Mandate
KPMG AG of Zurich became the external auditors of Georg Fischer Ltd and group auditors in 1985. The chief auditor, Philipp Hallauer, has held that position since the 2003 Annual General Meeting. The chief auditor is changed every seven years.

Auditing Fees
The Corporation paid KPMG AG a total of approximately CHF 2.07 million [previous year: CHF 2.21 million] during the year under review for services relating to the audit of the 2007 annual financial statements of Georg Fischer Ltd, the Corporation as a whole and the corporate subsidiaries audited by KPMG worldwide. Globally, KPMG AG received fees of approximately CHF 1.17 million [previous year: CHF 0.85 million] for other services to the Corporation such as consultancy on corporate, IT, tax and legal matters.

Supervisory and control instruments
The Audit Committee reviews and evaluates the effectiveness and independence of external auditors annually. For the evaluation, the members of the Audit Committee use first of all their knowledge and experience which they have acquired as a result of similar functions at other companies. They also rely on documents developed by external auditors, such as the management letter, as well as their verbal and written statements concerning individual aspects and pertinent questions relating to the financial statement and the audit. Internal Audit also issues an annual list of all services rendered by external auditors for the Corporation and their costs, which is discussed by the Executive Committee and the Audit Committee. In the presence of internal and external auditing, the Audit Committee also evaluates potential for improvement regarding collaboration, the processing of assignments and any interfaces or overlapping of internal and external auditing. A representative of the auditors attends the meetings of the Audit Committee.