To the Shareholders of Royal Bank of Canada
We have audited the consolidated balance sheets of Royal Bank
of Canada as at October 31, 2004 and 2003, and the consolidated
statements of income, changes in shareholders’ equity and
cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended
October 31, 2004. These consolidated financial statements are
the responsibility of the bank’s management. Our responsibility
is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements
based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with Canadian generally
accepted auditing standards. Those standards require that we
plan and perform an audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether
the consolidated financial statements are free of material
misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence
supporting the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial
statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles
used and significant
estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall
consolidated financial statement presentation.
In our opinion, these consolidated financial statements present
fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of
the bank as at October 31, 2004 and 2003, and the results of
its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in
the two-year period ended October 31, 2004, in accordance with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States
of America.
We also reported separately on December 20, 2004, to the
shareholders of the bank on our audit, conducted in accordance
withCanadian generally accepted auditing standards, where we
expressed an opinion without reservation on the October 31, 2004
and 2003, consolidated financial statements, prepared in accordance
with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles.
The consolidated financial statements for the year ended
October 31, 2002, prior to the assessment of the impact of subsequent
significant accounting changes including changes in financial
statement presentation as disclosed in Note 1, the presentation
of segment information in Note 3, the change in the calculation
of earnings per share in Note 20, and other reclassifications
to the 2002 consolidated financial statements, prepared in accordance
with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States
of America, were audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP and PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP who expressed an opinion without reservation on those consolidated
financial statements in their report dated November 19, 2002.
We have audited the changes described in Notes 1, 3, 20, and
other reclassifications to the 2002 consolidated financial statements,
that were applied to the 2002 financial statements and in our
opinion, such changes, in all material respects, are appropriate
and have been properly applied.
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Chartered Accountants
Toronto, December 20, 2004
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