JP Morgan Chase 2015 Annual Report Download - page 185

Report of independent registered public accounting firm
JPMorgan Chase & Co./2015 Annual Report 175
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of JPMorgan
Chase & Co.:
In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance
sheets and the related consolidated statements of income,
comprehensive income, changes in stockholders’ equity and
cash flows present fairly, in all material respects, the
financial position of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its
subsidiaries (the “Firm”) at December 31, 2015 and 2014
and the results of their operations and their cash flows for
each of the three years in the period ended December 31,
2015 in conformity with accounting principles generally
accepted in the United States of America. Also in our
opinion, the Firm maintained, in all material respects,
effective internal control over financial reporting as of
December 31, 2015 based on criteria established in
Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by
the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission (COSO). The Firm’s management is 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 the accompanying
“Management’s report on internal control over financial
reporting”. Our responsibility is to express opinions on
these financial statements and on the Firm’s internal control
over financial reporting based on our integrated audits. We
conducted 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 authorizations of
management and directors of the company; and (iii) 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.
February 23, 2016
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP 300 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10017