Office of Inspector General for the Board and CFPB https://oig.federalreserve.gov/feeds/rss_feeds.htm Ongoing Work Update We have initiated the following work:

Compendium of the Board’s COVID-19 Lending Facilities
We are analyzing (1) the Board’s and the Federal Reserve System’s approach to establishing the lending facilities, (2) their results, (3) themes from our prior findings and recommendations and closed investigations, and (4) lessons learned that could inform the implementation of any future lending facilities.

]]> 2026-04-30T14:00:00-04:00 en Ongoing Work Update 2026-04-30T14:00:00 Open Recommendations Made to the Board and to the CFPB Our audit and evaluation reports often recommend specific actions for the Board or the CFPB to take to correct or improve the issues we identified. As of March 31, 2026,

  • 63 of our Board recommendations remained open
  • 28 of our CFPB recommendations remained open

We recognize that some recommendations may require complex corrective actions. Our open recommendations reports contain more information about recommendations that have been open for more than 6 months.

]]> 2026-04-22T10:00:00-04:00 en Open Recommendations Made to the Board and to the CFPB 2026-04-22T10:00:00 The Board Should More Effectively Manage and Secure Its Inventory of Unassigned Laptops and Hard Drives Ready for Disposal A lack of standardization in managing IT assets increases the risk that Board data may be exfiltrated.

We found that the Board does not consistently track and account for all its laptops. For example, 677 laptops worth over $1.4 million sat uninventoried and in storage for 8 months before being properly inventoried in March 2026. Further, a few laptops were still in the possession of former employees, putting data at risk of compromise. Among other issues we identified, some IT asset storage rooms, though secured, lack safeguards like access logs.

We have seven recommendations to ensure that the Board standardizes inventory management consistent with leading practices.

]]> 2026-03-31T10:00:00-04:00 en The Board Should More Effectively Manage and Secure Its Inventory of Unassigned Laptops and Hard Drives Ready for Disposal 2026-03-31T10:00:00 ​The Board Should Enhance Its Ability to Monitor the Efficiency and Timeliness of Its Processing of Certain Banking Applications Before engaging in certain activities like mergers or acquisitions, banks must apply for approval from Reserve Banks or the Board, which review applications for legal issues and considerations and for safety and soundness principles.

Despite recent measures to increase efficiency, median application processing times increased from 2021 to 2024—by about 11 percent for all application types and by about 40 percent for small community bank mergers and acquisitions. Board officials and staff cited numerous reasons for delays, such as time needed to consult with other regulatory agencies and conduct internal reviews before final action. We could not validate these explanations for the delays, because the Board does not track sufficient information to pinpoint opportunities for improvement.

We have three recommendations to enhance the Board's efforts to increase the efficiency and timeliness of the banking application process.

]]> 2026-03-24T10:00:00-04:00 en ​The Board Should Enhance Its Ability to Monitor the Efficiency and Timeliness of Its Processing of Certain Banking Applications 2026-03-24T10:00:00 Former Bank CFO Convicted at Trial of Bank Fraud Scheme Involving a Columbus Car Wash and Undisclosed Debts in $4.3 Million Loan Fraud United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced that a federal jury in the District of Nebraska convicted Aaron T. Luneke, 44, of Columbus, Nebraska, on both counts of a federal indictment charging him with bank fraud and attempted bank fraud. The jury returned its verdict on Friday, March 6, 2026, following a two-week trial before the Honorable Brian C. Buescher, United States District Judge, in Omaha, Nebraska.

]]> 2026-03-17T16:00:00-04:00 en Former Bank CFO Convicted at Trial of Bank Fraud Scheme Involving a Columbus Car Wash and Undisclosed Debts in $4.3 Million Loan Fraud 2026-03-17T16:00:00 Fiscal Years 2023–2024 Risk Assessment of the CFPB's Government Travel Card Program Over 44,000 purchases totaling about $10.5 million were made on CFPB government travel cards during fiscal years 2023–2024.

Our assessment of the CFPB's government travel card program shows that the risk of illegal, improper, or erroneous use of the cards is low. Since our review, and in response to Executive Order 14222 and a directive from the General Services Administration, the CFPB changed its approach to official travel, including by centralizing government travel card program elements and significantly reducing travel in calendar year 2025. We plan to assess the effect of these changes in future risk assessments.

]]> 2026-03-11T10:00:00-04:00 en Fiscal Years 2023–2024 Risk Assessment of the CFPB's Government Travel Card Program 2026-03-11T10:00:00 Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Financial Statements as of and for the Years Ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, and Independent Auditors' Report The Board performs the accounting function for the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, and we contracted with an independent public accounting firm to audit the FFIEC's financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024.

In the firm's opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the FFIEC.

]]> 2026-03-04T13:00:00-05:00 en Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Financial Statements as of and for the Years Ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, and Independent Auditors' Report 2026-03-04T13:00:00 Results of Scoping of the Evaluation of the Board's Practices and Controls for Safeguarding Confidential Supervisory Information in OASIS The Board's OASIS technology platform, which examiners use to document their supervisory activities of the nation's largest financial institutions, contains confidential supervisory information. The loss or misuse of CSI could result in significant legal, reputational, or financial risk to the Board, Reserve Banks, financial institutions, and individuals.

We identified several concerns regarding CSI access in OASIS, which the Board must address before we conduct further work. For example, users have more access to sensitive information than appears to be warranted based on their specific financial institution examination assignments, which is inconsistent with Board policy and information security principles.

We have four recommendations to enhance the Board's practices and controls for safeguarding CSI in OASIS.

]]> 2026-02-04T10:00:00-05:00 en Results of Scoping of the Evaluation of the Board's Practices and Controls for Safeguarding Confidential Supervisory Information in OASIS 2026-02-04T10:00:00 Cofounder of Paycheck Protection Program Lender Service Provider Sentenced for $65 Million COVID-19 Relief Fraud Scheme A cofounder of a lender service provider was sentenced to 10 years in prison for participating in a scheme to fraudulently obtain over $65 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The defendant was also ordered to pay over $66 million in restitution.

]]> 2025-12-19T10:00:00-05:00 en Cofounder of Paycheck Protection Program Lender Service Provider Sentenced for $65 Million COVID-19 Relief Fraud Scheme 2025-12-19T10:00:00 The Board Has Generally Effective Processes for Approving and Monitoring the Currency Budget's Multicycle Projects but Can Better Document Those Processes The Board is the sole issuing authority of the nation's currency, and it pays the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for expenses related to producing banknotes. This includes a multicycle project budget for the BEP's large-scale capital investments (such as production equipment and facilities) that span multiple years.

The Board's processes for approving and monitoring the multicycle project budget are generally effective, providing sufficient resources to the BEP and promoting effective stewardship of funds. However, the Board has not incorporated all of its approval and monitoring processes into its memorandum of understanding with BEP.

We are making one recommendation for the Board to incorporate these processes to ensure both parties agree to and are accountable for their respective responsibilities.

]]> 2025-12-18T10:00:00-05:00 en The Board Has Generally Effective Processes for Approving and Monitoring the Currency Budget's Multicycle Projects but Can Better Document Those Processes 2025-12-18T10:00:00 The Board's Contract Solicitation, Selection, and Award Processes for the Contracts We Reviewed Were Generally Effective but Can Be Further Enhanced We reviewed the effectiveness of the Board's contract solicitation, selection, and award processes. Our review was limited to a nonstatistical sample of certain types of contracts for goods and services totaling about $30 million in 2022–2023. Among other exclusions—for example, governmentwide contracts—we excluded construction contracts because we have ongoing work related to the Board's building renovation projects.

For the 30 sampled contracts we reviewed, the Board generally designed and operated its solicitation, selection, and award processes effectively to help ensure the agency acquires goods and services at the best possible value. However, guidance for using independent government estimates, which can further help ensure that prices are fair and reasonable, was not clear.

Our report does not contain recommendations because, after we presented our draft findings, the Board clarified guidance for independent government estimates.

]]> 2025-12-16T10:00:00-05:00 en The Board's Contract Solicitation, Selection, and Award Processes for the Contracts We Reviewed Were Generally Effective but Can Be Further Enhanced 2025-12-16T10:00:00 New York Developer Charged with Defrauding Pandemic Relief Loan Programs of More than $8 Million A New York real estate developer and investor has been charged in connection with a scheme to defraud pandemic relief programs in 2020 and 2021. David Ebrahimzadeh, 45, of New York City, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston on one count of bank fraud, two counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, one count of wire fraud and two counts of procuring a false tax return.

]]> 2025-12-16T10:00:00-05:00 en New York Developer Charged with Defrauding Pandemic Relief Loan Programs of More than $8 Million 2025-12-16T10:00:00 Two Virginia Men Arrested for Conspiring to Destroy Government Databases Two Virginia men were arrested today for their roles in a conspiracy to destroy government databases hosted by a federal government contractor, among other crimes.

]]> 2025-12-04T15:30:00-05:00 en Two Virginia Men Arrested for Conspiring to Destroy Government Databases 2025-12-04T15:30:00 Semiannual Report to Congress, April 1, 2025–September 30, 2025 Our semiannual report to Congress summarizes the Board and CFPB oversight work we completed during April 1, 2025–September 30, 2025.

]]> 2025-12-01T10:00:00-05:00 en Semiannual Report to Congress, April 1, 2025–September 30, 2025 2025-12-01T10:00:00 Co-Founder of Paycheck Protection Program Lender Service Provider Sentenced for $63 Million COVID-19 Relief Fraud Scheme A co-founder of a lender service provider was sentenced to 10 years in prison for participating in a scheme to fraudulently obtain over $63 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The defendant was also ordered to pay over $63 million in restitution.

]]> 2025-11-24T14:00:00-05:00 en Co-Founder of Paycheck Protection Program Lender Service Provider Sentenced for $63 Million COVID-19 Relief Fraud Scheme 2025-11-24T14:00:00