Bank of America 2010 Annual Report Download - page 142

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Bank of America Corporation and Subisdiaries
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Bank of
America Corporation:
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, 2010 and 2009, and
the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three
years in the period ended December 31, 2010 in conformity with accounting
principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our
opinion, the Corporation maintained, in all material respects, effective inter-
nal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2010, based on
criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).
The Corporation’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 Report of Management on Internal Control Over
Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express opinions on these finan-
cial statements and on the Corporation’s internal control over financial
reporting based on our integrated audits. We conducted our audits in accor-
dance 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 effec-
tiveness 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 de-
signed 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 in-
ternal 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 re-
corded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accor-
dance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and
expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with autho-
rizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide
reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unautho-
rized 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.
Charlotte, North Carolina
February 25, 2011
140 Bank of America 2010