls), and determined that the principal risks were related to posting inappropriate journal entries to increase revenue of the Group. Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included: Other required reporting •Discussions with the Risk and Compliance function, Internal Audit and the company’s legal counsel, Companies Act 2006 exception reporting including consideration of known or suspected instances of non-compliance with laws and Under the Companies Act 2006 we are required to report to you if, in our opinion: regulation and fraud; Reading the Audit Committee papers in which whistle blowing matters are reported and considered • we have not obtained all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or • the impact of these matters on the group’s compliance with laws and regulations; • adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent company, or returns adequate Reading key correspondence with the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to compliance with for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or • laws and regulations; • certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or •Reviewing relevant meeting minutes including those of the Board, Risk and Audit Committees • the parent company financial statements and the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited Reviewing data regarding customer complaints and the company’s register of litigation and claims, are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns. • in so far as they related to non-compliance with laws and regulations and fraud; We have no exceptions to report arising from this responsibility. •Identifying and testing journal entries, in particular any journal entries posted with unusual account combinations increasing reported revenues; and Appointment Following the recommendation of the Audit Committee, we were appointed by the members on •Designing audit procedures to incorporate unpredictability around nature, timing or extent of 25 October 2013 to audit the financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2014 and subsequent our testing. financial periods. The period of total uninterrupted engagement is 8 years, covering the years ended There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above. We are less likely to become 30 June 2014 to 30 June 2021. aware of instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations that are not closely related to events and transactions reflected in the financial statements. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud Darren Meek (Senior Statutory Auditor) may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, for and on behalf of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP or through collusion. Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors London Our audit testing might include testing complete populations of certain transactions and balances, possibly using data auditing techniques. However, it typically involves selecting a limited number of 8 August 2021 items for testing, rather than testing complete populations. We will often seek to target particular 142 Hargreaves Lansdown Report and Financial Statements 2021