Priority Open Recommendations: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Fast Facts
Each year, we make more than 1,000 recommendations to help the federal government save money, address issues on our High Risk List, and significantly improve government operations.
This letter to the Federal Reserve outlines 2 open recommendations that it should prioritize. For example, the Federal Reserve should work with other federal banking regulators to communicate appropriate uses of alternative data sources—such as rent or utility payments—in credit underwriting.
The Federal Reserve implemented 2 recommendations we identified as a priority last year. We regularly update priority recommendations here.
Highlights
What GAO Found
In August 2023, GAO identified four priority recommendations for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve). Since then, the Federal Reserve has implemented two of those recommendations by taking actions to (1) enhance its ability to effectively manage its model risk and (2) ensure that the Board is informed of significant model risks when making decisions based on stress test results. GAO is not adding any new priority recommendations this year. As of May 2024, the remaining two priority recommendations for the Federal Reserve involve the following areas:
- Coordination with other regulators to address risks posed by blockchain technology
- Use of alternative data in underwriting loans made by financial technology (fintech) lenders.
The Federal Reserve's continued attention to these issues could significantly improve its efforts to oversee risks to consumers and the safety and soundness of the U.S. banking system.
Why GAO Did This Study
Priority open recommendations are the 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 Daniel Garcia-Diaz at (202) 512-8678 or GarciaDiazD@gao.gov.