American Express 2005 Annual Report Download - page 62

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED
PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
The Board of Directors and Shareholders of
American Express Company
We have audited the accompanying consolidated
balance sheet of American Express Company as of
December 31, 2004, and the consolidated statements of
income, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for the
years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003. These finan-
cial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s
management. Our responsibility is to express an opin-
ion on these financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the stan-
dards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board (United States). Those standards require that we
plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assur-
ance about whether the financial statements are free of
material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on
a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and dis-
closures 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 consoli-
dated financial position of American Express Company
at December 31, 2004, and the consolidated results of
its operations and its cash flows for the years ended
December 31, 2004 and 2003, in conformity with U.S.
generally accepted accounting principles.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards
of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
(United States), the effectiveness of American Express
Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of
December 31, 2004, based on criteria established in
Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Tread-
way Commission and our report dated February 18,
2005 (not included herein) expressed an unqualified
opinion thereon.
New York, New York
February 18, 2005, except for notes 2 and 19, as to
which the date is February 27, 2006
Report of Independent
Registered Public
Accounting Firm
AXP / AR.2005
[60 ]