Unum 2006 Annual Report Download - page 115

97
REPORT OF ERNST & YOUNG LLP, INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM,
ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING
Board of Directors and Stockholders
Unum Group and Subsidiaries
We have audited management’s assessment, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal
Control over Financial Reporting, that Unum Group and subsidiaries 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). Unum Group and subsidiaries’ 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 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 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 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 Unum Group and subsidiaries 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, Unum Group and subsidiaries 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 consolidated balance sheets of Unum Group and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2006 and
2005, and the related consolidated statements of operations, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the
three years in the period ended December 31, 2006, and our report dated February 26, 2007 expressed an
unqualified opinion thereon.
/s/ ERNST & YOUNG LLP
Chattanooga, Tennessee
February 26, 2007