I am required to choose two multinational companies based in two different countries and access their most recent annual reports. Choose companies that place copies of their annual reports on their website. The annual reports are normally located within the "Investor" or "Investor Relations" section of their website. Do not choose companies from the banking or services industry. You are required to review the annual reports of these companies and answer each of the following questions:

1.For both companies, state the names, websites and locations of their headquarters, nature of business and products, and historical background.

2.In which geographical areas does each company market its products and services?

3.Outline the content of information provided in each annual report. Do the annual reports provide forward looking information and to what extent do you think such forward looking information is important for investors' decision making?

4.What is the name of each company's auditor? Are the audit reports for the two companies similar? Do they differ in terms of the scope or the nature of the assurance provided? If so, how?

5.Comparative set of financial statements for the two companies. Are the financial statements presented differently? If so, explain how they differ. State any assumptions you made in aligning the two sets of financial statements.