The Office of Personnel Management is establishing a board to provide independent advice to Director Katherine Archuleta on issues affecting federal retirement systems.

OPM established the charter for the Board of Actuaries of the Civil Service Retirement System, to comply with the requirements of the amended Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

The new board will make recommendations on issues that impact the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (CSRDF), the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS) to the OPM director through that agency’s Office of Planning and Policy Analysis. The OPM director may take action on the advice of the board.

“The Board shall furnish its advice and opinion on matters referred to it by OPM, and recommend such changes as in the Board’s judgment are necessary to protect the public interest and maintain the Retirement Systems on a sound financial basis,” OPM wrote in its Federal Register notice.

In addition, the board will provide annual reports on the actuarial status of the retirement systems and review actuarial valuations at least once every five years, unless OPM deems that it is necessary to do so more often.

Agency heads also will be able to appeal to the Board to reconsider amounts payable for FERS “to review the computations of OPM and recommend any adjustment with respect to any such amount which the Board determines appropriate.”

Gregory Kissel, OPM’s senior actuary for Retirement Programs, will act as the senior designated federal officer (DFO), with OPM Chief Actuary Nancy Kichak acting as the board’s alternate DFO.

Archuleta will appoint the three members of the board. The appointees will be professional actuaries, who are members of the American Academy of Actuaries “qualified under actuarial standards of practice to issue a statement of actuarial opinion on defined benefit retirement plans.”

Archuleta may appoint qualified members of the civil service or the private sector.

“Each Board member is appointed to provide advice to the government on the basis of his or her best judgment without representing any particular point of view and in a manner that is free from conflict of interest.” OPM’s notice said.

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