Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the U.S. Exchange Act. As required by Rule 13a-15(c) of the U.S. Exchange Act, our management conducted an evaluation of our company’s internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2022 based on the framework in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on this evaluation, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of March 31, 2022.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting to future periods are subject to the risks that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Our independent registered public accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, has audited the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2022, as stated in its report, which appears on page F-2 of this annual report.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by this annual report on Form 20-F that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
ITEM 16A. AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT
Our board of directors has determined that Mr. Walter Kwauk, an independent director within the meaning of Section 303A of the NYSE Listed Company Manual and a member of our audit committee, qualifies as “audit committee financial expert” as defined in Item 16A of Form 20-F.
ITEM 16B. CODE OF ETHICS
Our board of directors has adopted a code of ethics that applies to all of our directors, executive officers and employees. In November 2021, our board of directors amended the code of ethics to, among other things, emphasize the protection of personal information, better highlight regulatory compliance obligations, including in the areas of data security and privacy protection, fair competition, IP protection, anti-bribery, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering, as well as add reference to our anti-sexual harassment code of conduct, and specifically prohibit workplace bullying and harassment. We have filed our code of ethics, as amended in November 2021, as an exhibit to this annual report. The code is also available on our official website under the investor relations section at www.alibabagroup.com.
ITEM 16C. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES
The following table sets forth the aggregate fees by categories specified below in connection with certain professional services rendered by PricewaterhouseCoopers, our principal external auditors, for the periods indicated. We did not pay any other fees to our auditors during the periods indicated below.
| | | | |
| | Year ended |
| | March 31, |
| | 2021 | | 2022 |
|
| | (in thousands of RMB) |
Audit Fees(1) | | 104,501 | | 125,332 |
Audit-related Fees(2) | | 10,128 | | 8,560 |
Tax Fees(3) | | 2,346 | | 2,754 |
All Other Fees(4) | | 15,405 | | 15,466 |
Total | | 132,380 | | 152,112 |
| (1) | “Audit Fees” represents the aggregate fees billed or to be billed for each of the fiscal years listed for professional services rendered by our principal auditors for the audit of our annual financial statements, as well as assistance with and review of documents filed with the SEC and other statutory and regulatory filings. |
