Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Trustees of John Hancock Sovereign Bond Fund and Shareholders of John Hancock Bond Fund
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements of John Hancock Bond Fund (the "Fund") as of and for the year ended May 31, 2023, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), we considered the Fund's internal control over financial reporting, including controls over safeguarding securities, as a basis for designing our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing our opinion on the financial statements and to comply with the requirements of Form N-CEN, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Fund's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we do not express an opinion on the effectiveness of the Fund's internal control over financial reporting.
The management of the Fund is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting. In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments by management are required to assess the expected benefits and related costs of controls. A company's 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 in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) 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 (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of a company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
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.
A deficiency in internal control over financial reporting exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent or detect misstatements on a timely basis. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company's annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
Our consideration of the Fund's internal control over financial reporting was for the limited purpose described in the first paragraph and would not necessarily disclose all deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting that might be material weaknesses under standards established by the PCAOB. However, we noted no deficiencies in the Fund's internal control over financial reporting and its operation, including controls over safeguarding securities, that we consider to be a material weaknesses as defined above as of May 31, 2023.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of the Board of Trustees of John Hancock Sovereign Bond Fund and the Securities and Exchange Commission and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties.
/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
July 13, 2023
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 101 Seaport Boulevard, Suite 500, Boston, MA 02210 T: (617) 530 5000, F: (617) 530 5001, www.pwc.com/us
In regard to the Interfund Lending program, I certify that the Advisers on behalf of the Funds have implemented procedures reasonably designed to achieve compliance with the SEC Exemptive Order and Board approved procedures which includes the following objectives: (a) that the Interfund Loan Rate will be higher than the Repo Rate, but lower than the Bank Loan Rate; (b) compliance with the collateral requirements as set forth in the Application; (c) compliance with the percentage limitations on
interfund borrowing and lending; (d) allocation of interfund borrowing and lending demand in an equitable manner and in accordance with procedures established by the Board; and (e) that the Interfund Loan Rate does not exceed the interest rate on any third-party borrowings of a borrowing
John Hancock Fund at the time of the Interfund Loan.
/s/ Trevor Swanberg
Trevor Swanberg Date: July 28, 2023
Chief Compliance Officer
John Hancock Group of Funds
CONFIDENTIAL