Capital One 2002 Annual Report Download - page 48

46
MANAGEMENT’S REPORT ON CONSOLIDATED
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND INTERNAL CONTROLS
OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING
The Management of Capital One Financial Corporation is responsible for the preparation, integrity and fair presentation of the financial statements and
footnotes contained in this Annual Report. The Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally
accepted in the United States and are free of material misstatement. The Company also prepared other information included in this Annual Report and is
responsible for its accuracy and consistency with the financial statements. In situations where financial information must be based upon estimates and
judgments, they represent the best estimates and judgments of Management.
The Consolidated Financial Statements have been audited by the Company’s independent auditors, Ernst & Young LLP, whose independent professional
opinion appears separately. Their audit provides an objective assessment of the degree to which the Company’s Management meets its responsibility for
financial reporting. Their opinion on the financial statements is based on auditing procedures, which include reviewing accounting systems and internal
controls and performing selected tests of transactions and records as they deem appropriate. These auditing procedures are designed to provide reasonable
assurance that the financial statements are free of material misstatement.
Management depends on its accounting systems and internal controls in meeting its responsibilities for reliable financial statements. In Management’s opinion,
these systems and controls provide reasonable assurance that assets are safeguarded and that transactions are properly recorded and executed in accordance with
Management’s authorizations. As an integral part of these systems and controls, the Company maintains a professional staff of internal auditors that conducts
operational and special audits and coordinates audit coverage with the independent auditors.
The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors, composed solely of outside directors, meets periodically with the internal auditors, the independent auditors
and Management to review the work of each and ensure that each is properly discharging its responsibilities. The independent auditors have free access to the
Committee to discuss the results of their audit work and their evaluations of the adequacy of accounting systems and internal controls and the quality of
financial reporting.
There are inherent limitations in the effectiveness of internal controls, including the possibility of human error or the circumvention or overriding of controls.
Accordingly, even effective internal controls can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to reliability of financial statements and safeguarding of assets.
Furthermore, because of changes in conditions, internal control effectiveness may vary over time.
The Company assessed its internal controls over financial reporting as of December 31, 2002, in relation to the criteria described in the “Internal Control-
Integrated Framework” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on this assessment, the Company believes
that as of December 31, 2002, in all material respects, the Company maintained effective internal controls over financial reporting.
Richard D. Fairbank Nigel W. Morris David R. Lawson
Chairman and President and Senior Vice President and
Chief Executive Officer Chief Operating Officer Chief Financial Officer