OFFICE OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

U. S .Depart m ent o f t h e Tr e a sur y

1750 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 8th Floor, Washington DC 20220, DC 20005 | P: 202-622-7610 | F: 202-622-5879 | info@ota.treas.gov
Treasury Technical Assistance:

A Legacy of Financial Sector Strengthening

1990 Established by Treasury to support economic transition in Central and Eastern 

Europe following the fall of the Berlin Wall

1991 Begin first resident advisor project in Poland (Poland would join the European 

Union in 2004 along with other former Eastern Bloc countries)

1995 Initiate first engagement in conflict-affected country (Bosnia)

1997 Form new team to focus on economic crimes and anti-corruption

1998 Send banking advisors to Indonesia and Thailand to assist with Asian

financial crisis 

1999 Congress authorizes and provides direct funding for OTA to provide 

assistance worldwide

2003 Deploy advisors to Afghanistan and Iraq to support reconstruction efforts 

2004 Form first partnership with Millennium Challenge Corporation on compact and 

threshold programs

2007 Launch financial inclusion initiative to increase safe and secure access to 

financial services

2008 Assist countries affected by the global financial crisis 

2009 Launch effort focused on strengthening the capacity of governments to structure 

and implement infrastructure projects

2010 Join State Department’s Energy Governance and Capacity Initiative to improve 

transparency in natural resources extraction

2010 Begin partnership with State Department to build capacity of Central American 

and Caribbean countries to combat economic crimes

2014 Deploy advisors to Ukraine to assist interim authorities during economic and 

political crisis

2014 Begin partnership with State Department to improve fiscal transparency 

worldwide through the Fiscal Transparency Innovation Fund
Mission & Approach

A well-functioning financial sector is critical to achieving a 

country’s broader economic, political, and security objectives. The 

mission of the U.S. Treasury Department’s international assistance 

program, managed by the Office of Technical Assistance (OTA), is 

to support the development of strong financial sectors and sound 

public financial management in countries where assistance is 

needed and there is a strong commitment to reform.

For over twenty years, OTA has helped many countries develop 

and implement market-based financial policies and management 

practices that support growing economies and stable democracies. 

Though OTA focuses on the public sector, the benefits of improved 

public financial management serve the wider community: citizens; 

private enterprise; and other interests in the economy at large. 

A government that manages the public purse with integrity and 

effectiveness not only delivers essential services better, it also builds 

credibility with its citizens and the international community.

OTA provides financial sector assistance in five core disciplines: 

revenue policy and administration, budget and financial 

accountability, government debt and infrastructure finance, 

banking and financial services, and economic crimes. In addition, 

OTA engages in related areas requiring cross-disciplinary 

collaboration, such as financial inclusion, IT system development, 

and auditing. OTA’s cadre of highly experienced technical 

advisors work side-by-side with counterparts in finance ministries, 

central banks, tax departments and other public sector financial 

institutions, typically for a period of several years. Assistance

may be provided on a sustained basis by resident advisors,

or by intermittent advisors who travel overseas for

short term assignments.

OTA Emphasizes These Values and Objectives:

• We place the highest priority on institutional and individual capacity

building and work side-by-side as partners with managers and

line personnel.

• We are flexible and responsive to country requests.

• We work with governments that are committed to reform and to using

our assistance productively.

• We employ a corps of highly-experienced advisors who have faced

and successfully worked through the kinds of problems confronted by

counterparts around the world.

• We work collaboratively with other U.S. Government agencies and

international organizations.

• We aim to create maximum impact with our projects and then move on

once local capacity has been created.

1
Achieving Results

OTA is a small, cost-effective program that leverages modest 

budget resources to help partner countries achieve significant 

development outcomes such as the following:

• Colombia created the first Inspector General for revenue issues

in Latin America, an independent body tasked with investigating

corruption and rooting out systemic weaknesses in the tax and

social security administrations. The Inspector General, which

was developed based on recommendations from OTA, has

significantly reduced the time required to conduct and close

investigations.

• Costa Rica successfully implemented an infrastructure project

to open an international airport terminal in the main tourist

gateway. OTA helped the government evaluate and determine

the best financing and execution models to proceed with the

project.

• Honduras conducted operations to seize the assets of a drug

trafficking organization, netting over $500 million in assets. OTA

worked with the Honduran government to develop an antimoney laundering/combatting the financing of terrorism regime.

• The Philippines is implementing a new payroll and human

resources system that may result in significant savings, up to 10

percent of payroll. OTA advised the government on a multi-year

process of modernizing and centralizing the payroll system.

• South Africa established a medium-term expenditure

framework to guide provinces and the national government

in post-apartheid budget development. This framework,

developed by OTA, continues to serve as the primary tool

for balancing competing policy choices and determining the

equitable distribution of revenue between levels of government.

East African Community (EAC) Financial Integration

OTA is supporting members of the 

EAC (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, 

Tanzania, and Uganda) in their 

desire to move towards financial 

integration and harmonization. 

OTA has projects in all member 

countries in a range of activities 

including revenue mobilization, 

banking supervision, infrastructure 

finance, and development of 

government securities markets. 

With OTA assistance, the EAC has made significant progress in implementing 

an integrated payment system that will facilitate cross-border trade 

throughout the EAC and improving government securities markets and debt 

management strategies.

OTA and Central Bank of Kenya officials at the 

Kenya School of Monetary Studies

2
Revenue Policy & Administration

The mission of the Revenue Policy and Administration 

Program is to provide assistance to tax and customs 

administrations and ministries of finance that strengthens their 

ability to serve the country and its people through the efficient, 

responsible collection of revenues. Projects focus on collection 

of maximum revenue under law, promotion of fairness and 

transparency, building processes that inform and assist taxpayers, 

and countering corruption in all of a country’s revenue 

collection operations.

Specific areas of assistance include: 

• Tax policy advice and legislative drafting, emphasizing fairness

and compliance burden as well as revenue production;

• Efficient tax processing, taxpayer accounting and registration;

• Promotion of tax and customs compliance:

• Support of voluntary compliance through taxpayer

education and information;

• Audit and debt management;

• Criminal enforcement;

• Design and management of administrative and organizational

systems, including establishing and strengthening of large and

medium taxpayer offices;

• Internal controls and internal inspections to deter and

redress corruption;

• Effective human resources and performance

management systems;

• Project management consulting, particularly with respect to tax

IT systems; and

• Training at all levels, from executive strategic planning and

management workshops, to technical training of auditors

and collectors.

Monrovia, Liberia 3
Government Debt & Infrastructure Finance

The mission of the Government Debt and Infrastructure 

Finance (GDIF) Program is twofold. First, GDIF helps host 

countries implement sound public debt management practices and 

develop domestic debt markets through which the government 

can predictably finance itself within acceptable cost and risk 

parameters. Robust domestic government debt markets support 

political and fiscal stability, monetary policy transmission, and 

broader capital market development for sub-national and private 

sector issuers and investors. GDIF sovereign debt advisors assist 

counterpart officials in implementing important objectives:

• Strengthening the legal and regulatory framework for sovereign

debt management and issuance;

• Building institutional and staff capacity to issue and manage

public debt through market-friendly mechanisms;

• Adopting comprehensive debt management and funding

policies and strategies;

• Creating a broader range of financing instruments and sources

to fund the government’s budgetary and capital investment

needs, while providing local investors safe instruments for their

savings; and

• Designing and implementing securities issuance, trading

and settlement mechanisms that support financial market

transparency, efficiency, and liquidity.

The graphic below illustrates the various components involved in 

developing domestic financial markets. GDIF operates primarily 

in the lower three tiers of pyramid, which provide the solid 

foundation for broader capital market development.

Private Sector Money Market Public Sector

Interbank Deposits, Treasury Single Account 

Repos, BA’s, Warehouse Receipts Government Cash Management

Equity 

Markets, 

Investment

Funds & 

Derivatives

Corporate Bond, Mortgage-Backed,

Asset-Backed Securities

Treasury Bill/Note Market & Foreign Exchange Markets

Capital Markets

Liquidity 

Management 

Infrastructure

Long-Term Government Bond Market

Municipal Debt

Source: International Monetary Fund (IMF) 

Development Pyramid

for Domestic

Financial Markets

4
Government Debt & Infrastructure Finance

The second component of 

GDIF’s mission is to assist 

host countries to develop and 

finance basic infrastructure, 

such as transportation, 

public safety and health 

facilities, and energy, that 

is critical to a country’s 

economic development 

and quality of life. GDIF 

helps build counterpart 

governments’ capacity to 

accelerate infrastructure 

development and apply the 

most effective approach 

to the implementation of 

economically and financially 

sound infrastructure projects. GDIF infrastructure finance advisors 

work with government officials as they: 

• Strengthen their legal framework and regulatory environment,

particularly for public private partnerships;

• Build and staff an appropriate infrastructure development and

management organization;

• Increase their capability to analyze and manage the fiscal impact

of specific project proposals, particularly the impact on debt,

contingent liabilities, and long-term operating costs;

• Improve and institutionalize the project development process,

including contracting and dispute resolution mechanisms;

• Enhance interagency and private sector communications; and

• Attract prospective project investors, concessionaires,

and creditors.

“...help build 

counterpart 

governments’ 

capacity to 

accelerate 

infrastructure 

development...”

OTA advisors assess Tanzanian power plant project.

5
Budget & Financial Accountability

The mission of the Budget and Financial Accountability 

Program is to strengthen the effectiveness of ministries of finance, 

the readability and transparency of budget documents, and the 

management and expenditure of government resources. OTA 

works with countries to improve all aspects of the “Budget Cycle” 

depicted below.

focuses on

efficient resource allocation 

including the integration of 

funding for specific 

programs within the 

national budget

helps 

countries link their 

strategic goals and

priorities with resources

strengthens 

the financial tracking

and monitoring

capability both at a 

countrywide and

programmatic level

system 

improvements increase 

available resources, 

ensure efficient use of 

resources and increase the 

financial capacity of 

countries to fund

programs 

 systems 

improvements increase the 

ability to ensure the best 

goods and services are 

purchased at the lowest 

possible cost from reliable 

vendors in a timely manner 

Budgeting

Planning

Evaluation aids in 

determining the cost 

effectiveness of programs 

Reporting

Expenditures 

Purchasing

While assistance is tailored to the needs of each country, specific 

activities may include:

• Reforming financial and administrative policies and procedures

by drafting laws, regulations, standards, and manuals;

• Introducing and institutionalizing fiscal analysis techniques;

• Implementing customized business processes for manual and

automated systems;

• Implementing international fiscal and accounting standards;

• Assessing organizational structures, staffing requirements and

job descriptions; recommending changes; and assisting with

implementation; and

• Increasing capacity through informal and formal training. 6
Banking & Financial Services

The Banking & Financial 

Services Program

supports the development 

of sound, robust, wellregulated institutions that 

are effective financial 

intermediaries accessible 

to all and resistant to 

mismanagement, fraudulent 

financial activity, and 

adverse macroeconomic 

conditions. Specific projects 

may entail:

• Banking, Insurance, and Financial Market Supervision:

implementation of the Basel Accords, risk-based supervision;

stress tests and early warning systems;

• Bank Restructuring: rehabilitation of problem banks;

management and disposition of distressed assets; liquidation of

failed financial institutions; privatization of state-owned banks;

• Deposit Insurance Systems: drafting of laws; operational

design; development and implementation of policies and

regulations; calculation of fund size and premiums;

• Financial Stability: harmonizing macro-prudential approaches

to monitor financial sector risks; creating oversight committees

and issuing financial reports to highlight potential instabilities or

weaknesses in financial sectors;

• Internal Audit and Accounting: adopting and implementation

of International Financial Reporting Standards; central bank

audit function;

• Corporate Governance: devising structures for central banks

and the commercial banking sector;

• Financial Inclusion: promoting access to credit for

underserved populations;

• Emerging Payment Systems: establishment of regulatory

frameworks for mobile financial services and innovative

approaches to financial market access;

• IT Systems Modernization: design and implementation of core

banking, retail payment, and data systems;

• Monetary Policy: analysis of monetary, macroeconomic,

and financial policy; currency issuance and revaluation;

establishment of monetary policy research departments.

“. . . supports the 

development of 

sound, robust, 

well-regulated 

institutions . . .”

7
Economic Crimes

The Economic Crimes Team (ECT) supports the establishment of 

institutions and regimes to combat economic crimes, including 

money laundering and terrorist financing. As reflected in the 

illustration below, this broad mission and corresponding systemic 

approach to technical assistance entails building working 

relationships with a cross-section of counterpart stakeholders. ECT 

partners with foreign counterpart regulatory, analytical, law 

enforcement and judicial authorities tasked in their country with 

ensuring a safe, sound and transparent financial system; targeting 

transnational criminal organizations and networks, including their 

illicit proceeds; and upholding the rule of law.

AML / CFT Regime Development 

Reporting 

Entities 

Regulators -

Banking

Customs

Tax

DNFPBs 

FIU Prosecutors /

Investigative

Magistrates

Judges 

Prison, 

fines 

Forfeiture

of criminal

proceeds

and

instrumentalities

Task Force 

Prevention Enforcement 

Results of 

analytic work 

Reports and 

declarations 

Law 

Enforcement 

Feedback on

reports/typologies

Consultation

The ECT supports security sector technical assistance in these 

functional areas:

• assessments and evaluations;

• financial intelligence unit (FIU) operations;

• border security operations and export control;

• local, regional and national police operations;

• prosecution and judicial functions;

• counter terrorist financing; and

• financial and non-financial (including Designated Non-Financial

Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs)) institution regulation

and supervision.

8
Office of Technical Assistance 

Contact Information

Larry McDonald

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Technical Assistance Policy

202-622-5504

Larry.Mcdonald@treasury.gov

Jason Orlando

Director, Office of Technical Assistance

202-622-5792

jorlando@ota.treas.gov

Audrey Linthorst

Associate Director, Banking & Financial Services

202-622-2451

alinthorst@ota.treas.gov

Michael Ablowich

Associate Director, Budget and Financial Accountability

202-927-0668

mabolowich@ota.treas.gov

Erin Schenck

Associate Director, Economic Crimes

202-622-8240

eschenck@ota.treas.gov

Debra von Koch

Associate Director, Government Debt and Infrastructure Finance

202-622-1535

dvonkoch@ota.treas.gov

Alan Robidoux

Associate Director(Acting), Revenue Policy and Administration

202-375-4618

arobidoux@ota.treas.gov
Treasury's Technical Assistanc

Colombia Costa Rica Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras 

Jamaica Paraguay Peru Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and  The Grenadines Suriname Trinidad & TobagoUruguay 

The Americas 

Angola Burundi Djibouti Ghana Guinea Kenya Lesotho Liberia Malawi 

Nigeria Rwanda Senegal Tanzania Uganda Zambia 

Sub-Saharan Africa 

Middle Iraq Palestinia

Europe and Eurasia Georgia Kosovo 

Moldova Ukraine 
1750 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 8th Floor, Washington DC 20220

P: 202.622.7610 | F: 202.622.5879 | info@ota.treas.gov

For more information, visit our website at: 

http://go.usa.gov/xdzZA