Federal Housing Finance Agency: Improvements Needed in Controls over Financial Statement Review Process

What GAO Found

During GAO's audits of the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) fiscal year 2025 financial statements, GAO identified a deficiency in FHFA's controls over its review of its financial statements for conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles that represents a new significant deficiency in FHFA's internal control over financial reporting. GAO also found that FHFA completed corrective actions to address seven of the nine recommendations from prior reports that remained open as of September 30, 2024. In conjunction with the recommendations it addressed, FHFA resolved the significant deficiency in controls over its review of accounts payable accruals that GAO reported as a result of its 2024 audits.

Why GAO Did This Study

In January 2026, GAO reported on the results of its audits of FHFA's fiscal year 2025 financial statements and the deficiency in FHFA's internal controls. This report presents (1) the deficiency GAO identified during its fiscal year 2025 audit, along with the related recommendation to address this deficiency, and (2) the status of FHFA's corrective actions to address recommendations related to internal control over financial reporting deficiencies identified in prior reports that remained open as of September 30, 2024. As part of its fiscal year 2025 audits, GAO reviewed FHFA policies and procedures; interviewed FHFA management and staff; observed controls in operation; and tested controls to determine whether FHFA effectively designed, implemented, and operated these controls. GAO also followed up on the status of FHFA's corrective actions to address open recommendations related to internal control over financial reporting deficiencies that GAO identified in prior reports.