American Express 2009 Annual Report Download - page 69

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT
REGISTERED PUBLIC
ACCOUNTING FIRM
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS OF
AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY:
In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance
sheets and the related consolidated statements of income, cash
flows and shareholders’ equity present fairly, in all material
respects, the financial position of American Express Company
and its subsidiaries at December 31, 2009 and 2008, and the
results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the
years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2009, in
conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in
the United States of America. Also in our opinion, the
Company maintained, in all material respects, effective
internal control over financial reporting as of December 31,
2009, based on criteria established in Internal Control —
Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). The
Company’s management is responsible for these financial
statements, for maintaining effective internal control over
financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness
of internal control over financial reporting, included in the
accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control
Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express
opinions on these financial statements and on the Company’s
internal control over financial reporting based on our
integrated audits. We conducted our audits in accordance
with the standards of the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that
we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable
assurance about whether the financial statements are free of
material misstatement and whether effective internal control
over financial reporting was maintained in all material
respects. Our audits of the financial statements included
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. Our audit of internal control over financial
reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal
control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a
material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design
and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the
assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other
procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances.
We believe that our audits provide 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 procedures 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 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 (iii) provide
reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection
of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the
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.
New York, New York
February 25, 2010
67