TCF Bank 2004 Annual Report Download - page 81

2004 Annual Report 79
The Board of Directors and Stockholders
TCF Financial Corporation:
We have audited management’s assessment, included in the
accompanying Management Report, that TCF Financial Corporation
maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of
December 31, 2004, based on criteria established in Internal Control
– Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). TCF Financial
Corporation’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. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on management’s assessment
and an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal con-
trol 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 con-
trol over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.
Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control
over financial reporting, evaluating management’s assessment,
testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of
internal control, and performing such other procedures as we con-
sidered 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, management’s assessment that TCF Financial
Corporation maintained effective internal control over financial
reporting as of December 31, 2004, is fairly stated, in all material
respects based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated
Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of
the Treadway Commission (COSO). Also, in our opinion, TCF Financial
Corporation maintained, in all material respects, effective internal
control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2004, based
on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission (COSO).
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the
consolidated statements of financial condition of TCF Financial
Corporation and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2004 and 2003, and
the related consolidated statements of income, stockholders’ equity,
and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended
December 31, 2004, and our report dated February 17, 2005 expressed
an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
February 17, 2005