Financial reporting process

The essential purpose of the financial reporting process is to track the account assignment and processing of transactions all the way to the preparation of the required annual financial statements.

The purpose of the financial reporting-related ICS/RMS is to ensure compliance with financial reporting standards and regulations and to ensure legally compliant financial reporting.

Rentenbank prepares its financial statements in accordance with the regulations of the German Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch, HGB) and the Regulation on the Financial Reporting of Credit Institutions, Financial Services Institutions, and Investment Firms (Verordnung über die Rechnungslegung der Kreditinstitute und Finanzdienstleistungsinstitute, RechKredV).

The regulations are documented in handbooks and procedural instructions. The Finance Department monitors these documents regularly and adapts them to changed statutory, regulatory, and procedural requirements. The involvement of the Finance Department in the “New Products Process” ensures the appropriate representation of new products in the financial reporting system.

The documentation of the financial reporting process conforms with German Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (Grundsätze ordnungsmäßiger Buchführung, GoB) and is comprehensible to knowledgeable third parties. The statutory retention periods are observed with respect to the retention of the corresponding documents.

The functions of organisational units that play an important role in the financial reporting process are clearly separated. Appropriate subsidiary ledgers for money market accounting, loan accounting, securities accounting, and liabilities accounting are assigned to the different organisational units and monitored by them. The data contained in the subsidiary ledgers are transferred to the general ledger by way of automated interfaces. The Finance Department is responsible for accounting, the definition of account assignment rules, the posting methodology, management of the posting programme, and the administration of the financial accounting system.

Rentenbank employs standard software in its financial reporting process. Authorisations are granted on a task-specific basis to protect the financial reporting process from unauthorised access. Plausibility checks are performed on a regular basis. In addition, the application of the dual control principle, standardised reconciliation routines, and budget-actual comparisons within the financial system ensure the prompt detection and correction of errors. These measures also serve to ensure the correct recognition, presentation, and measurement of assets and liabilities.

The functional efficacy of the financial reporting-related ICS/RMS is monitored by means of periodic, process-independent audits conducted by the Internal Audit Department.

Quality-assured, relevant data are promptly reported to the responsible persons via the Management Information System. The Management Board informs the Supervisory Board and its committees of the corresponding results on a regular basis. It also promptly informs them of specific events of importance.