Page 1 GAO-25-108050
Comptroller General
of the United States
May 19, 2025
The Honorable Travis Hill
Acting Chairman
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
550 17
th
Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20429
Priority Open Recommendations: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Dear Acting Chairman Hill:
The purpose of this letter is to call your personal attention to two areas based on GAO’s past
work and four open priority recommendations, which are enclosed.
1
Additionally, there are six
other GAO open recommendations that we will continue to work with your staff to address.
We are highlighting the following areas that warrant your timely and focused attention.
Specifically:
Bank supervision. The 2023 failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank raised
questions about whether the federal banking regulators took sufficient action to ensure that
financial institutions promptly addressed supervisory concerns, such as weak liquidity and risk
management practices. In November 2024, we recommended that the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC) establish procedures—such as vetting meetings—to ensure that
managers formally consult with the examination team and relevant stakeholders before making
substantive changes to examination findings for certain institutions. We also recommended that
FDIC consider periodic assignment rotations for certain case managers. By implementing these
two recommendations, FDIC could better ensure that its escalation decisions are independent
and evidence-based.
Blockchain technology. In 2023, we found that financial regulators lacked an ongoing
coordination mechanism for addressing blockchain risks in a timely manner. For example,
regulators identified financial stability risks posed by stablecoins in 2019 but did not identify the
need for action to address these risks until November 2021. We recommended that FDIC and
the other federal financial regulators jointly establish or adapt an existing formal coordination
mechanism to identify and address risks posed by blockchain-related products and services.
Such a mechanism would help FDIC and the other regulators collectively identify risks and
develop and implement a regulatory response in a timely manner.
1
GAO considers a recommendation to be a priority if, when implemented, it may significantly improve government
operations—for example, by realizing large dollar savings; eliminating mismanagement, fraud, and abuse; or making
progress toward addressing a high-risk or duplication issue.
