Capital One 2006 Annual Report Download - page 134

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
The Board of Directors and Shareholders
Capital One Financial Corporation
We have audited managements assessment, included in the accompanying Managements Report on Internal Control over
Financial Reporting, that Capital One Financial Corporation 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 Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the COSO criteria). Capital One Financial 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 an opinion on managements
assessment and an opinion on the effectiveness of 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, evaluating managements assessment, testing and evaluating the
design and operating effectiveness of internal control, and 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 (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and
dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) 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 (3) 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.
Management of the Company conducted an assessment of the effectiveness of the Companys 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 Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the COSO Framework). As allowed for by the SEC
under the current year acquisition scope exception, managements assessment of the effectiveness of the internal control over
financial reporting excludes the evaluation of the internal controls over financial reporting of North Fork Bancorporation and
its subsidiaries (North Fork), which were acquired on December 1, 2006. North Fork represents approximately $58.7
billion of total assets and $14.3 billion of net assets as of December 31, 2006 and approximately $160.1 million of revenues
and $37.5 million of net income for the year ended December 31, 2006, of our consolidated financial statements.
In our opinion, managements assessment that Capital One Financial Corporation maintained effective internal control over
financial reporting as of December 31, 2006, is fairly stated, in all material respects, based on the COSO criteria. Also, in our
opinion, Capital One Financial Corporation maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial
reporting as of December 31, 2006, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States),
the consolidated balance sheets of Capital One Financial Corporation as of December 31, 2006 and 2005, and the related
consolidated statements of income, stockholders equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended
December 31, 2006 of Capital One Financial Corporation and our report dated February 16, 2007 expressed an unqualified
opinion thereon.
/s/ Ernst & Young
McLean, Virginia
February 16, 2007