
Independent auditor’s report to the members of Moyle Interconnector Financing plc
Explanation as to what extent the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our
responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. Owing to the inherent
limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that material misstatement in the financial statements may not be detected, even
though the audit is properly planned and performed in accordance with the ISAs (UK). The extent to which our procedures are
capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below.
Based on our understanding of the Group and industry, we identified that the principal risks of non-compliance with laws and
regulations related to compliance with Stock Exchange Listing Rules, Prudential Regulatory Authority, and FCA Handbook, Data
Privacy law, Employment Law, Environmental Regulations, Pensions Legislation, Health & Safety and the Utilities Regulator in
Northern Ireland, and we considered the extent to which non-compliance might have a material effect on the financial statements.
We also considered those laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the preparation of the financial statements such as the
Companies Act 2006 and UK tax legislation. The Audit engagement partner considered the experience and expertise of the
engagement team to ensure that the team had appropriate competence and capabilities to identify or recognise non-compliance with
the laws and regulation. We evaluated management’s incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial
statements (including the risk of override of controls), and determined that the principal risks were related to posting inappropriate
journal entries to manipulate financial performance and management bias through judgements and assumptions in significant
accounting estimates, in particular in relation to significant one-off or unusual transactions. We apply professional scepticism through
the audit to consider potential deliberate omission or concealment of significant transactions, or incomplete/inaccurate disclosures
in the financial statements.
In response to these principal risks, our audit procedures included but were not limited to:
enquiries of management, the Board, and the Audit and Risk committee on the policies and procedures in place regarding
compliance with laws and regulations, including consideration of known or suspected instances of non-compliance and
whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud;
inspection of the Group’s regulatory and legal correspondence and review of minutes of Board and Audit and Risk
committee meetings during the year to corroborate inquiries made;
gaining an understanding of the entity’s current activities, the scope of authorisation and the effectiveness of its control
environment to mitigate risks related to fraud;
discussion amongst the engagement team in relation to the identified laws and regulations and regarding the risk of fraud,
and remaining alert to any indications of non-compliance or opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of financial
statements throughout the audit;
identifying and testing journal entries to address the risk of inappropriate journals and management override of controls;
designing audit procedures to incorporate unpredictability around the nature, timing or extent of our testing;
challenging assumptions and judgements made by management in their significant accounting estimates, including
estimating the useful economic life of assets, estimating the assumptions used in the calculation of the decommissioning
provision and judgements made in the continuing application of IFRS 16: leases, contractual arrangements under EU market
coupling, and timing of receipts; and
review of the financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation and inquiries of management.
The primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of irregularities including fraud rests with those charged with governance
and management. As with any audit, there remains a risk of non-detection or irregularities, as these may involve collusion, forgery,
intentional omissions, misrepresentations or override of internal controls.
The purpose of our audit work and to whom we owe our responsibilities
This report is made solely to the company’s members, as a body, in accordance with chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006.
Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them
in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to
anyone other than the company and the company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we
have formed.