Bank Regulation:
Information on Independent Public Accountant Audits of Financial Institutions
GGD-86-44FS: Published: Apr 21, 1986. Publicly Released: Apr 21, 1986.
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
Contact:
In response to a congressional request, GAO reported on its study of six failed and open financial institutions that had undergone independent audits to determine if a workable methodology could be devised for analyzing the audit work done at a statistically valid sample of financial institutions.
In order for financial information about a bank or any other economic entity to be useful, the information must be collected, aggregated, and reported according to a set of rules that is consistently applied and accessible to users of the information. GAO found that: (1) the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Reserve System, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency require special-purpose financial statements from the financial institutions they regulate; and (2) each of the four agencies, while requiring that regulated entities follow generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), has set forth a small number of reporting rules and regulations which are sometimes referred to as regulatory accounting procedures or regulatory accounting principles (RAP) which sometimes depart from GAAP. GAO also found that RAP may deviate from GAAP when: (1) accounting methods are specified contrary to GAAP; and (2) the accounting treatment is restricted to one or more particular GAAP methods.
Dec 16, 2020
-
Financial Stability:
Agencies Have Not Found Leveraged Lending to Significantly Threaten Stability but Remain Cautious Amid PandemicGAO-21-167: Published: Dec 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 16, 2020.
Dec 10, 2020
-
Federal Reserve Lending Programs:
Use of CARES Act-Supported Programs Has Been Limited and Flow of Credit Has Generally ImprovedGAO-21-180: Published: Dec 10, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 10, 2020. -
Financial Assistance:
Lessons Learned from CARES Act Loan Program for Aviation and Other Eligible BusinessesGAO-21-198: Published: Dec 10, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 10, 2020.
Sep 22, 2020
-
Anti-Money Laundering:
Opportunities Exist to Increase Law Enforcement Use of Bank Secrecy Act Reports, and Banks' Costs to Comply with the Act VariedGAO-20-574: Published: Sep 22, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 22, 2020.
Sep 4, 2020
-
Bank Supervision:
FDIC Could Better Address Regulatory Capture RisksGAO-20-519: Published: Sep 4, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 4, 2020.
Jul 21, 2020
-
Financial Company Bankruptcies:
Congress and Regulators Have Updated Resolution Planning RequirementsGAO-20-608R: Published: Jul 21, 2020. Publicly Released: Jul 21, 2020.
Jul 6, 2020
-
Public Companies:
Disclosure of Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors and Options to Enhance ThemGAO-20-530: Published: Jul 2, 2020. Publicly Released: Jul 6, 2020.
Apr 30, 2020
-
Priority Open Recommendations:
Department of the TreasuryGAO-20-549PR: Published: Apr 23, 2020. Publicly Released: Apr 30, 2020.
Apr 27, 2020
-
Priority Open Recommendations:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve SystemGAO-20-499PR: Published: Apr 20, 2020. Publicly Released: Apr 27, 2020. -
Priority Open Recommendations:
Federal Deposit Insurance CorporationGAO-20-498PR: Published: Apr 20, 2020. Publicly Released: Apr 27, 2020.
Looking for more? Browse all our products here