5 U.S.C. § 8439 — Accounting and information

The Executive Director^* shall establish and maintain an account^* for each individual who makes contributions or for whom contributions are made under section 8432 of this title or who makes contributions to the Thrift Savings Fund^*.

The balance in an individual’s account at any time is the excess of—

Pursuant to regulations prescribed by the Executive Director^*, the Executive Director shall allocate to each account an amount equal to a pro rata share of the net earnings^* and net losses^* from each investment of sums in the Thrift Savings Fund attributable to sums credited to such account, reduced by an appropriate share of the administrative expenses paid out of the net earnings under section 8437(d) of this title, as determined by the Executive Director.

For the purposes of this subsection, the term “qualified public accountant” shall have the same meaning as provided in section 103(a)(3)(D) of the Employee^* Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1023(a)(3)(D)).

The Executive Director shall annually engage, on behalf of all individuals for whom an account is maintained, an independent qualified public accountant, who shall conduct an examination of all accounts and other books and records maintained in the administration of this subchapter and subchapter VII as the public accountant considers necessary to enable the public accountant to make the determination required by paragraph (3). The examination shall be conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and shall involve such tests of the accounts, books, and records as the public accountant considers necessary.

The public accountant conducting an examination under paragraph (2) shall determine whether the accounts, books, and records referred to in such paragraph have been maintained in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles applied on a basis consistent with the manner in which such principles were applied during the examination conducted under such paragraph during the preceding year. The public accountant shall transmit to the Board^* a report on his examination, including his determination under this paragraph.

In making a determination under paragraph (3), a public accountant may rely on the correctness of any actuarial matter certified by an enrolled actuary if the public accountant states his reliance in the report transmitted to the Board under such paragraph.

The Board shall prescribe regulations under which each individual for whom an account is maintained shall be furnished with—

Information under this subsection shall be provided on a regular basis, and in a manner designed to facilitate informed decisionmaking with respect to elections under sections 8432 and 8438 of this title. Nothing in this paragraph shall be considered to limit the dissemination of information only to the times required under the preceding sentence.

Each employee, Member^*, former employee, or former Member who elects to invest in any investment fund or option under this chapter, other than the Government^* Securities Investment Fund, shall sign an acknowledgement prescribed by the Executive Director which states that the employee, Member, former employee, or former Member understands that an investment in any such fund or option is made at the employee’s, Member’s, former employee’s, or former Member’s risk, that the employee, Member, former employee, or former Member is not protected by the Government against any loss on such investment, and that a return on such investment is not guaranteed by the Government.

Prior to enrollment in the Thrift Savings Fund, or as soon as practicable thereafter, an individual who is automatically enrolled pursuant to section 8432(b)(2) shall receive the risk acknowledgment information described under paragraph (1).