American Express 2003 Annual Report Download - page 112

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(p.110_axp_ report of independent auditors)
Report of Ernst & Young LLP Independent Auditors
The Shareholders and Board of Directors of American Express Company
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of American Express Company as of December 31, 2003
and 2002, and the related consolidated statements of income, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three
years in the period ended December 31, 2003. These financial statements are the responsibility of the management of
American Express Company. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States. Those standards
require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free
of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures
in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made
by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a
reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated finan-
cial position of American Express Company at December 31, 2003 and 2002, and the consolidated results of its opera-
tions and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2003, in conformity with account-
ing principles generally accepted in the United States.
As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, in 2003 the Company adopted the provisions of Financial
Accounting Standards Board Interpretation No. 46 (revised December 2003), “Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities,”
and the fair value recognition provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 123, “Accounting for
Stock-Based Compensation,” prospectively for all stock options granted after December 31, 2002. Additionally, as discussed
in Note 5 to the consolidated financial statements, in 2002 the Company adopted SFAS No. 142, “Goodwill and Other
Intangible Assets.”
New York, New York
January 26, 2004