American Express 2013 Annual Report Download - page 60

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 60 of the 2013 American Express annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 114

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114

AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED
PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
TO 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, comprehensive 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, 2013 and 2012, and the results of their
operations and their cash flows for each of the years in the three-year
period ended December 31, 2013, 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,
2013, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated
Framework (1992) 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, 2014
58