American Express 2006 Annual Report Download - page 68

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[ 66 ]
report of independent registered public accounting fi rm
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT
REGISTERED PUBLIC
ACCOUNTING FIRM
The Board of Directors and Shareholders of
American Express Company:
We have completed integrated audits of American
Express Company’s 2006 and 2005 consolidated
financial statements and of its internal control over
financial reporting as of December 31, 2006 in
accordance with the standards of the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Our
opinions, based on our audits, are presented below.
Consolidated financial statements
In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance
sheets 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, 2006 and 2005, and the results of their
operations and their cash flows for each of the two years
in the period ended December 31, 2006 in conformity
with accounting principles generally accepted in the
United States of America. These financial statements
are the responsibility of the Company’s management.
Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these
financial statements based on our audits. We conducted
our audits 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 presentation.
We believe that our audits provide 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, 2006 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, 2006, 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
effectiveness 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