Money
GAO-23-106556: Emergency Relief Funds: Significant Improvements Are Needed to Address Fraud and Improper Payments
"Three programs — SBA's PPP and COVID-19 EIDL program, and DOL's UI program—account for a large portion of COVID-19 relief funding. Based on GAO's findings and other audits, GAO added SBA's emergency loans for small businesses issued under PPP and COVID-19 EIDL, and the UI system to its High-Risk List in March 2021 and June 2022, respectively. This testimony summarizes (1) fraud, improper payments, and accountability deficiencies in COVID-19 relief programs; (2) shortcomings in agencies' fraud risk management practices and internal controls; and (3) the status of recommended actions to improve these practices in the future. GAO reviewed its prior COVID-19 findings and recommendations on internal controls and fraud risk management practices." more »
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Seeks Public Feedback On How the Consumer Credit Market is Functioning
The CFPB is interested in hearing about people’s overall experiences with credit card products. In particular, the request is seeking information on: Terms of credit card agreements and the practices of credit card issuers; Effectiveness of disclosure of terms, fees, and other expenses of credit card plans; Adequacy of protections against unfair or deceptive acts or practices relating to credit card plans; Cost and availability of consumer credit cards; Safety and soundness of credit card issuers; Use of risk-based pricing for consumer credit cards; Consumer credit card product innovation more »
GAO, Financial Services Industry: Overview of Representation of Minorities and Women and Practices to Promote Diversity
"EEOC data (for 2018 – 2020) showed representation for both minorities and women was relatively flat or marginally increased. Black and Hispanic representation remained at about 3 and 4 percent, respectively. Female representation increased from 31 to 32 percent in that period. Representatives of financial services firms and other stakeholders with whom GAO spoke for the November 2017 report (GAO-18-64) described challenges in recruiting and retaining members of minority groups and women. They also identified practices that could help address the challenges, including recruiting students from a broad group of schools and academic disciplines and establishing management-level accountability to achieve diversity goals." more »
The Beige Book Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions By Federal Reserve District Wednesday November 30, 2022
Overall Economic Activity: Economic activity was about flat or up slightly since the previous report, down from the modest average pace of growth in the prior Beige Book period...Interest rates and inflation continued to weigh on activity, and many contacts expressed greater uncertainty or increased pessimism concerning the outlook...Inflation pushed low-to-moderate income consumers to substitute increasingly to lower-priced goods. Travel and tourism contacts, by contrast, reported moderate gains in activity, as restaurants and high-end hospitality venues enjoyed robust demand. Higher interest rates further dented home sales, which declined at a moderate pace overall but fell steeply in some districts; apartment leasing started to slow, as well. more »