Board Report: September 1, 2008
The Office of Inspector General initiated an evaluation of the data flow for Board employee information received by the Office of Employee Benefits (OEB) and its Contractors after our office and the Board's external auditor identified discrepancies in employee benefits-related data between the Board's information system and the system maintained by an OEB contractor that serves as the record keeper for the Federal Reserve System's Retirement, Thrift, Long-Term Disability, and Supplemental Survivor Income plans. Our objective was to determine the adequacy and effectiveness of controls over Board employee information that is received, processed, and disseminated by OEB and its contractors.
Overall, our analysis and testing revealed that, in most instances, controls over the flow of Board employee data were adequate to ensure that the data was accurately received and processed by OEB and its contractors. We did, however, make two recommendations to (1) eliminate the potential for errors in part-time employees' retirement benefit calculations, and (2) automate certain manual steps that Board employees must take to process and send employee data to an OEB contractor. We presented our results (restricted because they contain details on information security-related internal controls) to the Board's Management Division staff and to the Committee on Plan Administration, and received concurrence on both recommendations. Given the sensitivity of information security review work, our reports in this area are generally restricted.
