External Peer Review Report

March 7, 2024 

Deborah J. Jeffrey

Inspector General 

Office of Inspector General

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F. Street, NE

Washington, DC 20549-2977 

Dear Inspector General Jeffrey: 

This required external peer review was conducted in accordance with the Council of the Inspectors 

General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) Inspection and Evaluation Committee guidance as 

contained in the CIGIE Guide for Conducting External Peer Reviews of Inspection and Evaluation 

Organizations of Federal Offices of Inspector General (December 2021). The peer review was conducted 

from October 11, 2023, through March 7, 2024. 

We assessed the extent to which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of 

Inspector General (OIG) complied with the CIGIE Quality Standards for Inspection and Evaluation, 

December 2020 (Blue Book). This assessment included a review of SEC OIG’s internal policies and 

procedures (SEC OIG Office of Audits Policy Manual, issued February 16, 2022) implementing the Blue 

Book standards. It also included a review of selected inspection and evaluation reports issued 

between October 1, 2020, and September 30, 2023, to determine whether the reports complied 

with the Blue Book standards and SEC OIG’s internal policies and procedures. Details regarding our 

scope and methodology are in Enclosure 1.

Overall Conclusion

We determined that SEC OIG’s policies and procedures generally were consistent with the Blue

Book standards addressed in the external peer review. Of the two reports reviewed, both generally 

complied with the Blue Book standards. The SEC OIG management officials provided a response to 

our Peer Review Report (Enclosure 2) in which they agreed with our overall conclusion.

Sincerely,

Roderick Anderson

Acting Inspector General

U.S. Department of Commerce

Office of Inspector General

Enclosures 
2 

ENCLOSURE 1: Scope and Methodology

When selecting projects for the peer review, we reviewed SEC OIG’s Strategic Plan, annual work 

plans, and Semiannual Reports to Congress, to determine what categories or types of work had been 

completed, areas of focus, and any potential risk areas. From October 1, 2020, through September 30, 

2023, SEC OIG issued 12 evaluation reports with three of the reports contracted work. The CIGIE

Guide for Conducting External Peer Reviews of Inspection and Evaluation Organizations of Federal Offices of 

Inspector General states, “The Reviewing OIG should select a representative sample of reports issued by 

the Reviewed Organization covering the 1-year period prior to the start of the peer review.” SEC OIG 

issued three evaluation reports 1 year prior to the start of the peer review with all three reports 

issued by the same group. Therefore, we selected two of the three reports issued between October 1, 

2022, through September 30, 2023, to review. Specifically, we reviewed the following reports:

• Evaluation of the SEC’s Fiscal Year 2022 Compliance With the Payment Integrity Information Act of 

2019, Report Number 578, issued May 5, 2023.

• The SEC Took Appropriate Workplace Safety Actions in Accordance With Pandemic Guidance But 

Could Improve Communications, Report Number 579, issued July 25, 2023.

We did not conduct onsite visits; however, SEC OIG provided us online access to the audit software 

that housed workpapers, documentation, and reports for each project. Additionally, we obtained 

and reviewed SEC OIG’s policies and procedures, a prior external peer review report and letter of 

comment, and quality assurance reports. We also interviewed relevant personnel who addressed 

our questions and provided additional documentation to support our review.

There were no constraints on our ability to exercise professional judgment. Furthermore, there 

were no limitations or impairment to our independence. 
3 

ENCLOSURE 2: Reviewed Organization Comments to Draft Peer Review Report

SEC OIG’s response to our draft peer review report follows on p. 4. 
UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

OFFICE OF

INSPECTOR GENERAL

February 14, 2024 

Roderick Anderson

Acting Inspector General

U.S. Department of Commerce

Office of Inspector General 

Dear Acting Inspector General Anderson: 

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Draft External Peer Review Report, dated

February 13, 2024, on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Inspector

General's inspection and evaluation organization for the period ended September 30, 2023.

We are pleased that your independent review of our inspection and evaluation organization 

determined that our policies and procedures generally were consistent with the Blue Book

standards addressed in the external peer review, and the two reports reviewed both generally

complied with the Blue Book standards. 

We appreciate your efforts in conducting this review. If you have questions, please contact 

me or Rebecca L. Sharek, Deputy Inspector General for Audits, Evaluations, and Special 

Projects, at (202) 551-6083 or sharekr@sec.gov.

Sincerely, 

Deborah J. Jeffrey

Inspector General