Discover 2009 Annual Report Download - page 99

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of
Discover Financial Services
Riverwoods, IL
We have audited the accompanying consolidated statements of financial condition of Discover Financial Services (the
“Company”) as of November 30, 2009 and 2008, and the related consolidated statements of income, changes in
stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended November 30, 2009. These financial
statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these
financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits 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 the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence
supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting
principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement
presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, such consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of
Discover Financial Services at November 30, 2009 and 2008, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for
each of the three years in the period ended November 30, 2009, in conformity with accounting principles generally
accepted in the United States of America.
As discussed in Note 19 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company adopted the accounting standard,
Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes, on December 1, 2007.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United
States), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of November 30, 2009, based on the criteria
established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission and our report dated January 27, 2010 expressed an unqualified opinion on the Company’s
internal control over financial reporting.
Chicago, Illinois
January 27, 2010
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