Citibank 2009 Annual Report Download - page 127

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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, 2009, 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, 2009, 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, 2009 and 2008, 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, 2009, and our report dated February 26, 2010 expressed an unqualified
opinion on those consolidated financial statements.
New York, New York
February 26, 2010