Internal Audit

ČEZ’s internal audit provides the Company’s management and governance bodies with an assurance that the internal management and control system is functional, and all significant risks are managed adequately. By doing so, it helps achieve CEZ Group’s goals and initiates improvement of activities and mitigation of business risk.

The internal audit activity at CEZ Group is performed by the audit and compliance department, which reports directly to the CEZ Board of Directors. The unit’s independence and efficiency are overseen by the CEZ Audit Committee. All key processes and segments of CEZ Group, incl. abroad, are subject to internal audit supervision.

The unit’s independence and the compliance of its activities with the Standards of Professional Internal Audit Practice were verified by an external quality assessment in late 2016 and an internal quality assessment in 2019 in compliance with the Standards.

The results of auditing and corrective action taken are reported quarterly in summary form to the Board of Directors of ČEZ and Audit Committee. In the event of serious findings or shortcomings the correction of which is beyond the audited entity’s purview, resolutions on correction are adopted by the Board of Directors of ČEZ.

In 2020, 37 audit investigations were carried out, 15 of which at ČEZ and 22 at subsidiaries (including 6 audits of foreign holdings).

As part of anti-corruption measures under ISO 37001:2016, the Company regularly audits its anti-corruption system. These audits are performed at three-year intervals. At the same time, each relevant audit examines whether sufficiently robust and functional control mechanisms are in place to minimize potential corruption and other compliance risks. The assessment of these so-called “fraud scenarios” is communicated to the Company's management at regular intervals and serves as one of the inputs to the Company-wide compliance risk analysis.