Priority Open Recommendations: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Fast Facts
Each year, we make more than 1,000 recommendations to help improve the federal government. We alert department heads to the recommendations where they can save the most money, address issues on our High Risk List, or significantly improve government operations.
This report outlines our 10 priority open recommendations for the Federal Reserve as of April 2019.
For example, we recommended that the Federal Reserve improve how it assesses whether the largest U.S. banks can withstand financial turmoil.
Graphic showing that this report discusses GAO's 2019 priority recommendations for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Highlights
What GAO Found
In March 2019, GAO identified 10 open priority recommendations for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve). These recommendations involve the following areas:
- collaborating with other financial regulators to address consumer risks involving financial account aggregation services
- conducting a retrospective review to help ensure that Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering regulatory objectives are being met in the most effective and least burdensome way
- improving risk management of the models the Federal Reserve uses to test banks' ability to withstand financial risks and stress
The Federal Reserve's continued attention to these issues could improve its ability to more effectively oversee risks to consumers and the safety and soundness of the U.S. banking system.
Why GAO Did This Study
Priority recommendations are open GAO recommendations that warrant priority attention from heads of key departments or agencies because their implementation could save large amounts of money; improve congressional and/or executive branch decision-making on major issues; eliminate mismanagement, fraud, and abuse; or ensure that programs comply with laws and funds are legally spent, among other benefits. Since 2015 GAO has sent letters to selected agencies to highlight the importance of implementing such recommendations.
For more information, contact Lawrance Evans at 202-512-8678 or evansl@gao.gov.