Abercrombie & Fitch 2008 Annual Report Download - page 91

Table of Contents
ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING
AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.
None.
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
A&F maintains disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) that are designed to
provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed in the reports that A&F files or
submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods
specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to
A&F’s management, including the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of A&F and the Executive Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer of A&F, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required
disclosures. Because of inherent limitations, disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well
designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, and not absolute, assurance that the objectives of
disclosure controls and procedures are met.
A&F’s management, including the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of A&F and the Executive
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of A&F, evaluated the effectiveness of A&F’s design and
operation of its disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the fiscal year ended January 31, 2009.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of A&F and the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer of A&F concluded that the A&F’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective at a
reasonable level of assurance as of January 31, 2009, the end of the period covered by this Annual Report
on Form 10-K.
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
The management of A&F is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control
over financial reporting. A&F’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f)
and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) 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 accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect
misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluations 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. Accordingly, even an effective system of
internal control over financial reporting will provide only reasonable assurance with respect to financial
statement preparation.
With the participation of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of A&F and the Executive Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer of A&F, management evaluated the effectiveness of A&F’s internal
control over financial reporting as of January 31, 2009 using criteria established in the Internal
Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission (“COSO”). Based on the assessment of A&F’s internal control over financial reporting,
under the criteria described in the preceding sentence, management has concluded that, as of January 31,
2009, A&F’s internal control over financial reporting was effective.
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Source: ABERCROMBIE & FITCH CO /DE/, 10-K, March 27, 2009 Powered by Morningstar® Document Research℠