Ameriprise 2006 Annual Report Download - page 58

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
The Board of Directors and Shareholders of
Ameriprise Financial, Inc.
We have audited management’s assessment, included in the
accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over
Financial Reporting, that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. maintained
effective internal control over financial reporting as of
December 31, 2006, based on criteria established in Internal
Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of
Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the
“COSO criteria”). Ameriprise Financial, Inc.’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 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 understand-
ing 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 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 state-
ments 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 Ameriprise
Financial, Inc. maintained effective internal control over
financial reporting as of December 31, 2006, is fairly stated,
in all material respects, based on the COSO criteria. Also, in
our opinion, Ameriprise Financial, Inc. maintained, in all
material respects, effective internal control over financial
reporting as of December 31, 2006, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States),
the 2006 consolidated financial statements of Ameriprise
Financial, Inc. and our report dated February 26, 2007,
expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
P
Minneapolis, Minnesota
February 26, 2007
56 Ameriprise Financial, Inc. 2006 Annual Report