Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the implementation of a provision of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 to promote comparability in pay and benefits among federal banking agencies, focusing on: (1) mechanisms of coordination the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Resolution Trust Corporation, and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) established to seek comparability; (2) policies adopted by the agencies that affect actual comparability; and (3) current pay schedules.
GAO found that: (1) in January 1991, OCC and OTS implemented new compensation programs and informed the other agencies and Congress of the changes; (2) overall, the agencies provide such compensation as geographic cost differentials and pay-for-performance programs in addition to base pay, but the type and amounts of additions vary; and (3) the actual average base and total pay received by attorneys, bank examiners, and secretaries differ for the positions analyzed, but those differences do not necessarily indicate a lack of comparability.
