Pfizer 2007 Annual Report Download - page 40

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on
Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
38 2007 Financial Report
The Board of Directors and Shareholders of Pfizer Inc:
We have audited the internal control over financial reporting of
Pfizer Inc and Subsidiary Companies as of December 31, 2007,
based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated
Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations
of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Pfizer Inc and Subsidiary
Companies’ management is responsible 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
an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial
reporting based on our audit.
We conducted our audit 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. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of
internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a
material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and
operating effectiveness of internal control, based on risk
assessment. Our audit also included performing such other
procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We
believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
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.
In our opinion, Pfizer Inc and Subsidiary Companies maintained,
in all material respects, effective internal control over financial
reporting as of December 31, 2007, based on criteria established
in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission (COSO).
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the
consolidated balance sheets of Pfizer Inc and Subsidiary Companies
as of December 31, 2007 and 2006, and the related consolidated
statements of income, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for
each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31,
2007, and our report dated February 29, 2008 expressed an
unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements.
KPMG LLP
New York, New York
February 29, 2008