Citibank 2008 Annual Report Download - page 119

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM—
INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING
The Board of Directors and Stockholders
Citigroup Inc.:
We have audited Citigroup Inc. and subsidiaries’ (the “Company” or
“Citigroup”) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31,
2008, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated
Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission (COSO). The Company’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,
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, and testing and evaluating the design and
operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. 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 (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.
In our opinion, Citigroup maintained, in all material respects, effective
internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008, based on
criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated
balance sheets of Citigroup as of December 31, 2008 and 2007, and the
related consolidated statements of income, changes in stockholders’ equity
and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended
December 31, 2008, and our report dated February 27, 2009 expressed an
unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements.
/s/ KPMG LLPNew York, New York
February 27, 2009
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