This Semiannual Report to Congress summarizes the activities and accomplishments of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Office of Inspector General for the period October 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011. During this reporting period, our work spanned PBGC and demonstrated the need for PBGC to take more assertive action to address risk strategically:

• Our evaluation of PBGC's plan asset audit of the National Steel pension plans found that the work was seriously flawed. As a result, neither PBGC nor plan participants had assurance that benefits had been correctly computed and paid.


• The Inspector General testified before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, reporting mixed results on whether stronger management and oversight was needed.


• Our evaluation of PBGC's strategic preparedness for a potential workload influx concluded that, as a result of not completing a comprehensive readiness exercise, PBGC does not have a well thought out strategy for addressing workload surges with a variety of workable tactics. Instead the Corporation is relying on its ability to develop and implement an ad hoc approach.


• Our information technology audit work included two FISMA reports and a report on vulnerability assessment, penetration testing and social engineering which found a significant number of critical and high vulnerabilities.


• We issued the 18th consecutive unqualified opinion on PBGC's general purpose financial statements. For a second year, we reported an adverse opinion on internal control based on three significant deficiencies that, taken together, comprise a material weakness.


• We issued a report on internal control that detailed the underlying material weakness: entity-wide security program planning and management; access controls and configuration management; and integrated financial management systems.


• In response to a request from Senator Brown of Ohio, we conducted limited scope inquiries on various issues related to PBGC's actions with respect to the terminated pension plans of Republic Technologies International.


• We continue to address pension fraud and identify theft through investigations, proactive training, and outreach.


• We issued a new five-year Strategic Plan that outlines our goals related to performance, our stakeholders, and workforce (attached at the end of this semiannual report).