Financial Management

GAO reviewed the investment and withdrawal of federal funds in the treasury tax and loan (TT&L) accounts at two failed banks, focusing on whether the Department of the Treasury gave preferential treatment to the larger bank in an attempt to keep it open.

GAO found that: (1) during 1990, two of Treasury's fiscal agents, the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston and New York, conducted their TT&L activities at both banks in accordance with Treasury regulations; (2) despite financial instability, the larger bank increased the maximum amount of permitted TT&L funds to a high of nearly $1.8 billion between January and March 1990, and pledged collateral in accordance with Treasury regulations to secure TT&L funds; (3) although the smaller bank made all of its TT&L fund withdrawals in accordance with Treasury regulations between January and November 1990, it experienced large deficiencies in the collateral used to support its TT&L funds and subsequently received several collateral deficiency notices from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and (4) since the smaller bank was unable to adequately collateralize the TT&L funds it held, Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York took such actions to ensure fund safety and help resolve collateral deficiencies as decreasing the maximum amount of TT&L funds the bank was allowed to maintain and accelerating the transfer of large TT&L deposits from the bank to the Federal Reserve.