Fannie Mae 2010 Annual Report Download - page 202

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To Fannie Mae:
We have audited Fannie Mae and consolidated entities’ (in conservatorship) (the “Company”) internal control
over financial reporting as of December 31, 2010, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated
Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. 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, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control
based on that risk, 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 by, or under the supervision of, the
company’s principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, and
effected by the company’s board of directors, management, and other personnel 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 the inherent limitations of internal control over financial reporting, including the possibility of
collusion or improper management override of controls, material misstatements due to error or fraud may not
be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Also, projections of any evaluation of the effectiveness of the
internal control over financial reporting to future periods are subject to the risk that the controls may become
inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures
may deteriorate.
A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial
reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or
interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The following material
weakness has been identified and included in management’s assessment:
• Disclosure Controls and Procedures—The Company’s disclosure controls and procedures did not
adequately ensure the accumulation and communication to management of information known to the
Federal Housing Finance Agency that is needed to meet its disclosure obligations under the federal
securities laws as they relate to financial reporting.
This material weakness was considered in determining the nature, timing, and extent of audit tests applied in
our audit of the consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2010, of the
Company and this report does not affect our report on such financial statements.
In our opinion, because of the effect of the material weakness identified above on the achievement of the
objectives of the control criteria, the Company has not maintained effective internal control over financial
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