Barclays 2008 Annual Report Download - page 194

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
to the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Barclays PLC
In our opinion, the accompanying Consolidated income statements and
the related Consolidated balance sheets, Consolidated statements of
recognised income and expense and, Consolidated statements of cash
flows present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of
Barclays PLC (the ‘Company’) and its subsidiaries at 31st December 2008
and 31st December 2007 and the results of their operations and cash
flows for each of the three years in the period ended 31st December 2008,
in conformity with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as
issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. Also, in our
opinion the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal
control over financial reporting as of 31st December 2008, based on
criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by
the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission
(‘COSO’). The Company’s management are responsible for these financial
statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial
reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control
over financial reporting, included in ‘Management’s report on internal
control over financial reporting’ as it pertains to Barclays PLC in the section
headed ‘Accountability and audit’. Our responsibility is to express opinions
on these financial statements and on the Company’s internal control over
financial reporting based on our integrated audits. Weconducted 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 audits to obtain reasonable assurance about
whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement and
whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained
in all material respects. Our audits of the financial statements included
examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and
disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting
principles used and significant estimates made by management, and
evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our audit of
internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an
understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the
risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design
and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk.
Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we
considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits
provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
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 (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that,
in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and
dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) 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 authorisations of management
and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance
regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorised 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.
As described in ‘Management’s report on internal control over
financial reporting’, management has excluded certain of the Lehman
Brothers North American investment banking and capital markets
businesses acquired from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc from its
assessment of internal control over financial reporting as of 31st December
2008 as they were acquired in a purchase business combination in
September 2008. Wehave also excluded certain of the Lehman Brothers
North American investment banking and capital markets businesses,
acquired from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc from our audit of internal
control over financial reporting. These businesses represented
approximately 1.1% of group income and 0.2% of the total Group assets
for the year ended 31st December 2008.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London, United Kingdom
5thMarch 2009
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm’s report
192 Barclays PLC Annual Report 2008 |Find out more at www.barclays.com/annualreport08