[PDF] Bia Management Of Indian Trust Funds eBook

Author : U S Government Accountability Office (G
Publisher : BiblioGov
Page : 22 pages
File Size : 23,19 MB
Release : 2013-06
Category :
ISBN : 9781289061753

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GAO discussed the Department of the Interior's management of Indian trust funds. GAO noted that: (1) the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has completed its reconciliation of trust fund accounts, but the accounts could not be fully reconciled due to missing records and the lack of an audit trail; (2) the January 1996 BIA report to the tribes did not explain limitations in scope and methodologies used for the reconciliation process; (3) two tribes have accepted their reconciliation results, three tribes are disputing their results, and the remaining 275 tribes have not yet decided whether to accept or dispute their reconciliation results; (4) if Interior cannot resolve the tribes' concerns, the disputes can be resolved through a legislated settlement process; (5) Interior's trust fund management improvements will take several years to complete; (6) although BIA is replacing its inadequate management and accounting systems, it has not developed systems requirements to ensure that the new systems provide accurate information; (7) Interior has appointed a special trustee for Native Americans who has developed an outline of needed trust fund management improvements, but this outline needs to include various departmentwide options and alternatives and their associated costs and benefits to become a comprehensive strategic plan; and (8) resource constraints have limited Interior's ability to make trust fund management improvements.

Author : U S Government Accountability Office (G
Publisher : BiblioGov
Page : 24 pages
File Size : 41,35 MB
Release : 2013-07
Category :
ISBN : 9781289248567

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GAO discussed the Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) trust fund management, focusing on BIA efforts to: (1) reconcile its trust fund accounts; and (2) improve trust fund management. GAO noted that: (1) although the Department of the Interior and BIA have made progress toward improving trust fund management, long-standing management problems have impeded BIA ability to maintain proper control and accountability over individual Indian monies (IIM) accounts; (2) BIA progress in reconciling trust fund accounts and obtaining independent certification has been slow; (3) BIA reconciliation and certification contractors have nearly completed the first of eight major tribal reconciliations; (4) the Indian community has expressed concern over BIA trust fund accounting and the effectiveness of BIA investment practices; (5) BIA trust fund account balances lack credibility because BIA trust funds have never been properly reconciled and internal control systems are unreliable; (6) BIA continues to lack adequate strategic planning, staff and training, trust fund management policies and procedures, and accounting and reporting systems; and (7) Interior and BIA need to reevaluate Indian Trust Fund program objectives and management principles so that individual accounts can be timely reconciled, certified, and resolved.