§3910 Audit authority of Government Accountability Office

Summary

The Comptroller General (the head of the Government Accountability Office) must audit the federal banking agencies under rules the Comptroller General sets. The Comptroller General can only do an on-site exam of an open insured bank or bank holding company if the agency that supervises that bank gives written permission. Audits can look at how those agencies handle international supervision and how they work with foreign or international regulators. Audits of the Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve banks may not cover transactions with foreign central banks or foreign governments, internal monetary policy discussions or actions (including discount window operations, member bank reserves, securities credit, interest on deposits, and open market operations), transactions done under the Federal Open Market Committee, or related internal communications. GAO staff must keep secret the identity of an open bank, an open bank holding company, or customers of open or closed banks, except the Comptroller General may reveal a customer of a closed bank if that customer controlled or was closely tied to the bank’s controllers. GAO employees may talk with federal banking agency officials and report suspected crimes to law enforcement. Agencies must give the Comptroller General access to records, exam reports, workpapers, and related property, provide secure office space, phones, and copying, and keep GAO workpapers and agency records on site except for brief removal of GAO notes that do not identify customers. The Comptroller General must protect records from unauthorized access, and this does not allow agency officers to withhold information from congressional committees that are entitled to it.