Freeport-McMoRan 2011 Annual Report Download - page 67

2011 ANNUAL REPORT | 65
MANAGEMENT’S REPORT ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.’s (the Company’s)
management is responsible for establishing and maintaining
adequate internal control over nancial reporting. Internal control
over nancial reporting is dened in Rule 13a-15(f) or 15d-15(f)
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as a process designed by,
or under the supervision of, the Company’s principal executive and
principal nancial ocers and eected by the Company’s Board of
Directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable
assurance regarding the reliability of nancial reporting and the
preparation of nancial statements for external purposes in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and
includes those policies and procedures that:
• Pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail
accurately and fairly reect the transactions and dispositions of
the Company’s assets;
• Provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as
necessary to permit preparation of nancial 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
• Provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely
detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the
Company’s assets that could have a material eect on the
nancial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over nancial
reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Projections
of any evaluation of eectiveness 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.
Our management, including our principal executive ocer and
principal nancial ocer, assessed the eectiveness of our
internal control over nancial reporting as of the end of the scal
year covered by this annual report on Form 10-K. In making this
assessment, our management used the criteria set forth in Internal
Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of
Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).
Based on our management’s assessment, management concluded
that, as of December31,2011, our Company’s internal control over
nancial reporting is eective based on the COSO criteria.
Ernst & Young LLP, an independent registered public
accounting rm, who audited the Company’s consolidated
nancial statements included in this Form 10-K, has issued an
attestation report on the Company’s internal control over nancial
reporting, which is included herein.
Richard C. Adkerson Kathleen L. Quirk
President and Executive Vice President,
Chief Executive Ocer Chief Financial Ocer and
Treasurer