Troubled Asset Relief Program
Status of Efforts to Address Transparency and Accountability Issues Gao ID: GAO-09-539T March 31, 2009This testimony discusses our work on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), under which the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) has the authority to purchase and insure up to $700 billion in troubled assets held by financial institutions through its Office of Financial Stability (OFS). As Congress may know, Treasury was granted this authority in response to the financial crisis that has threatened the stability of the U.S. banking system and the solvency of numerous financial institutions. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (the act) that authorized TARP on October 3, 2008, requires GAO to report at least every 60 days on the findings resulting from our oversight of the actions taken under the program. We are also responsible for auditing TARP's annual financial statements and for producing special reports on any issues that emerge from our oversight. To carry out these oversight responsibilities, we have assembled interdisciplinary teams with a wide range of technical skills, including financial market and public policy analysts, accountants, lawyers, and economists who represent combined resources from across GAO. This testimon is based primarily on our March 31, 2009 report that we are issuing today--the third under the act's mandate, which covers the actions taken as part of TARP through March 27, 2009, and follows up on the recommendations we made in our previous reports.
As of March 27, 2009, Treasury had disbursed $303.4 billion of the $700 billion in TARP funds. Most of the funds (about $199 billion) went to purchase preferred shares of 532 financial institutions under the Capital Purchase Program (CPP)--Treasury's primary vehicle under TARP for stabilizing financial markets. Treasury has continued to take significant steps to address all of the recommendations from our December 2008 and January 2009 reports. In particular, Treasury has recently expanded the scope of the monthly CPP surveys of the largest institutions to include all institutions participating in the program, which is intended to provide Treasury with information necessary to begin to track the effectiveness of the program. Treasury also continued to make progress in several other areas, including requiring firms participating in certain new programs to show how assistance will expand lending. These requirements will better enable Treasury to determine what institutions plan to do with any capital infusions and to track the resulting lending activity of participating institutions on a regular basis. In addition, we specifically found that though Treasury is now receiving dividends from the investments it has made in CPP and certain other programs, it has not publicly reported these receipts, which totaled almost $2.9 billion through March 20, 2009. In February 2009, Treasury announced its broad strategy for using the remaining TARP funds and provided the details for its major components in the following weeks. Specifically, Treasury announced the Financial Stability Plan, which outlined a comprehensive set of measures to help address the financial crisis and restore confidence in our financial markets, and a Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan to mitigate foreclosures and preserve homeownership. While articulating its plan was an important first step, Treasury continues to struggle with developing an effective overall communication strategy that is integrated into TARP operations. Without such a strategy, Treasury may face challenges, should it need additional funding for the program. Also, while Treasury has announced up to $70 billion dollars in assistance to AIG--more assistance than has been announced for any other single institution to date--it has yet to disperse the up to $30 billion of additional assistance or finalize the agreement. We continue to note the difficulty of measuring the effect of TARP's activities. Developments in the credit markets have generally been mixed since our January 2009 report. Some indicators revealed that the cost of credit has increased in interbank and corporate bond markets and decreased in mortgage markets, while perceptions of risk (as measured by premiums over Treasury securities) have declined in interbank and mortgage markets and risen in corporate debt markets.
GAO-09-539T, Troubled Asset Relief Program: Status of Efforts to Address Transparency and Accountability Issues
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Testimony:
Before the Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate:
United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
For Release on Delivery:
Expected at 10:00 a.m. EDT:
Tuesday, March 31, 2009:
Troubled Asset Relief Program:
Status of Efforts to Address Transparency and Accountability Issues:
Statement of Gene L. Dodaro:
Acting Comptroller General of the United States:
GAO-09-539T:
[End of section]
Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Grassley, and Members of the Committee:
I am pleased to be here today to discuss our work on the Troubled Asset
Relief Program (TARP), under which the Department of the Treasury
(Treasury) has the authority to purchase and insure up to $700 billion
in troubled assets held by financial institutions through its Office of
Financial Stability (OFS). As you know, Treasury was granted this
authority in response to the financial crisis that has threatened the
stability of the U.S. banking system and the solvency of numerous
financial institutions. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (the
act) that authorized TARP on October 3, 2008, requires GAO to report at
least every 60 days on the findings resulting from our oversight of the
actions taken under the program.[Footnote 1] We are also responsible
for auditing TARP's annual financial statements and for producing
special reports on any issues that emerge from our oversight. To carry
out these oversight responsibilities, we have assembled
interdisciplinary teams with a wide range of technical skills,
including financial market and public policy analysts, accountants,
lawyers, and economists who represent combined resources from across
GAO. In addition, we are building on our in-house technical expertise
with targeted new hires and experts. The act also created additional
oversight entities--the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) and the
Special Inspector General for TARP (SIGTARP)--that also have reporting
responsibilities. We are coordinating our work with COP and SIGTARP and
are meeting with officials from both entities to share information and
coordinate our oversight efforts. These meetings help to ensure that we
are collaborating as appropriate and not duplicating efforts.
My statement today is based primarily on our March 31, 2009 report that
we are issuing today--the third under the act's mandate, which covers
the actions taken as part of TARP through March 27, 2009, and follows
up on the recommendations we made in our previous reports.[Footnote 2]
The statement also provides information on our ongoing review of the
Auto Industry Financing Program, which we plan to report on separately.
Specifically, like the March 2009 report, this statement focuses on (1)
the nature and purpose of the activities that had been initiated under
TARP through March 27, 2009, unless otherwise noted; (2) Treasury's
Office of Financial Stability's (OFS) hiring efforts, use of
contractors, and progress in developing a system of internal control;
and (3) indicators of TARP's performance.
To do this work, we reviewed documents related to TARP, including
contracts, agreements, guidance and rules. We also met with officials
from OFS, contractors, and federal agencies. We plan to continue to
monitor the issues highlighted in our prior reports, as well as future
and ongoing capital purchases, other more recent transactions
undertaken as part of TARP, and the status of other aspects of TARP. We
conducted this performance audit between February 2009 and March 2009
in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that
the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and
conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Summary:
As of March 27, 2009, Treasury had disbursed $303.4 billion of the $700
billion in TARP funds. Most of the funds (about $199 billion) went to
purchase preferred shares of 532 financial institutions under the
Capital Purchase Program (CPP)--Treasury's primary vehicle under TARP
for stabilizing financial markets. Treasury has continued to take
significant steps to address all of the recommendations from our
December 2008 and January 2009 reports. In particular, Treasury has
recently expanded the scope of the monthly CPP surveys of the largest
institutions to include all institutions participating in the program,
which is intended to provide Treasury with information necessary to
begin to track the effectiveness of the program. Treasury also
continued to make progress in several other areas, including requiring
firms participating in certain new programs to show how assistance will
expand lending. These requirements will better enable Treasury to
determine what institutions plan to do with any capital infusions and
to track the resulting lending activity of participating institutions
on a regular basis. In addition, we specifically found that though
Treasury is now receiving dividends from the investments it has made in
CPP and certain other programs, it has not publicly reported these
receipts, which totaled almost $2.9 billion through March 20, 2009. We
recommended that Treasury could improve transparency pertaining to TARP
program activities by reporting publicly the monies, such as dividends,
paid to Treasury by TARP participants.
In February 2009, Treasury announced its broad strategy for using the
remaining TARP funds and provided the details for its major components
in the following weeks. Specifically, Treasury announced the Financial
Stability Plan, which outlined a comprehensive set of measures to help
address the financial crisis and restore confidence in our financial
markets, and a Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan to mitigate
foreclosures and preserve homeownership. While articulating its plan
was an important first step, Treasury continues to struggle with
developing an effective overall communication strategy that is
integrated into TARP operations. Without such a strategy, Treasury may
face challenges, should it need additional funding for the program.
Therefore, in our March 2009 report, we have recommended that Treasury
develop a communication strategy that includes building an
understanding of and support for the various components of the program.
Specific actions could include hiring a communications officer,
integrating communications into TARP operations, scheduling regular and
ongoing contact with congressional committees and members, holding town
hall meetings with the public across the country, establishing a
counsel of advisors, and leveraging available technology.
Also, while Treasury has announced up to $70 billion dollars in
assistance to AIG--more assistance than has been announced for any
other single institution to date--it has yet to disperse the up to $30
billion of additional assistance or finalize the agreement. Therefore,
Treasury has an opportunity to further improve the integrity and
accountability associated with this announced additional assistance. In
our report, we recommended that Treasury require that AIG seek to
renegotiate existing contracts with management, employees, and
counterparties, among others, as appropriate, as it finalizes its
agreement for the up to $30 billion in additional assistance announced
on March 2, 2009.
Treasury has also made progress in establishing OFS and continued to
take steps to address our previous recommendations related to OFS's
management infrastructure, including hiring, contract oversight, and
internal control. First, it has continued to hire additional permanent
staff to address OFS's long-term organizational needs. As of March 20,
2009, OFS had 113 total staff, with the number of permanent staff
increasing substantially--from 38 to 77--since our last report. Second,
Treasury has enhanced its capacity to manage vendors by using trained
oversight personnel and looking for opportunities to use fixed-price
arrangements. Further actions are needed to complete its review of
existing vendor conflicts of interest mitigation plans and to improve
its documentation of decisions related to potential conflicts.
Consequently, we made two new recommendations to Treasury--(1) complete
its review, and, as necessary, renegotiate, the four existing vendor
conflict of interest mitigation plans to enhance specificity and
conformity with the new interim conflicts of interest rule, and (2)
issue guidance requiring that key communications and decisions
concerning potential or actual vendor-related conflicts of interest be
documented. Third, OFS continued to refine, develop and document its
internal control framework over financial reporting and compliance,
including its risk assessment activities. However, we found that OFS
documentation of certain internal control procedures and guidance
pertaining to determining warrant exercise prices had not been updated
to be consistent with actual practice. As such, we recommended that
Treasury update OFS documentation in these areas to be consistent with
actual practices applied by OFS.
We continue to note the difficulty of measuring the effect of TARP's
activities. Developments in the credit markets have generally been
mixed since our January 2009 report. Some indicators revealed that the
cost of credit has increased in interbank and corporate bond markets
and decreased in mortgage markets, while perceptions of risk (as
measured by premiums over Treasury securities) have declined in
interbank and mortgage markets and risen in corporate debt markets. In
addition, although Federal Reserve survey data suggest that lending
standards remained tight, the largest CPP recipients extended almost
$245 billion in new loans to consumers and businesses in both December
2008 and January 2009, according to the Treasury's new loan survey.
However, attributing any of these changes directly to TARP continues to
be problematic because of the range of actions that have been and are
being taken to address the current crisis. While these indicators may
be suggestive of TARP's ongoing impact, no single indicator or set of
indicators can provide a definitive determination of the program's
impact.
Finally, I would like to express my thanks to Chairman Baucus and
Senator Grassley for introducing S. 340, the Troubled Asset Relief
Program Enhancement Act of 2008, and Senator Snowe for co-sponsoring
this bill. It would enhance GAO's ability to bring accountability and
transparency to the TARP program by providing us with direct access to
the companies that receive TARP funds. Another TARP access issue for
GAO involves the growing role of the Federal Reserve. On March 3, 2009,
Treasury and the Federal Reserve launched TALF--the Term Asset-Backed
Securities Loan Facility--which is a lending program to increase the
availability of credit for consumers and businesses. More recently, the
Federal Reserve and Treasury announced plans to expand the role of TALF
as part of a new Public-Private Investment Program. Finally, Treasury
and the Federal Reserve have coordinated in the restructuring of
federal assistance to AIG. For all of these joint endeavors, GAO has
authority to oversee the activities of Treasury, but not the Federal
Reserve, because the Banking Agency Audit Act specifically precludes us
from auditing the Federal Reserve's monetary policy and discount window
operations. We would fully support legislation to provide GAO with
audit authority over those activities, together with appropriate
access, recognizing the sensitivity of this area and the need for
careful drafting.
Treasury's Strategy for Deploying TARP Funds Continues to Evolve,
Though CPP Remains Key Effort to Stabilize Financial Market:
As of March 27, 2009, Treasury had disbursed $303.4 billion of the $700
billion in TARP funds (see table). Most of the funds (about $199
billion) went to purchase preferred shares of 532 financial
institutions under the Capital Purchase Program (CPP)--Treasury's
primary vehicle under TARP for stabilizing financial markets. Treasury
has continued to improve the integrity, accountability and transparency
of TARP. For example, it recently expanded monthly surveys of the
largest institutions' lending activity to cover all CPP participants,
as GAO recommended. These surveys should provide additional important
information about how the capital investments are impacting
participants' lending activities and capital levels.
Table 1: Status of TARP Funds as of March 27, 2009 (dollars in
billions):
Program: Capital Purchase Program;
Maximum Announced Program Funding Level[A]: $250.0;
Projected Use of Funds: $218.0;
Disbursed: $198.8.
Program: Systemically Significant Failing Institutions;
Maximum Announced Program Funding Level[A]: $70.0;
Projected Use of Funds: $70.0;
Disbursed: $40.0.
Program: Targeted Investment Program;
Maximum Announced Program Funding Level[A]: $40.0;
Projected Use of Funds: $40.0;
Disbursed: $40.0.
Program: Automotive Industry Financing Program;
Maximum Announced Program Funding Level[A]: $24.9;
Projected Use of Funds: $24.9;
Disbursed: $24.5.
Program: Citigroup Asset Guarantee;
Maximum Announced Program Funding Level[A]: $5.0;
Projected Use of Funds: $5.0;
Disbursed: 0.0.
Program: Bank of America Asset Guarantee;
Maximum Announced Program Funding Level[A]: $7.5;
Projected Use of Funds: $7.5;
Disbursed: 0.0.
Program: Homeowner Affordability & Stability Plan;
Maximum Announced Program Funding Level[A]: $50.0;
Projected Use of Funds: $50.0;
Disbursed: 0.0.
Program: Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF);
Maximum Announced Program Funding Level[A]: $100.0;
Projected Use of Funds: $55.0;
Disbursed: $0.1.
Program: Unlocking Credit for Small Business;
Maximum Announced Program Funding Level[A]: $15.0;
Projected Use of Funds: $15.0;
Disbursed: 0.0.
Program: Auto Supplier Support Program;
Maximum Announced Program Funding Level[A]: $5.0;
Projected Use of Funds: $5.0;
Disbursed: 0.0.
Program: Public Private Investment Program;
Maximum Announced Program Funding Level[A]: $100.0;
Projected Use of Funds: $100.0;
Disbursed: 0.0.
Program: Capital Assistance Program;
Maximum Announced Program Funding Level[A]: TBD[B];
Projected Use of Funds: TBD;
Disbursed: [Empty].
Program: Total;
Maximum Announced Program Funding Level[A]: $667.4;
Projected Use of Funds: $590.4;
Disbursed: $303.4.
Source: Treasury OFS, unaudited.
[A] Some of Treasury's announced transactions are not yet legal
obligations and actual amounts will depend on participation.
[B] Treasury has announced the Capital Assistance Program, but has not
yet announced the funding level for that program.
[End of table]
During this period, Treasury has also taken some steps to improve its
monitoring of compliance with the terms of its existing agreements, but
has yet to hire asset managers to manage its growing portfolio of
assets. Treasury officials told us that they still plan to hire asset
managers, whose primary role will be to provide market advice about the
portfolio, but who also will help monitor dividends and stock purchase
limitations. They noted that asset managers will have a limited role in
the area of executive compensation. In the interim, Treasury has
developed a process to ensure that institutions are complying with
dividend, stock repurchase, and executive compensation restrictions.
Treasury relies on participants' representations and warranties
articulated in the agreements, and if Treasury finds reason to believe
that these representations cannot be relied upon, it can pursue
available remedies for any false representations. At this point,
Treasury has not taken steps to verify this information or require the
institutions to provide any additional documentation. As recommended in
our December 2008 report, we continue to believe that Treasury should
develop a formal system to help ensure compliance with the agreements
and leverage the oversight activities of the bank regulators by having
them include compliance with the agreements as part of their ongoing
examinations. This type of compliance activity is generally consistent
with ensuring the safety and soundness of institutions; the regulators
previously told us they are taking steps to build such oversight into
their examination procedures. Without a consistent oversight approach,
Treasury runs the risk of getting inconsistent or incomplete
information from the regulators.
OFS had received approximately $2.9 billion in dividends through March
20, 2009, from its investments in CPP and certain other programs.
Approximately 20 percent of possible dividends during the period were
not declared and, therefore, not paid. This information about the
returns on Treasury's investments has not been shared with Congress and
the public. We recommended that, to improve transparency, Treasury
should report publicly the monies, such as dividends, paid to it by
TARP participants. By not sharing this information, Treasury is missing
an opportunity to provide information about the returns it is receiving
on its investments.
Treasury has also continued to take steps to articulate a more clearly
defined vision for TARP; and, in February 2009, it provided its
strategy for using its remaining funds. This strategy identified the
existing problems and how the various programs would attempt to address
them. Specifically, Treasury announced the Financial Stability Plan,
which outlines a set of measures to address the financial crisis and
restore confidence in the U.S. financial and housing markets. The plan
established six components: Capital Assistance Program; Public-Private
Investment Fund; Consumer and Business Lending Initiative; Small
Business and Community Lending Initiative; the Affordable Housing
Support and Foreclosures Prevention Plan; and Transparency and
Accountability Agenda. While the initial plan provided a broad vision
and strategy, in the subsequent weeks, Treasury provided additional
details for the various components of the program. In particular, it
has announced its plans to participate in the purchase of troubled
assets through public-private partnerships and launched a homeownership
protection program, both activities consistent with the original plans
for TARP. Given that only 60 days have passed since our last report, we
acknowledge the significance of these accomplishments. Yet, Treasury
continues to get questions about TARP and what OFS is doing, which
raises questions about the effectiveness of its existing communication
strategy. While Treasury's strategy has largely been one of posting
information to its Web site, press releases, speeches, testimonies, and
ad hoc outreach to Congress, it continues to face ongoing communication
challenges. Given the complexity of the issues involved and the
heightened public scrutiny, an effective communication strategy
continues to be critical, but Treasury has yet to develop a means of
regularly and routinely communicating its activities to relevant
congressional committees, members, the public, and other critical
stakeholders. An effective communication strategy should, among other
things, build understanding and support for the program through regular
and routine outreach, including confidential member briefings;
integrate communications and operations by making communication
integral to the program; and increase the impact of communication
tools, such as electronic and print media and video. Given that the
President's proposed budget contemplates additional funding, an
effective communication strategy is critical for ensuring the support
necessary to obtain the funding. Therefore we recommended in our March
2009 report that Treasury develop a communication strategy that
includes building understanding and support for the various components
of the program and suggested specific actions, such as hiring a
communications officer, integrating communications into TARP
operations, and scheduling regular and ongoing contact with
congressional committees and members, among other actions.
Treasury has taken appropriate actions to bolster the conditions or
requirements for assistance that is deemed exceptional, but certain
assistance may require that it go farther to help repair damage caused
to the program. Controversies about the actions of some TARP
participants continue to create issues for the program, in general, and
AIG, in particular. While Treasury has announced $70 billion dollars in
assistance to AIG--more assistance than has been provided to any other
single institution to date--it has yet to disperse the up to $30
billion of additional assistance or finalize the terms under which the
assistance will be provided. Therefore, Treasury has the ability to
further improve the integrity and accountability associated with this
additional assistance, announced in March 2009. Based on our previous
work on government assistance to the private sector, as well as the
Treasury Secretary's position, as articulated in the Financial
Stability Plan, that "government support must come with strong
conditions," Treasury has an opportunity to take additional steps to
strengthen its agreement with AIG by requiring AIG to seek concessions
from management, employees, and counterparties before the agreement is
finalized. For example, Treasury could require that AIG seek to
renegotiate contracts with its employees, as appropriate, such as those
related to the retention bonuses provided to AIG Financial Products and
existing counterparties that would face substantial losses were AIG to
have its credit downgraded or fail. While we understand that Treasury
is making an investment in AIG, Treasury's failure to act in this
instance could cause additional harm to the program's reputation and
impair its ability to seek additional funding for the program if it
were to need it in the future. We recommended in our March 2009 report
that Treasury require that AIG seek to renegotiate existing contracts
with management, employees, and counterparties, among others, as
appropriate, as it finalizes its agreement for the up to $30 billion in
additional assistance, announced on March 2, 2009.
Following the announcement of Treasury's Homeownership Affordability
and Stability Plan, in March 2009, Treasury released information on its
Making Home Affordable Program. One of its components--the Home
Affordable Modification Program (HAMP)--will use $50 billion in TARP
funds to modify mortgages. According to OFS officials, Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac will provide an additional $25 billion for a total of $75
billion to assist up to 4 million homeowners in order to avoid
potential foreclosure.[Footnote 3] The Making Home Affordable program
also includes a non-TARP funded initiative to help up to 4 million to 5
million homeowners refinance loans owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac
and Fannie Mae at current market rates. According to Treasury, this
initiative could help homeowners save thousands of dollars in annual
mortgage payments. Treasury worked with other agencies to estimate the
cost and number of borrowers that would be eligible for loan
modifications under HAMP and to design program parameters. On March 19,
2009, in order to reach out to borrowers, Treasury launched a Making
Home Affordable Web site, which, among other things, provides program,
eligibility, and housing counselor information. While the basic
structure of HAMP has been announced, as of March 23, 2009, Treasury
had not specified several components of the program, including a system
of internal controls over TARP funds used to make loan modifications.
According to Treasury, it plans to put in place such a system of
internal control by the time the first payments are due to servicers.
In addition, as of March 20, 2009, Treasury had not provided specific
information on incentive payments, which servicers and mortgage
holders/investors would be eligible for under HAMP. We will continue to
monitor the design and implementation of this program, with a
particular focus on the empirical basis for HAMP and the structure and
effectiveness of its system of internal control.
Treasury also established the Auto Industry Financing Program (AIFP) in
December 2008 to prevent a disruption of the domestic automotive
industry that would pose systemic risk to the nation's economy. Under
this program, Treasury has lent $13.4 billion to General Motors (GM)
and $4 billion to Chrysler to allow the automakers to continue
operating while working out details of their plans to become solvent,
such as achieving concessions from stakeholders. The loans were
designed to allow the automakers to operate through the first quarter
of 2009 with recognition that, after that point, GM and Chrysler would
need additional funds or have to take other steps, such as an orderly
bankruptcy.[Footnote 4] As required by the terms of their loan
agreements, GM and Chrysler submitted restructuring plans to Treasury
in February that describe the actions the automakers will take to
become financially solvent. Because of the continued sluggish economy
and lower than expected revenues, GM and Chrysler are requesting an
additional $16.6 billion and $5 billion in federal financial
assistance, respectively. On March 30, Treasury announced that it had
determined the plans GM and Chrysler submitted were not viable and
would give GM 60 days and Chrysler 30 days to take additional steps to
restructure their companies. Treasury said that it would provide the
companies with interim financing during this period. As part of our
oversight responsibilities for TARP, we are monitoring Treasury's
implementation of AIFP, including the development of the required
restructuring plans.
Treasury Continues to Make Progress in Establishing OFS:
Treasury has also made progress in establishing its management
infrastructure, which includes five of our nine recommendations from
our January 2009 report related to hiring, contracting, and
establishing its internal controls. However, in our March 2009 report,
we made new recommendations to improve contract oversight and
documentation of certain internal control procedures, as well as
guidance pertaining to determining warrant exercise prices.
* In the hiring area, Treasury has continued to make progress in
establishing its management infrastructure, including hiring more
staff. In accordance with our prior recommendation that it
expeditiously hire personnel in OFS, Treasury continued to use direct-
hire and various other appointments to bring a number of career staff
on board quickly. Since our January 2009 report, Treasury increased the
total number of OFS staff overall and shifted from mostly detailees to
more permanent staff, indicating that the workforce has become more
stable over time. Specifically, as of March 20, 2009, OFS has 113 total
staff, with the number of permanent staff increasing substantially--
from 38 to 77--since our last report and the number of detailees
decreasing from 52 to 36. Of the permanent staff currently working in
OFS, 50 have come from other parts of Treasury and the federal
government and 27 from the private sector. In addition, detailees from
several Treasury and non-Treasury offices, bureaus, and agencies
currently support OFS. While Treasury expects that permanent staff will
be largely tasked with long-term responsibilities, as the TARP strategy
evolves, detailees will continue to play a critical role in supporting
the flexibility of OFS operations. In our last report, we recognized
that the changing nature of OFS had made it difficult for officials to
determine its long-term organizational needs, but that such
considerations continue to be vital for retaining institutional
knowledge within the organization as programs evolve. Treasury has
taken further steps to align OFS's human capital program with its
current and emerging mission and programmatic goals. For example, as
outlined in its draft workforce plan, Treasury has taken steps to
identify the critical skills and competencies needed to operate OFS and
plans to develop strategies to address gaps in these areas. These
actions will be critical to OFS's ability to monitor its progress in
building and developing the OFS workforce.
* Treasury has continued to build a network of contractors and
financial agents to support TARP administration and operations. Since
our January report, Treasury has awarded seven new contracts and two
new financial agency agreements as of March 13, 2009, bringing to 25
the total number of TARP financial agency agreements, contracts, and
blanket purchase agreements. Four new contracts are for a variety of
legal services; others are for management consulting and document
production and program support services; and the two new financial
agency agreements are to support the new home loan modification
program.[Footnote 5] At the same time, Treasury has continued to build
its capacity to manage these vendors by putting into place the people
and processes necessary to enhance its oversight of contractor and
financial agent performance. Given the still-evolving nature of TARP
requirements, we recognize that opportunities for using fixed-price
arrangements may be limited. Nonetheless, Treasury has a process that
should help it determine where those opportunities exist. In developing
this process, Treasury has addressed our prior recommendation in this
area and we will continue to monitor its continued progress. In
addition, Treasury could enhance its efforts to safeguard the TARP
program from conflicts-of -interest involving its contractors and
financial agents by completing its review of mitigation plans to
enhance specificity and conformity with the new conflicts-of-interest
rule and by requiring that decisions on potential conflicts be
documented, which we recommended in our March 2009 report.
* OFS has begun to build a financial reporting structure, including
addressing the key accounting and financial reporting issues necessary
to enable it to prepare financial statements and receive an audit
opinion on those statements at this fiscal year end. Consistent with
our previous recommendations, OFS is continuing to develop a
comprehensive system of internal control and has established plans for
finalizing formal policies and procedures to govern TARP activities and
assess its risks. In the interim, OFS has developed and documented
process flows and narratives describing internal control procedures for
TARP transactions. While OFS applied adequate control procedures over
selected CPP and SSFI transactions we tested, it has not taken steps to
provide consistency between the documented control descriptions and the
actual control procedures that were applied to the transactions.
Inconsistencies in the application of a control procedure complicate
review of the transactions and increase the risk that the transactions
are not recorded completely, properly, or consistently. Similarly, OFS
needs to address inconsistencies in guidance pertaining to determining
warrant exercise prices. Inconsistencies in guidance available to the
public for these price determinations may create confusion about the
actual terms and conditions executed by Treasury for its investments.
Indicators Suggest Mixed Developments in the Credit Markets, but
Isolating the Impact of TARP Continues to Present Challenges:
Finally, we again note that while isolating the effect of TARP's
activities continues to be difficult, conditions appear to have
generally improved in various credit markets since the announcement of
the first TARP program. However, some indicators demonstrate that,
since our January 2009 report, the cost of credit continues to increase
in interbank and corporate bond markets and decrease in mortgage
markets, while perceptions of risk (as measured by premiums over
Treasury securities) have declined in interbank and mortgage markets
and risen in corporate debt markets. In addition, although Federal
Reserve survey data suggest that lending standards remained tight, the
largest CPP recipients extended over $240 billion in new loans to
consumers and business in both December 2008 and January 2009,
according to the Treasury's new loan survey. Attributing any of these
changes directly to TARP continues to be problematic because of the
range of actions that have been and are being taken to address the
current crisis. While these indicators may be suggestive of TARP's
ongoing impact, no single indicator or set of indicators will provide a
definitive determination of the program's impact.
Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Grassley, and Members of the Committee, I
appreciate the opportunity to discuss this critically important issue
and would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.
GAO Contact:
For further information on this testimony, please contact Thomas J.
McCool at (202) 512-2642 or mccoolt@gao.gov.
End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-343,
122 Stat. 3765 (2008). The act requires the U.S. Comptroller General to
report at least every 60 days, as appropriate, on findings resulting
from oversight of TARP's performance in meeting the act's purposes; the
financial condition and internal controls of TARP, its representatives,
and agents; the characteristics of asset purchases and the disposition
of acquired assets, including any related commitments entered into;
TARP's efficiency in using the funds appropriated for its operations;
its compliance with applicable laws and regulations; and its efforts to
prevent, identify, and minimize conflicts of interest among those
involved in its operations.
[2] GAO, Troubled Asset Relief Program: March 2009 Status of Efforts to
Address Transparency and Accountability Issues, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-504] (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 31,
2009), Troubled Asset Relief Program: Status of Efforts to Address
Transparency and Accountability Issues, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-296] (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 30,
2009) and Troubled Asset Relief Program: Additional Actions Needed to
Better Ensure Integrity, Accountability, and Transparency, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-161] (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 2,
2008).
[3] According to Treasury officials, TARP funds will be used to modify
mortgages that financial institutions own and hold in their portfolios
(whole loans) and private-label securitized loans (loans not insured or
guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD's Federal Housing
Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and rural housing
loans).
[4] Under AIFP, Treasury also lent $884 million to GM to enable it to
participate in GMAC's--a financing company owned, in part, by GM--new
rights offering related to its reorganization as a bank holding
company--and bought $5 billion in preferred stock investment, plus
warrants from GMAC. Treasury also agreed to lend $1.5 billion to a
special purpose entity created by Chrysler Financial Services Americas
LLC (Chrysler Financial) to finance the extension of new consumer
automotive loans, of which $1.1 billion been disbursed to Chrysler
Financial. Additionally, in March 2009, Treasury established the Auto
Supplier Support Program under TARP, which will provide up to $5
billion in financing to guarantee the payments owed to suppliers for
the products they ship to automakers.
[5] Treasury also modified several other existing task orders to
obligate more funds and extend the performance periods.
End of section]
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