Review Report (Translation)

Review Report (Translation)

Review Report (Translation)
To the National Association of German Cooperative Banks (BVR)

We have reviewed the consolidated financial statements of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Cooperative Financial Network that were prepared by the Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken e. V. (BVR) [National Association of German Cooperative Banks], Berlin – consisting of the income statement, the statement of comprehensive income, the balance sheet, the statement of changes in equity, the statement of cashflows and the notes – for the period from January 1 to December 31, 2015.

The Board of Managing Directors of BVR is responsible for preparing the consolidated financial statements of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Cooperative Financial Network in accordance with the significant financial reporting principles presented in section A of the notes to the consolidated financial statements. Our responsibility is to issue a review report on the annual consolidated financial statements of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Cooperative Financial Network based on our review.

We conducted our review of the consolidated financial statements of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Cooperative Financial Network in accordance with German generally accepted standards for the review of financial statements promulgated by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW) [Institute of Public Auditors in Germany]. Those standards require that we plan and perform our review such that, having conducted a critical assessment, we can with reasonable certainty exclude the possibility that the consolidated financial statements of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Cooperative Financial Network have not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the significant financial reporting principles presented in section A of the notes to the consolidated financial statements. A review is essentially restricted to interviews of employees and to analytical assessments and therefore does not offer the degree of certainty provided by an audit. As we did not conduct an audit under the terms of our engagement, we cannot issue an audit opinion.

Our review did not reveal any findings that might lead us to conclude that the annual consolidated

financial statements of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Cooperative Financial Network have not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the significant financial reporting principles presented in section A of the notes to the consolidated financial statements.

Without qualifying our conclusion, we refer to section A of the notes to the consolidated financial statements, in which the significant financial reporting principles are described. The consolidated financial statements of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Cooperative Financial Network have been prepared solely for informational purposes and to present the business development and performance of the Cooperative Financial Network, which is treated as a single economic entity in terms of its risks and strategies. These consolidated financial statements are not a substitute for analysis of the consolidated entities' financial statements. Consequently, the annual consolidated financial statements of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Cooperative Financial Network may not be suitable for other purposes.

Our report is destined only for BVR. We do not assume any responsibility or liability vis-à-vis third parties.

The engagement, in performance of which we provided the aforementioned services for BVR, was based on the General Terms and Conditions of Engagement for public Auditors and public Auditing Firms in the version dated January 1, 2002. By acknowledging and using the information contained in this review report, each recipient confirms acknowledgement of the provisions in those Terms and Conditions (including the liability provisions in no. 9 of those Terms and Conditions) and accepts that they apply in the relationship with us.

Eschborn / Frankfurt/Main, July 1, 2016

Ernst & Young GmbH
Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

Wagner (German public auditor)
Müller (German public auditor)