-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-06-843T		

TITLE:     Financial Services Industry: Overall Trends in 
Management-Level Diversity and Diversity Initiatives, 1993-2004

DATE:   07/12/2006 
				                                                                         
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GAO-06-843T

     

     * Background
     * Diversity in the Financial Services Industry at the Manageme
     * Initiatives to Promote Workforce Diversity in the Financial
          * Financial Services Firms Have Implemented a Variety of Diver
          * Several Challenges May Have Affected the Success of Workforc
     * Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses Often Face Difficulties
          * Business Characteristics May Affect Minority- and Women-Owne
          * Some Commercial Banks Have Developed Programs for Minority-
     * Staff Contact and Acknowledgments
          * Order by Mail or Phone
     * PDF6-Ordering Information.pdf
          * Order by Mail or Phone

Testimony

Before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on
Financial Services, House of Representatives

United States Government Accountability Office

GAO

For Release on Delivery Expected at 2:00 p.m. EDT

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

Overall Trends in Management-Level Diversity and Diversity Initiatives,
1993-2004

Statement of Orice M. Williams, Director Financial Markets and Community
Investment

GAO-06-843T

Madam Chairwoman and Members of the Subcommittee:

I am pleased to be here today to discuss our work on two important issues:
workforce diversity in the financial services industry and access to
capital for minority- and women-owned businesses. Two years ago, this
subcommittee held a hearing that raised concerns about the lack of
diversity in the financial services industry, particularly in key
management positions.1 As you may recall, some witnesses noted that these
firms-banks and securities firms, for example-had not made sufficient
progress in recruiting minorities and women at the management level.
Others expressed concerns about the ability of minority-owned businesses
to raise debt and equity capital.

My remarks are based on our report that is being released today, which we
prepared at the request of the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of the
full committee, the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of the
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and Representative David
Scott.2 Specifically, I will discuss (1) what the available data show
about diversity at the management level in the financial services industry
from 1993 through 2004, (2) the types of initiatives that the financial
services industry and related organizations have 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.3

For our analysis, we used the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's
(EEOC) Employer Information Report (EEO-1) data on financial services
firms with 100 or more employees.4 We also reviewed publicly available
information, including reports, and interviewed officials from a variety
of financial services firms, including commercial banks, securities firms,
and private equity/venture capital organizations, as well as
representatives from industry trade organizations and federal agencies.

1Diversity in the Financial Services Industry and Access to Capital for
Minority Owned Businesses: Challenges and Opportunities, Hearing Before
the Subcommittee On Oversight and Investigations of the House Committee on
Financial Services, 108th Cong. (2004).

2GAO, Financial Services Industry: Overall Trends in Management-Level
Diversity and Diversity Initiatives, 1993-2004, GAO-06-617 (Washington,
D.C.: June 1, 2006).

3A minority-owned business is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as a
business in which a minority owns 51 percent or more of the stock or
equity in the business. A woman-owned business is defined by Census as a
business in which a woman owns 51 percent or more of the stock or equity
in the business.

In summary:

From 1993 through 2004, overall workforce diversity at the management
level in the financial services industry did not change substantially, but
some racial/ethnic minority groups experienced more change in
representation than others.5 EEO-1 data show that management-level
representation by minority women and men overall increased from 11.1
percent to 15.5 percent. Specifically, African-Americans increased their
representation from 5.6 percent to 6.6 percent, Asians from 2.5 percent to
4.5 percent, Hispanics from 2.8 percent to 4.0 percent, and American
Indians from 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent. Representation by white women
remained constant at slightly more than one-third during this period,
while representation by white men declined from 52.2 percent to 47.2
percent. Depository institutions, such as commercial banks, and insurance
companies generally were more diverse at the management level than
securities firms. In addition, according to the 2004 EEO-1 data,
minorities held 13.5 percent and white women held 32.4 percent of all
"officials and managers" positions in the accounting industry.

Although financial services firms and trade groups have initiated programs
to increase workforce diversity, these initiatives face challenges that
may help explain why overall diversity at the management level has not
changed substantially. Officials at financial services firms said that
diversity was an important goal and that top leadership was committed to
recruiting and retaining minority and women candidates. Some financial
services firms have established scholarship and internship programs or
partnered with groups that represent minority professionals. Officials
from a few firms told us that they had begun linking managers'
compensation to their performance in promoting workforce diversity, and
some firms had developed indicators (e.g. representation by minorities and
women in key positions) to measure progress in achieving workforce
diversity. Industry officials said that among the challenges these
initiatives face are recruiting and retaining minority candidates, as well
as gaining the "buy-in" of key employees, such as the middle managers who
are often responsible for implementing such programs.

4We used the EEO-1 "officials and managers" job category as the basis for
our discussion of management-level diversity within the financial services
industry. EEOC defines the job category of "officials and managers" as
occupations requiring administrative and managerial personnel, who set
broad policies, exercise overall responsibility for execution of these
policies, and direct individual departments or special phases of a firm's
operation.

5For the purposes of this testimony, we focused the diversity discussion
on changes in management-level representation over time by racial/ethnic
minority groups, including African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and
American Indians.

Research reports and discussions with financial services firms and
relevant trade groups suggest that minority- and women-owned businesses
generally have difficulty obtaining access to capital in conventional
financial markets. A 2004 report by the U.S. Department of Commerce's
Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) stated that minority-owned
businesses may have difficulty obtaining capital because they are often
concentrated in service industries and lack sufficient assets to pledge as
collateral.6 Some studies suggest that lenders may discriminate in
deciding whether to make loans to minority businesses, but proving such an
allegation is complicated by the lack of available data. In particular,
the Federal Reserve's Regulation B prohibits financial institutions from
requiring information on race and gender from applicants for nonmortage
credit products.7 Some federal financial regulators have stated that
removing the prohibition would allow them to better monitor and enforce
laws prohibiting discrimination in lending. Some financial institutions,
primarily commercial banks, said that they have developed strategies to
serve minority- and women-owned businesses. These strategies include
marketing existing financial products specifically to minority and women
business owners.

6U.S. Department of Commerce, MBDA, "Expanding Financing Opportunities for
Minority Businesses" (2004).

7The Federal Reserve's Regulation B implements the Equal Credit
Opportunity Act (ECOA). ECOA, 15 U.S.C. S:S: 1691-1691f, makes it unlawful
for a creditor to discriminate against an applicant in any aspect of a
credit transaction on the basis of the applicant's national origin,
religion, sex, color, race, age (provided the applicant has the capacity
to contract). Racial and gender information can be collected in two very
limited circumstances, neither of which results in publicly available data
regarding the race/ethnicity or gender of the bank's nonmortgage credit
applicants.

                                   Background

We defined the financial services industry to include the following
sectors:

           o  depository credit institutions, which include commercial banks,
           thrifts (savings and loan associations and savings banks), and
           credit unions;
           o  holdings and trusts, which include investment trusts,
           investment companies, and holding companies;
           o  nondepository credit institutions, which extend credit in the
           form of loans, include federally sponsored credit agencies,
           personal credit institutions, and mortgage bankers and brokers;
           o  the securities sector, which is made up of a variety of firms
           and organizations (e.g., broker-dealers) that bring together
           buyers and sellers of securities and commodities, manage
           investments, and offer financial advice; and
           o  the insurance sector, including carriers and insurance agents,
           which provides protection against financial risks to policyholders
           in exchange for the payment of premiums.

           Additionally, the financial services industry is a major source of
           employment in the United States. According to the EEO-1 data, the
           financial services firms we reviewed for this testimony, which
           have 100 or more staff, employed nearly 3 million people in 2004.
           Moreover, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
           employment in management and professional positions in the
           financial services industry was expected to grow at a rate of 1.2
           percent annually through 2012. Finally, a recent U.S. Census
           Bureau report based on data from the 2002 Economic Census stated
           that, between 1997 and 2002, Hispanics in the United States opened
           new businesses at a rate three times faster than the national
           average.8

           Overall EEO-1 data do not show substantial changes in diversity at
           the management level and suggest that certain financial sectors
           are more diverse at this level than others. Figure 1 shows that
           overall management-level representation by minorities increased
           from 11.1 percent to 15.5 percent from 1993 through 2004.
           Specifically, African-Americans increased their representation
           from 5.6 percent to 6.6 percent, Asians from 2.5 percent to 4.5
           percent, Hispanics from 2.8 percent to 4.0 percent and American
           Indians from 0.2 to 0.3 percent. Management-level representation
           by white women was largely unchanged at slightly more than
           one-third during the period, while representation by white men
           declined from 52.2 percent to 47.2 percent.

           EEO-1 data may actually overstate representation levels for
           minorities and white women in the most senior-level positions,
           such as Chief Executive Officers of large investment firms or
           commercial banks, because the category that captures these
           positions-"officials and managers"-covers all management
           positions. Thus, this category includes lower level positions
           (e.g., assistant manager of a small bank branch) that may have a
           higher representation of minorities and women. In 2007, EEOC plans
           to use a revised form for employers that divides this category
           into "executive/senior-level officers and managers" and
           "first/mid-level officials," which could provide a more accurate
           picture of diversity among senior managers.

           Figure 1: EEO-1 Data on Trends in Workforce Diversity in the
           Financial Services Industry at the Management Level by
           Racial/Ethnic Group and Gender (1993, 1998, 2000, and 2004)

           Note: Percentages may not always add to 100 due to rounding.

           As shown in figure 2, EEO-1 data also show that the depository and
           nondepository credit sectors, as well as the insurance sector,
           were somewhat more diverse at the management level than the
           securities and holdings and trust sectors. In 2004, minorities
           held 19.9 percent of management-level positions in nondepository
           credit institutions, such as mortgage bankers and brokers, but
           12.4 percent in holdings and trusts, such as investment companies.

8U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Business Owners: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2002
(March 2006).

  Diversity in the Financial Services Industry at the Management Level Did Not
                   Change Substantially between 1993 and 2004

Figure 2: EEO-1 Data on Workforce Diversity in the Financial Services
Industry at the Management Level by Sector (2004)

Note: Percentages may not always add to 100 due to rounding.

You also asked that we collect data on the accounting industry. According
to the 2004 EEO-1 data, minorities held 13.5 percent, and white women held
32.4 percent of all "officials and managers" positions in the accounting
industry.

 Initiatives to Promote Workforce Diversity in the Financial Services Industry
                                Face Challenges

Minorities' rapid growth as a percentage of the overall U.S. population
and increased global competition have convinced some financial services
firms that workforce diversity is a critical business strategy. Officials
from the firms with whom we spoke said that their top leadership was
committed to implementing workforce diversity initiatives, but noted that
they faced challenges in making such initiatives work. In particular, they
cited ongoing difficulties in recruiting and retaining minority candidates
and in gaining employees' "buy-in" for diversity initiatives, especially
at the middle management level.

Financial Services Firms Have Implemented a Variety of Diversity Initiatives

Since the mid-1990s, some financial services firms have implemented a
variety of initiatives designed to recruit and retain minority and women
candidates to fill key positions. Officials from several banks said that
they had developed scholarship and internship programs to encourage
minority students to consider careers in banking. Some firms and trade
organizations have also developed partnerships with groups that represent
minority professionals and with local communities to recruit candidates
through events such as conferences and career fairs. To help retain
minorities and women, firms have established employee networks, mentoring
programs, diversity training, and leadership and career development
programs.

Officials from some financial services firms we contacted, as well as
industry studies, noted that that financial services firms' senior
managers were involved in diversity initiatives. For example, according to
an official from an investment bank, the head of the firm meets with every
minority and female senior executive to discuss his or her career
development. Officials from a few commercial banks said that the banks had
established diversity "councils" of senior leaders to set the vision,
strategy, and direction of diversity initiatives. A 2005 industry trade
group study and some officials also noted that some companies were linking
managers' compensation with their progress in hiring, promoting, and
retaining minority and women employees.9

A few firms have also developed performance indicators to measure progress
in achieving diversity goals. These indicators include workforce
representation, turnover, promotion of minority and women employees, and
employee satisfaction survey responses. Officials from several financial
services firms stated that measuring the results of diversity efforts over
time was critical to the credibility of the initiatives and to justifying
the investment in the resources such initiatives demanded.

9Securities Industry Association, 2005 Report on Diversity Strategy,
Development and Demographics: Executive Summary (November 2005).

Several Challenges May Have Affected the Success of Workforce Diversity
Initiatives in the Financial Services Industry

The financial services firms and trade organizations we contacted that had
launched diversity initiatives cited a variety of challenges that may have
limited the success of their efforts. First, officials said that the
industry faced ongoing challenges in recruiting minority and women
candidates. According to industry officials, the industry lacks a critical
mass of minority employees, especially at the senior levels, to serve as
role models to attract and retain other minorities. Available data on
minority students enrolled in Master of Business Administration (MBA)
programs suggest that the pool of minorities, a source that may feed the
"pipeline" for management-level positions within the financial services
industry and other industries, is relatively small.10 In 2000, minorities
accounted for 19 percent of all students enrolled in MBA programs in
accredited U.S. schools; in 2004, that student population had risen to 23
percent. Financial services firms compete for this relatively small pool
not only with one another but also with firms from other industries.

Evidence suggests, however, that the financial services industry may not
be fully leveraging its "internal" pipeline of minority and women
employees for management-level positions. As shown in figure 3, there are
job categories within the financial services industry that generally have
more overall workforce diversity than the "official and managers"
category, particularly among minorities. For example, minorities held 22
percent of "professional" positions in the industry in 2004 as compared
with 15 percent of "officials and managers" positions. According to a
recent EEOC report, the professional category represented a possible
pipeline of available management-level candidates.11 The EEOC states that
the chances of minorities and women (white and minority combined)
advancing from the professional category into management-level positions
is lower when compared with white males.

10Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

11See EEOC, Diversity in the Finance Industry (April 2006).

Figure 3: EEO-1 Data (Percentage) on Workforce Diversity in the Financial
Services Industry by Position, Gender, and Racial/Ethnic Group (2004)

Note: Percentages may not always add to 100 due to rounding.

Many officials from financial services firms and industry trade groups
agreed that retaining minority and women employees represented one of the
biggest challenges to promoting workforce diversity. One reason they cited
is that the industry, as described previously, lacks a critical mass of
minority men and women, particularly in senior-level positions, to serve
as role models. Without a critical mass, the officials said that minority
or women employees may lack the personal connections and access to
informal networks that are often necessary to navigate an organization's
culture and advance their careers. For example, an official from a
commercial bank we contacted said he learned from staff interviews that
African-Americans believed that they were not considered for promotion as
often as others partly because they were excluded from informal employee
networks needed for promotion or to promote advancement.

In addition, some industry officials said that achieving "buy-in" from key
employees such as middle managers could be challenging. Middle managers
are particularly important to diversify institutions because they are
often responsible for implementing key aspects of diversity initiatives
and for explaining them to other employees. However, the officials said
that middle managers may be focused on other aspects of their
responsibilities, such as meeting financial performance targets, rather
than the importance of implementing the organization's diversity
initiatives. Additionally, the officials said that implementing diversity
initiatives represents a considerable cultural and organizational change
for many middle managers and employees at all levels. An official from an
investment bank told us that the bank has been reaching out to middle
managers who oversee minority and women employees by, for example,
instituting an "inclusive manager program."

Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses Often Face Difficulties in Obtaining
                                    Capital

Studies and reports, as well as interviews we conducted, suggest that
minority- and women-owned businesses face challenges obtaining bank credit
in conventional financial markets for several reasons, including business
characteristics (e.g., small firm size) and the possibility that lenders
may discriminate. Some business characteristics may also limit the ability
of minority- and women-owned businesses to raise equity capital.12
However, some financial institutions, primarily commercial banks, have
recently begun marketing their loan products and offering technical
assistance to minority- and women-owned businesses.

12Equity capital can be raised from several sources including venture
capital funds, private stock sales, or issuing stock in public financial
markets.

Business Characteristics May Affect Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses' Access
to Commercial Loans and Equity Capital

Reports and other research, as well as interviews we conducted with
commercial banks, including minority-owned banks and trade groups
representing minority- and women-owned businesses, highlight some of the
challenges these businesses may face in obtaining commercial bank credit.
For example, many minority-owned businesses are in the retail and service
sectors and may have few assets to offer as collateral.13 Further, many of
these businesses are relatively young and may not have an established
credit history.14 Many also are relatively small and often lack technical
expertise.15

On the other hand, some studies suggest that lenders may discriminate
against minority-owned businesses. We reviewed one study that found given
comparable loan applications-by African-American and Hispanic-owned firms
and white-owned firms-the applications by the African-American and
Hispanic-owned firms were more likely to be denied.16 However, assessing
such alleged discrimination may be complicated by limitations in data
availability. The Federal Reserve's Regulation B, which implements the
Equal Credit Opportunity Act, prohibits financial institutions from
requiring information on race and gender from applicants for nonmortgage
credit products.17 Although the regulation was initially implemented to
prevent such information from being used to discriminate against certain
groups, some federal financial regulators have stated that removing the
prohibition would allow them to better monitor and enforce laws
prohibiting discrimination in lending. Likewise, at least one bank
official noted that Regulation B limited the bank's ability to measure the
success of its efforts to provide financial services to minority groups.
We note that under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), lenders are
required to collect and report data on racial and gender characteristics
of applicants for mortgage loans. Researchers have used the HMDA data to
assess potential mortgage lending discrimination by financial
institutions.

13U.S. Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency,
Expanding Financing Opportunities for Minority Businesses (2004). U.S.
Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency, Keys to
Minority Entrepreneurial Success, Capital, Education, and Technology
(September 2002). U.S. Department of Commerce, Minority Business
Development Agency, State of Minority Business Enterprises: A Preliminary
Overview of the 2002 Survey of Business Owners (September 2005).

14U.S. Census Bureau, "2002 Survey of Business Owners, Women-Owned Firms"
(Jan. 26, 2006).

15U.S. Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency, Keys
to Minority Entrepreneurial Success, Capital, Education, and Technology
(September 2002). U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy,
Financing Patterns of Small Firms: Findings from the 1998 Survey of Small
Business Finance (September 2003). All small businesses may face
challenges in obtaining credit due to the risks and costs involved in such
lending. See Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Report to
the Congress on the Availability of Credit to Small Businesses (September
2002).

16Blanchard, Lloyd, John Yinger, and Bo Zhao (2005), "Do Credit Market
Barriers Exist for Minority and Women Entrepreneurs?" Syracuse University,
Center for Policy Research Working Paper No. 74.

17The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), 15 U.S.C. S:S: 1691-1691f.

Research also suggests that some business characteristics (e.g., limited
technical expertise) that may affect the ability of many minority- and
women-owned businesses to obtain bank credit, as discussed earlier, may
also limit their capacity to raise equity capital.18 Although venture
capital firms may not have traditionally invested in minority-owned
businesses, a recent study suggests that firms that do focus on such
entities can earn rates of return comparable to those earned on mainstream
private equity investments.19

Some Commercial Banks Have Developed Programs for Minority- and Women-Owned
Businesses

Officials from some financial institutions we contacted, primarily large
commercial banks, told us that they are reaching out to minority- and
women-owned businesses by marketing their financial products to them
(including in different languages), establishing partnerships with
relevant trade and community organizations, and providing technical
assistance. For example, officials from some banks said that they educate
potential business clients by providing technical assistance through
financial workshops and seminars on various issues, such as developing a
business plans and obtaining commercial bank loans. While these efforts
take time and resources, the officials we spoke with indicated that their
institutions recognize the benefits of tapping this growing segment of the
market.

Madam Chairwoman, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be pleased
to respond to any questions you or other Members of the Subcommittee may
have.

18Center for Women's Business Research, Access to Capital: Where We've
Been, Where We're Going (March 2005). Brush, C. G.; Carter, N.; Gatewood,
E.; Greene P. G.; and Hart, M. M. Gatekeepers of Venture Growth: A Diana
Project Report on the Role and Participation of Women in the Venture
Capital Industry (Oct. 20, 2001).

19Bates, Timothy and William Bradford (2003). "Minorities and Venture
Capital, A New Wave in American Business." Kauffman Foundation.

                       Staff Contact and Acknowledgments

For further information about this testimony, please contact Orice M.
Williams on (202) 512-8678 or at [email protected] . Contact points for
our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on
the last page of this statement. Individuals making key contributions to
this testimony include Wesley M. Phillips, Assistant Director; Emily
Chalmers; William Chatlos; Kimberly Cutright; Simin Ho; Marc Molino;
Robert Pollard; LaSonya Roberts; and Bethany Widick.

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Highlights of GAO-06-843T, a testimony before the Subcommittee on
Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Financial Services, House of
Representatives

July 12,2006

FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

Overall Trends in Management-Level Diversity and Diversity Initiatives,
1993-2004

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 at this time.

From 1993 through 2004, overall diversity at the management level in the
financial services industry did not change substantially, but some
racial/ethnic minority groups experienced more change in representation
than others. EEOC data show that management-level representation by
minority women and men overall increased from 11.1 percent to 15.5 percent
(see fig. below). Specifically, African-Americans increased their
representation from 5.6 percent to 6.6 percent, Asians from 2.5 percent to
4.5 percent, Hispanics from 2.8 percent to 4.0 percent, and American
Indians from 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent.

Financial services firms and trade groups have initiated programs to
increase workforce diversity, but these initiatives face challenges. The
programs include developing scholarships and internships, partnering with
groups that represent minority professionals, and linking managers'
compensation with their performance in promoting a diverse workforce. Some
firms have developed indicators to measure progress in achieving workforce
diversity. Industry officials said that among the challenges these
initiatives face are recruiting and retaining minority candidates, as well
as gaining the "buy-in" of key employees, such as the middle managers who
are often responsible for implementing such programs.

Research reports suggest that minority- and women-owned businesses have
difficulty obtaining access to capital for several reasons, such as that
these businesses may be concentrated in service industries and lack assets
to pledge as collateral. Some studies suggest that lenders may
discriminate, but proving such an allegation is complicated by the lack of
available data. However, some financial institutions, primarily commercial
banks, said that they have developed strategies to serve minority- and
women-owned businesses. These strategies include marketing existing
financial products specifically to minority and women business owners.

Workforce Representation in the Financial Services Industry at the
Management Level by Racial/Ethnic Group and Gender (1993, 1998, 2000, and
2004)

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