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ANNEX A
ITEM 15T.CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
(a) Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We carried outAs of December 31, 2007, we performedan evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, of the effectiveness ofthe design and operation ofour disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of December 31, 2007, the end of the period covered by this report. Our management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives and our management necessarily applies its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. Based on this evaluation, and for the reasons set forth in section (b) of this Item 15T, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of December 31, 2007, to provide reasonable assurance that the information required to be disclosedby usin filings and submissions under the Exchange Act, is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified by the SEC’s rules and forms, and that material information related to us and our consolidated subsidiaries is accumulated and communicated to management, including the chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions about required disclosure.
(b) Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting(as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) or 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act).. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes. Internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that: (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regardingtheprevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on thecompany’sfinancial statements.
Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Management assessedOur management completed its assessment ofthe effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2007. In making this assessment, management utilizedutilizing alternative evaluation approaches based on the framework published by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) in “,Internal Control – Integrated Framework” as well as (“COSO”) and guidance set forth in releases of the Securities and Exchange Commission.Based on the assessment and evaluation performed through the date of filing of this annual report, as described in detail below, management has identified a number of material weaknesses and significant deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2007.
The evaluation procedures thatBecauseweutilized to assess the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting consisted primarily of the documentation of major processes and an analysis of key control gaps within such major processes, as designed, at those entities deemed to be material. We based our evaluation on detailed inquiry, observation and walkthroughs, as opposed to formal testing of control effectiveness, which we had originally intended to utilize. With respect to most processes that were included in our assessment, we were unable to perform all of the formal procedures testing the effectiveness of controls designed to be in place within such processes by the time this annual report was filed. However, we were able to complete our assessment utilizing the alternative evaluation procedures described above. We utilized these alternative evaluation procedures because our management concluded that, due to the implementation duringimplemented inthe second half of 2007ofa new company-wide ERP system (SAP), that encompassed a significant portion of our transaction processing and related controls relevant to financial reporting,management concluded thatits assessment and evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting should not be performed for most key processes until the new ERP system was implemented and stable. As a result, a significant portion of our assessment ofourinternal control over financial reporting did not commence until November 2007 and continued through theoriginaldate of filing of this annual report, as opposed to such assessment having been performed closer to the balance sheet date.Further, this assessment consisted primarily of the documentation of major processes and an analysis of key control gaps within such major processes, as designed, at those entities deemed to be material. We based our evaluation on detailed inquiry, observation and walkthroughs. With respect to most processes that were included in our assessment, we were unable to perform all of the formal procedures testing the effectiveness of controls designed to be in place within such processes by the time this annual report was filed, but, utilizing the alternative evaluation procedures described above, we completed our assessment.It is possible that had we performed our assessmentduring the reporting period orcloser to the balance sheet date we may have found other control deficiencies. Furthermore, had we been able to perform formal testing of control effectiveness as we had originally intended as part of management’s assessment of controls over financial reporting, it is possible that we may have found control weaknesses or deficiencies in addition to those indicated in this annual report. Nevertheless, management performed sufficient procedures under applicable rules to complete its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2007.
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Based on the assessment and evaluation performed through the date of filing of this annual report as described above, management has identified a number of material weaknesses and significant deficiencies. Accordingly, management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2007.
The following is a summary of material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting that were identifiedduring the course of the above review:
| — | Computer system access controls, change management and use of multiple systems.As indicated above, in the second half of 2007 we implemented a new ERP system through which financial and operational transactions are processed and recorded. Management decided to expedite the implementation of the new system in order to gain the benefits expected from it, including improvements in our internal controls, as quickly as possible. As a result, a number of controls related to access rights and change management were not fully designed and implemented as of December 31, 2007. Specifically, we noted instances in which system users had access rights beyond the scope of those necessary to perform their specific job responsibilities or in which access rights were defined in a manner that created a situation of improper segregation of duties. It was further noted that we did not have adequate procedures in place for appropriate management review and approval of system access rights as of December 31, 2007. In addition, as a result of the expedited manner in which the system was implemented, the testing of various transaction processing and reports was not as comprehensive or robust as necessary before the transition to the new system. Other change management policies and procedures were not formalized and implemented as expected as of December 31, 2007. Finally, as a result of our multi-phase, multi-year approach for fully transitioning to our new ERP system, certain functions and processes remain on our previous ERP system as of year end 2007 and as of the date of filing this annual report. During this transition period, interfaces between the two systems are needed to maintain a seamless and consistent flow of information related to affected processes, particularly in the areas of inventory and service call billing. We noted that in some circumstances these interfaces were either not operating as expected or had not yet been implemented as of December 31, 2007. As a result, we are dependent on significant manual reconciliation of data between the two ERP systems to ensure consistency of such data. |
| — | Subsidiaries with insufficient number of professionally qualified accounting personnel. In certain of our subsidiaries where there is an insufficient number of professionally qualified accounting personnel, review and approval of certain transactions is either not performed or is not documented properly. In some of these locations it was noted that there was an insufficient level of proper segregation of duties that, by definition, creates an exposure to fraudulent transactions being recorded. We have instituted various compensating controls via review procedures performed at the parent company with the intention of mitigating these deficiencies to some extent. |
Continuing Remediation Efforts to Address Deficiencies Described Above.
Our remediation efforts have been ongoing and will continue over the next year. While we continue to improve policies and procedures in all areas with weaknesses or deficiencies, we are endeavoring to complete remediation of the following specific items in 2008.
| — | System Related Controls: |
| In the quarter ended March 31, 2008, we performed an extensive analysis of system access authorization rights with the primary objectives of: |
| š | identifying all access roles defined in a manner that may provide a user with authorization that conflicts with proper segregation of duties. |
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| š | identifying all users who have been granted access rights that create conflicts with proper segregation of duties. |
| Based on this data, we intend to redefine system access roles and re-assign system access authorizations in a manner that minimizes access rights that could lead to improper segregation of duties. |
| In addition, we are developing and intend to implement formal procedures requiring periodic sign-off by managers of all system user access rights. |
| Since December 31, 2007, procedures have been partially implemented with respect to change management for hardware and software changes. We intend to fully implement additional procedures in this area during 2008. |
| In December 2007, our current chief financial officer joined Lumenis. He is still in the process of assessing the finance organization throughout the Company and expects to implement changes as deemed appropriate to improve the quality and structure of our finance department. Such changes will have among their objectives the allocation of an appropriate number of qualified accounting personnel in our various locations. |
Our management’s report shall not be incorporated by reference into any of our registration statements, or deemed to be filed for the purposes of section 18 of the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to liabilities of that section.
Attestation Report of the Registered Public Accounting Firm
This annual report does not include an attestation report of our registered public accounting firm assessing our internal control over financial reporting. Our management’s report was not subject to attestation by our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to temporary rules of the SEC that permit us to provide only management’s report in this annual report.
(c) Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
In the registration statement on Form 20-F filed by us on May 1, 2007, we disclosed in Item 3.D “Risk Factors” that our external auditors had advised us of the following material weaknesses in our internal controls as of the date of their report (April 30, 2007) in the following specific areas:
| — | our controls over intercompany shipments between warehouses; |
| — | our reconciliation of intercompany balances; |
| — | our lack of adequate accounting systems; and |
| — | our lack of sufficient internal resources in the accounting department. |
As indicated above, we implemented a new ERP system (SAP) globally during 2007. This new system has already addressed many control deficiencies that existed in our previous ERP system including to a significant degree the first three of those noted above. As our employees continue to familiarize themselves with and use the new system, we expect that the system will continue to yield many additional enhancements to our controls over financial reporting.
With respect to our lack of sufficient internal resources in the accounting department, we have made some improvements in this regard in 2007. Specifically, we hired a Vice President for Finance for the Americas, a previously unfilled position, and added additional professionally certified personnel in Israel and the U.S. Additional changes will be considered by our new chief financial officer taking into consideration improvements in controls achieved as a result of our new ERP system.
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