For Immediate Release ~ November 29, 2004
Contact: Shawn Pensoneau ~ (202) 632-7003

Washington, DC – In a letter sent today to several tribes the NIGC Chairman Phil Hogen, emphasized the requirement for tribes to file timely annual audit and internal standard reports with the NIGC.

NIGC Chairman Phil Hogen said "an annual outside audit is a bedrock requirement for a tribe in its regulation of Indian gaming.  The audit helps to ensure that a tribe's gaming operation can account for its revenue and that the tribe will be the primary beneficiary of the gaming operation."

Current NIGC regulations require each gaming tribe to engage a certified public accountant to conduct an annual audit of the financial statements of each of its gaming operations.  Tribes are required to submit reports setting forth the results of these audits to the NIGC within 120 days following the end of a gaming operation's fiscal year.  Within this same deadline, tribes are also required to submit a copy of a report prepared by a certified public accountant verifying the tribe is in material compliance with tribal internal control standards (TICS) or a tribally approved variance that has received NIGC concurrence.

"We are aware most tribes provide relevant documents in a timely fashion, but felt the need to announce to all tribes that NIGC will take steps that will result in enforcement action and possible civil fine assessments in the future," Hogen said.

The National Indian Gaming Commission is an independent regulatory agency established within the Department of the Interior pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.

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