Wärtsilä’s internal audit is handled by its Internal Audit unit, which reports to the Audit Committee and to the Chief Financial Officer. The purpose of the Internal Audit unit is to analyse the company’s operations and processes, as well as the effectiveness and quality of its supervision mechanisms. The internal auditor also participates, if necessary, in audits undertaken in conjunction with acquisitions and carries out special tasks when needed. The Internal Audit function covers all the company’s organisational levels and subsidiaries. An internal audit is undertaken in the subsidiaries and network companies at regular intervals, ranging from one to four years, based on a systematic evaluation.
The Internal Audit function prepares an annual plan, under which it independently audits different parts of the company. The annual plan is approved by the Audit Committee. The Internal Audit function is also empowered to carry out special audits. If required, the auditors also have the possibility to take direct contact with the Audit Committee or members of the Board of Directors.
The company has one auditor, which shall be an audit firm. The auditor is elected by the Annual General Meeting to audit the accounts for the ongoing financial year. Its duties cease at the close of the subsequent Annual General Meeting. The auditor is responsible for auditing the consolidated and parent company financial statements and accounting records, as well as the administration of the parent company.
Following the closing of annual accounts, the external auditor submits a statutory auditor’s report to the company’s shareholders. In addition, the auditor regularly reports its findings to the Board of Directors’ Audit Committee. The auditor, in addition to fulfilling general competency requirements, must comply with certain legal independence requirements guaranteeing the execution of an independent and reliable audit.
Auditor in 2024
The Annual General Meeting appointed the audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers Oy (PwC) as Wärtsilä Corporation’s auditor for the year 2024. The auditor-in-charge is Mr Lauri Kallaskari.
Wärtsilä Corporation's auditor for the year 2023 was PricewaterhouseCoopers Oy (PwC) and auditor-in-charge was Mr Lauri Kallaskari. Auditing fees paid to PwC amounted to EUR 3.7 million in 2023. Consultancy fees for non-audit services
totalled EUR 0.3 million. The latter fees paid to the auditor
concerned tax advisory and other services.