We have audited the parent company financial statements of Lloyds Banking Group plc for the year ended 31 December 2008 which comprise the parent company balance sheet, the parent company statement of changes in equity, the parent company cash flow statement and the related notes. These parent company financial statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out therein. We have also audited the information in the directors' remuneration report that is described as having been audited.
We have reported separately on the consolidated financial statements of Lloyds Banking Group plc for the year ended 31 December 2008.
The directors' responsibilities for preparing the annual report, the directors' remuneration report and the parent company financial statements in accordance with applicable law and International Financial Reporting Standards ('IFRSs') as adopted by the European Union are set out in the statement of directors' responsibilities.
Our responsibility is to audit the parent company financial statements and the part of the directors' remuneration report to be audited in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland). This report, including the opinion, has been prepared for and only for the Company's members as a body in accordance with section 235 of the Companies Act 1985 and for no other purpose. We do not, in giving this opinion, accept or assume responsibility for any other purpose or to any other person to whom this report is shown or into whose hands it may come save where expressly agreed by our prior consent in writing.
We report to you our opinion as to whether the parent company financial statements give a true and fair view and whether the parent company financial statements and the part of the directors' remuneration report to be audited have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985. We also report to you whether, in our opinion, the information given in the directors' report is consistent with the parent company financial statements. The information given in the directors' report includes that specific information presented in the Overview and the Business Review that is cross referred from the principal activities, business review, future developments and financial risk management objectives and policies section of the directors' report.
In addition we report to you if, in our opinion, the Company has not kept proper accounting records, if we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit, or if information specified by law regarding directors' remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed.
We read other information contained in the annual report and consider whether it is consistent with the audited parent company financial statements. The other information comprises only the chairman's statement, the group chief executive's review, the Business Review, the directors' report, the corporate governance disclosures, the unaudited part of the directors' remuneration report, the shareholder information and all other information listed on the contents page . We consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the parent company financial statements. Our responsibilities do not extend to any other information.
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing Practices Board. An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the parent company financial statements and the part of the directors' remuneration report to be audited. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgments made by the directors in the preparation of the parent company financial statements, and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the Company's circumstances, consistently applied and adequately disclosed.
We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the parent company financial statements and the part of the directors' remuneration report to be audited are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error. In forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the parent company financial statements and the part of the directors' remuneration report to be audited.
In our opinion:
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
Southampton, England
26 February 2009