Designated Representatives of the Board Members (by telephone)
Jeanne Klinefelter Wilson, Acting Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits
Security Administration, Department of Labor
(Designated Representative of Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta)
Christopher Campbell, Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, Department of the Treasury
(Designated Representative of Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin)
Karen Dunn Kelley, Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, Department of Commerce
(Designated Representative of Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross)
PBGC
Thomas Reeder, Director
Ann Orr, Chief of Staff
Judith R. Starr, General Counsel and Secretary to the Board
Patricia Kelly, Chief Financial Officer
Robert Scherer, Chief Information Officer
Cathy Kronopolous, Chief Benefits Administrator
Karen Morris, Chief of Negotiations and Restructuring
Michael Rae, Deputy Chief Policy Officer
Theodore Winter, Director, Financial Operations Department
Walter Luiza, Deputy Director, Financial Operations Department
Robert Callahan, Financial Operations Department
Bruce Johnson, Financial Operations Department
Anthony Castoro, Accountant, Financial Operations Department
Jennifer Pettyjohn, Corporate Investments Department
Scott Young, Chief Actuary, Office of Benefits Administration
William House, Actuary, Office of Benefits Administration
Diane Braunstein, Director, Quality Management Department
Nicole Williams, Division Manager, Quality Management Department
PBGC’s Office of Inspector General
Robert Westbrooks, Inspector General
Nina Murphy, Assistant Inspector General for Audit
Other Board Agency Staff (by telephone)
Nicole Swift, Employee Benefits Law Specialist, Employee Benefits Security
Administration, Department of Labor
Rick Lattimer, Policy Analyst, Economics and Statistics Administration,
Department of Commerce
Kenneth R. White, Policy Analyst, Economics and Statistics Administration,
Department of Commerce
Philip Quinn, Senior Policy Analyst, Department of the Treasury
Daniel Dorman, Senior Policy Advisor, Department of the Treasury
CliftonLarsonAllen (outside audit firm)
Marlon Perry, Principal
Sarah Mirzakhari, IT Principal
Tram Jewett, Manager
Kimberly Penn, Director
Jillian Manning, Director
The Board, through its representatives duly designated pursuant to section 4002.1 (b)(1) of the Corporation’s Bylaws, met on November 14, 2017. The Acting Chair, Acting Assistant Secretary Jeanne Klinefelter Wilson, called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m.
The Acting Chair thanked PBGC management and staff for all their hard work throughout the financial audit, especially Chief Financial Officer Patricia Kelly and Financial Operations Director Ted Winter. She also extended her thanks to the Office of Inspector General and the independent auditors. The Acting Chair explained that the purpose of the meeting was to review and approve transmittal of the Corporation’s fiscal year 2017 financial statements, annual performance report, independent auditors report, and other documentation in conformance with OMB Circulars A-11 and A-136, to the President, the Congress, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget by November 15, 2017. Additionally, the report is supplemented by the Chair’s message and the Director’s message. She noted that the Board would approve the actuarial evaluation that completes the PBGC fiscal year 2017 Annual Report required by section 4008 of ERISA once the actuarial analysis required by that section is completed.
The Acting Chair noted that, on approval, the report comprising these documents will not be immediately released but will be subject to technical corrections agreed to among the Board Representatives. The minutes of this meeting will be circulated to the Board Members with their approval thereof constituting ratification of the acts of the Board Representatives.
Director Tom Reeder echoed the Acting Chair’s thanks to PBGC staff, the Office of Inspector General and independent auditors CliftonLarsonAllen. He expressed his appreciation for the Board Representatives’ attendance and recognized the contributions of their staff in reviewing the Annual Report.
The Acting Chair then recognized Inspector General Robert Westbrooks.
Inspector General Westbrooks identified three key takeaways from the audit report:
- Continued concern with the growing multiemployer deficit;
- Continued improvement in internal controls; and
- A control environment with no access issues, closure of 29 financial statement-related recommendations, and only 54 recommendations remaining open.
The Inspector General then introduced Marlon Perry, CliftonLarsonAllen principal.
Mr. Perry observed that this is the 25th year in which PBGC has received an unmodified opinion on the financial statements and the second year in a row that it is receiving an unmodified opinion on internal controls. There are three significant deficiencies, which are repeats from the prior year. The significant deficiency related to enterprise security management has been downgraded to a management letter item, for which he commended management. PBGC previously reported an Anti-Deficiency Act (ADA) violation related to its headquarters leases and there are still continued efforts around operating leases and how they should be reported. This is a potential ADA issue, but management’s research is still being performed. Mr. Perry congratulated his team for their efforts and expressed his thanks to Director Reeder for his leadership on internal controls.
The Acting Chair then requested a motion to approve, absent any material changes, transmittal of the Corporation’s fiscal year 2017 financial statements, annual performance report, independent auditors report, and other documentation in conformance with OMB Circulars A-11 and A-136, supplemented by the Chair’s message and the Director’s message, to the President, the Congress, and the Office of Management and Budget by November 15. The motion was made, and upon being seconded, passed.
The meeting adjourned at 1:13.