Bank of America 2006 Annual Report Download - page 101

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Bank of America Corporation and Subsidiaries
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders
of Bank of America Corporation:
We have completed integrated audits of Bank of America Corporation’s
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 opin-
ions, based on our audits, are presented below.
Consolidated Financial Statements
In our opinion, the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet and the
related Consolidated Statement of Income, Consolidated Statement of
Changes in Shareholders’ Equity and Consolidated Statement of Cash
Flows present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Bank
of America Corporation and its subsidiaries at December 31, 2006 and
2005, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of
the three years in the period ended December 31, 2006 in conformity with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
These Consolidated Financial Statements are the responsibility of the
Corporation’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on
these Consolidated Financial Statements based on our audits. We con-
ducted our audits of these Consolidated Financial Statements in accord-
ance 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 state-
ments 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 manage-
ment, 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 Report of
Management on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting, that the Corpo-
ration 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 Orga-
nizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), is fairly stated, in all mate-
rial respects, based on those criteria. Furthermore, in our opinion, the
Corporation maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control
over financial reporting as of December 31, 2006, based on criteria estab-
lished in Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the COSO. The
Corporation’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
Corporation’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 Over-
sight 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 procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in
reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dis-
positions 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 pre-
vention 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 dete-
riorate.
Charlotte, North Carolina
February 22, 2007
Bank of America 2006 99