Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A July 2004 congressional hearing raised concerns about the lack of diversity in the financial services industry, particularly in key management positions. Some witnesses noted that these firms (e.g., banks and securities firms) had not made sufficient progress in recruiting minorities and women at the management level. Others raised concerns about the ability of minority-owned businesses to raise debt and equity capital. At the request of the House Financial Services Committee, GAO was asked to provide a report on overall trends in management-level diversity and diversity initiatives from 1993 through 2004. This testimony discusses that report and focuses on (1) what the available data show about diversity at the management level, (2) the types of initiatives that the financial services industry has taken to promote workforce diversity and the challenges involved, and (3) the ability of minority- and women-owned businesses to obtain capital and initiatives financial institutions have taken to make capital available to these businesses. For our analysis, we analyzed data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); reviewed select studies; and interviewed officials from financial services firms, trade organizations, and federal agencies. GAO makes no recommendations …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since their origin in the early 1900s, industrial loan corporations (ILCs) have grown significantly in size, and some have expressed concern that ILCs may have expanded beyond the original scope and purpose intended by Congress. Others have questioned whether the current regulatory structure for overseeing ILCs is adequate. This testimony is based on our September 2005 report that, among other things, (1) described the growth and permissible activities of the ILC industry, (2) compared the supervisory authority of the FDI--the current federal regulator for ILCs--with consolidated supervisors, and (3) described the extent to which ILC parents could mix banking and commerce. In this testimony GAO is reiterating that Congress should (1) consider options for strengthening the regulatory oversight of ILCs and (2) more broadly consider whether allowing ILCs a greater degree of mixing banking and commerce is warranted or whether other entities should be permitted to engage in this level of activity."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal agencies spend billions of dollars annually to aid victims of natural and other disasters and acts of terrorism. Managers of federal disaster assistance programs face a dual challenge--delivering aid as quickly as possible while at the same time ensuring that relief payments go only to those who are truly in need. Due to the very nature of the government's need to quickly provide assistance to disaster victims, federal disaster relief programs are vulnerable to significant risk of improper payments and fraudulent activities. On February 13, 2006, and on June 14, 2006, GAO testified concerning extensive fraud, waste, and abuse in the Individuals and Household Program (IHP), a component of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) disaster assistance programs. GAO identified significant internal control weaknesses that resulted in FEMA making tens of thousands of Expedited Assistance payments that were based on bogus registration data. GAO also found numerous other internal control failures in FEMA's IHP disaster assistance program, resulting in an estimate that FEMA made $600 million to $1.4 billion in improper and potentially fraudulent payments to registrants. The purpose of this testimony is to establish a framework …