Office of Special Trustee for American Indians: Financial	 
Statement Audit Recommendations and the Audit Follow-Up Process  
(19-JAN-07, GAO-07-295R).					 
                                                                 
In 1994, Congress enacted the American Indian Trust Fund	 
Management Reform Act, Pub. L. No. 103-412, recognizing the	 
federal government's fiduciary responsibilities toward American  
Indians. The act called for more effective management of the	 
Department of the Interior's (Interior) fiduciary		 
responsibilities, required an annual audit of Indian trust funds,
and created the Office of Special Trustee for American Indians	 
(OST) in Interior. In 1996, the Secretary of the Interior ordered
the transfer of responsibility for trust fund management,	 
including preparation of the financial statements of the Tribal  
and Other Trust Funds and Individual Indian Monies Trust Funds	 
(Indian trust funds), from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to 
OST. Since then, OST has prepared and independent public	 
accountants have audited the financial statements of the Indian  
trust funds. The auditors have issued qualified audit opinions	 
each year since 1996 because of inadequacies in Interior's	 
trust-related systems, controls, and processes, disagreements	 
between Interior and the trust funds' beneficiaries on amounts	 
owed, and potential claims against the government. Congress	 
expressed concern about deficiencies identified and reported in  
the Indian trust funds' annual financial statement audits for	 
fiscal years 1996 through 2005. Congress asked us to determine	 
(1) the reported status of OST management's responses to	 
financial statement audit recommendations from fiscal years 1996 
through 2005 and (2) whether financial statement audit follow-up 
procedures and controls for OST are designed to meet the	 
requirements of applicable guidance and whether controls are in  
place to reasonably assure that audit follow-up objectives are	 
achieved. This letter transmits our slides we used to brief	 
Congressional staff on October 5, 2006. 			 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-07-295R					        
    ACCNO:   A64994						        
  TITLE:     Office of Special Trustee for American Indians: Financial
Statement Audit Recommendations and the Audit Follow-Up Process  
     DATE:   01/19/2007 
  SUBJECT:   Auditing standards 				 
	     Financial statement audits 			 
	     Financial statements				 
	     Fund audits					 
	     Indian lands					 
	     Internal audits					 
	     Internal controls					 
	     Native Americans					 
	     Trust funds					 
	     Individual Indian Monies Program			 

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GAO-07-295R

   

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