CONVENIENCE TRANSLATION INTO ENGLISH OF INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT ORIGINALLY ISSUED IN TURKISH ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ ANNUAL REPORT
To the General Assembly of Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Ziraat Bankası A.Ş.
1. Qualified Opinion
We have audited the annual report of Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Ziraat Bankası A.Ş. (the “Bank”), and its consolidated subsidiaries (collectively referred as the “Group”) of for the accounting period of 1 January 2023 - 31 December 2023.
In our opinion, except for the matter described in the Basis for Qualified Opinion section below, the financial information and the analysis made by the Board of Directors by using the information included in the audited financial statements regarding the Bank’s and Group’s position in the Board of Directors’ Annual Report are consistent and presented fairly, in all material respects, with the audited full set unconsolidated and consolidated financial statements and with the information obtained in the course of independent audit.
2. Basis for Qualified Opinion
As expressed in Basis for Qualified Opinion section of our auditor’s report dated 16 February 2024 on the full set unconsolidated financial statements of the Bank for the period between 1 January 2023 - 31 December 2023; unconsolidated financial statements include a free provision amounting to TL 17.300.000 thousand which consist of TL 28.300.000 thousand provided in prior periods and TL 11.000.000 thousand reversed in the current year by the Bank management which is not within the requirements of BRSA Accounting and Financial Reporting Legislation.
As expressed in Basis for Qualified Opinion section of our auditor’s report dated 16 February 2024 on the full set consolidated financial statements of the Group for the period between 1 January 2023 - 31 December 2023; consolidated financial statements include a free provision amounting to TL 17.800.000 thousand which consist of TL 29.304.000 thousand provided in prior periods, TL 96.000 thousand recognized in the current year and TL 11.600.000 thousand reversed in the current year by the Group management which is not within the requirements of BRSA Accounting and Financial Reporting Legislation.
Our audit was conducted in accordance with the “Regulation on Independent Audit of Banks” published by the BRSA on the Official Gazette No.29314 dated 2 April 2015 and the Standards on Independent Auditing (the “SIA”) that are part of Turkish Standards on Auditing issued by the Public Oversight Accounting and Auditing Standards Authority (the “POA”). Our responsibilities under these standards are further described in the “Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Consolidated Financial Statements” section of our report. We hereby declare that we are independent of the Group in accordance with the Ethical Rules for Independent Auditors (including International Independence Standards) (the “Ethical Rules”) and the ethical requirements regarding independent audit in regulations issued by POA that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements. We have also fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with the Ethical Rules and regulations. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained during the independent audit provides a sufficient and appropriate basis for our qualified opinion.
3. Our Audit Opinion on the Full Set Unconsolidated and Consolidated Financial Statements
We expressed a qualified opinion in the auditor’s report dated 16 February 2024 on the full set unconsolidated and consolidated financial statements for the 1 January 2023 - 31 December 2023 period.
4. Board of Director’s Responsibility for the Annual Report
The Bank management’s responsibilities related to the annual report according to Articles 514 and 516 of Turkish Commercial Code (“TCC”) No. 6102, Capital Markets Board’s (“CMB”) Communiqué Serial II, No: 14.1, “Principles of Financial Reporting in Capital Markets” (the “Communiqué”) and “Regulation on Principles and Procedures Regarding Preparation and Promulgation of Annual Reports by Banks” published in Official Gazette No. 26333 dated 1 November 2006 are as follows:
a) to prepare the annual report within the first three months following the balance sheet date and present it to the general assembly;
b) to prepare the annual report to reflect the Bank’s operations in that year and the financial position in a true, complete, straightforward, fair and proper manner in all respects. In this report, financial position is assessed in accordance with the financial statements. Also in the report, developments and possible risks which the Bank may encounter are clearly indicated. The assessments of the Board of Directors in regards to these matters are also included in the report.
c) to include the matters below in the annual report:
- events of particular importance that occurred in the Bank after the operating year,
- the Bank’s research and development activities,
- financial benefits such as salaries, bonuses, premiums and allowances, travel, accommodation and representation expenses, benefits in cash and in kind, insurance and similar guarantees paid to members of the Board of Directors and senior management.
When preparing the annual report, the Board of Directors considers secondary legislation arrangements enacted by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, Ministry of Trade and other relevant institutions.
5. Independent Auditor’s Responsibility in the Audit of the Annual Report
Our aim is to express an opinion and issue a report comprising our opinion within the framework of the TCC, Communique and “Regulation on Independent Audit of Banks” published on the Official Gazette No. 29314 dated 2 April 2015 provisions regarding whether or not the financial information and the analysis made by the Board of Directors by using the information included in the audited financial statements in the annual report are consistent and presented fairly with the audited unconsolidated and consolidated financial statements of the Bank and with the information we obtained in the course of independent audit.
Our audit was conducted in accordance with the SIAs. These standards require that ethical requirements are complied with and that the independent audit is planned and performed in a way to obtain reasonable assurance of whether or not the financial information and the analysis made by the Board of Directors by using the information included in the audited financial statements in the annual report are consistent and presented fairly with the audited unconsolidated and consolidated financial statements and with the information obtained in the course of audit.
PwC Bağımsız Denetim ve
Serbest Muhasebeci Mali Müşavirlik A.Ş.
Didem Demer Kaya, SMMM
Partner
Istanbul, 29 March 2024
