American Express 2005 Annual Report Download - page 60

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED
PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
The Board of Directors and Shareholders of
American Express Company
We have completed an integrated audit of American
Express Company’s 2005 consolidated financial
statements and of its internal control over financial
reporting as of December 31, 2005 in accordance with
the standards of the Public Company Accounting Over-
sight Board (United States). Our opinions, based on our
audit, are presented below.
Consolidated financial statements
In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance
sheet and the related consolidated statements of income,
of shareholders’ equity and of cash flows present fairly,
in all material respects, the financial position of
American Express Company and its subsidiaries (the
“Company”) at December 31, 2005, and the results of
their operations and their cash flows for the year then
ended in conformity with accounting principles gener-
ally accepted in the United States of America. These
financial statements are the responsibility of the Com-
pany’s management. Our responsibility is to express an
opinion on these financial statements based on our
audit. We conducted our audit of these statements in
accordance with the standards of the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (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 of
financial statements includes examining, on a test basis,
evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the
financial statements, assessing the accounting principles
used and significant estimates made by management,
and evaluating the overall financial statement presenta-
tion. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable
basis for our opinion.
Internal control over financial reporting
Also, in our opinion, management’s assessment,
included in the accompanying Management’s Report on
Internal Control over Financial Reporting, that the
Company maintained effective internal control over
financial reporting as of December 31, 2005 based on
criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated
Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), is
fairly stated, in all material respects, based on those
criteria. Furthermore, in our opinion, the Company
maintained, in all material respects, effective internal
control over financial reporting as of December 31,
2005, based on criteria established in Internal Control —
Integrated Framework issued by the COSO. The
Company’s management is responsible for maintaining
effective internal control over financial reporting and for
its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control
over financial reporting. Our responsibility is to express
opinions on management’s assessment and on the effec-
tiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial
reporting based on our audit. We conducted our audit
of internal control over financial reporting in accordance
with the standards of the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board (United States). Those standards
require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether effective internal
control over financial reporting was maintained in all
material respects. An audit of internal control over
financial reporting includes obtaining an understanding
of internal control over financial reporting, evaluating
management’s assessment, testing and evaluating the
design and operating effectiveness of internal control,
and performing such other procedures as we consider
necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our
audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinions.
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 pro-
cedures 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 trans-
actions 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 regarding prevention or timely detection of
Report of Independent
Registered Public
Accounting Firm
AXP / AR.2005
[58 ]