LISI 2012 FINANCIAL REPORT
        
        
          136
        
        
          
            8
          
        
        
          DOCUMENTS SPECIFIC TO THE ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING
        
        
          • The Audit Committee, which includes an independent
        
        
          administrator, is acquainted, in concert with the external
        
        
          auditors and the internal audit manager, with the general
        
        
          management and riskmanagement environment at the time
        
        
          of publication of each financial statement.
        
        
          • The internal audit unit comprises the Group internal audit
        
        
          manager assisted by an auditor. Depending on the scale and
        
        
          nature of the task to be performed, internal and external
        
        
          partners may be co-opted to round off the team.
        
        
          • Coordination with the external auditors is particularly close
        
        
          in order to direct controls specifically towards areas that have
        
        
          been identified as being high-risk and to allocate sufficient
        
        
          time to the task.
        
        
          • Certain tasks identified as critical aremonitored in the Group
        
        
          in a cross-departmental manner: financial management,
        
        
          accounts management, consolidation, legal services,
        
        
          insurance cover, security policy, environmental policy,
        
        
          purchasing policy and human resources management.
        
        
          
            Group baseline:
          
        
        
          • Each division has set up a value charter based on a common
        
        
          set of values.
        
        
          • An internal control procedures manual is in circulation,
        
        
          which is supplemented by an accounting and consolidation
        
        
          procedures manual. These procedures are made available
        
        
          to all the individuals involved and are regularly updated in
        
        
          electronic form via a dedicated Internet portal.
        
        
          • Each division and each operational unit is responsible for
        
        
          ensuring that these procedures are followed and adapted to
        
        
          their country’s specific context.
        
        
          • Each manager receives notification of new levels of
        
        
          responsibility in the form of delegation letters.
        
        
          
            Risk-mapping and monitoring processes
          
        
        
          • The Group is engaged in a convergent risk-mapping process.
        
        
          This methodology is currently employed throughout the
        
        
          Group and down to the level of the basic Management Units.
        
        
          It is subject to a complete and systematic review once a year.
        
        
          The priority action plans for the main risks identified in each
        
        
          division are validatedwithin the budget of the following year.
        
        
          • The health, safety and environmental risks committee,
        
        
          set up in 2001, identifies and indexes inherent risks, then
        
        
          initiates the necessary corrective actions.
        
        
          
            Main internal control procedures relating to the drafting and
          
        
        
          
            processing of accounting and financial information
          
        
        
          • The Group carries out an annual review of the 4 to 5-year
        
        
          strategic plan that has been set out and, based on this
        
        
          review, defines a priority action plan. The budget for the
        
        
          coming financial year falls within the scope of this plan for a
        
        
          12-month period. The planning process is approved first by
        
        
          the Executive Committee and then by the Board of Directors.
        
        
          Progress on preparation of the budget is assessedmonthly at
        
        
          all levels: business units (B.U.); Group and Divisions.
        
        
          • The monthly consolidation of management indicators, the
        
        
          income statement, the balance sheet and the funding table
        
        
          allow a precise measure to be obtained within a short time
        
        
          of year-end. This facilitates the decision-making process.
        
        
          • The purchasing and investment process falls within the
        
        
          scope of the strategic and budgetary mechanism. Any
        
        
          purchasing or investment commitment that deviates from
        
        
          the budget authorizations must have prior approval at the
        
        
          appropriate level.
        
        
          • The sales and contract process is reviewed specifically by the
        
        
          local teams, BUs, divisions or the Group depending on the
        
        
          materiality level, before the actual commitment is made.
        
        
          • The Cash Flow-Finance process also requires specific
        
        
          commitments. So for instance all financial investments are
        
        
          managed at Group level.
        
        
          • The pay process is managed at operational unit level and is
        
        
          regularly reviewed both by the internal audit team and by
        
        
          external auditors.
        
        
          • The Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) process has been
        
        
          subjected to the monthly review of management indicators
        
        
          (industrial accident rates, non-compliances, etc.) and the
        
        
          major resulting action plans.
        
        
          
            2012 achievements and Outlook
          
        
        
          • The Internal Audit Department has developed this year a
        
        
          new Internal Control Repository, which is based on a self-
        
        
          declaratory Questionnaire showing all the processes in the
        
        
          Internal Control Manual: Purchases, Capital Expenditures,
        
        
          Sales, Inventories, Cash, and Human Resources. Audits were
        
        
          then used to validate the level of internal control achieve
        
        
          in each of the business units. Specific monitoring will be
        
        
          ensured for all those whose level of internal control does
        
        
          not approach or exceed 80% of the score established on that
        
        
          questionnaire, which comprises 130 questions.
        
        
          • In addition, certain initiatives were conducted to provide
        
        
          assistance to insufficient monitoring and accounting
        
        
          reporting in some companies recently acquired by the group.
        
        
          • The "Risk Management" initiative, whose purpose is to
        
        
          strengthen the Group’s internal controls, is today an integral
        
        
          part of the process that is in use throughout all the divisions.