The Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts (, often referred to as TCU) is Brazil's federal audit office. It provides assistance to the Congress of Brazil in its

Constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

duty to exercise

external audit A financial audit is conducted to provide an opinion whether "financial statements" (the information is verified to the extent of reasonable assurance granted) are stated in accordance with specified criteria. Normally, the criteria are interna ...

over the

Executive Branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

. Its members, known as Ministers, are appointed by the National Congress and the

President of Brazil The president of Brazil (), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil () or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head of government of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the ...

. The TCU employs a highly qualified body of

civil servants The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

to prevent, investigate and sanction

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

and

malpractice In the law of torts, malpractice, also known as professional negligence, is an "instance of negligence or incompetence on the part of a professional".Malpractice definition, Professionals who may become the subject of malpractice actions inc ...

public funds Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual o ...

, with national jurisdiction. The Court was established on November 7, 1890, although its origins can be traced back to the Royal Treasury (''Erário Régio''), founded in 1808 by King John VI. It is, therefore, one of the world's oldest institutions dedicated to national government accountability. Today, the TCU works in cooperation with the Comptroller-General of the Union (CGU), which oversees federal executive

internal audit Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization's operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach t ...

. The Court's work is further scrutinized by the Public Ministry. In 2022 the TCU hosted the XXIV INCOSAI, a congress of INTOSAI, International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions. The TCU's efforts in 2011 resulted in saving 14 billion reais (US$7.44 billion) for Brazilian taxpayer. For every real spent by the court to prevent

and wasteful spending, 10.5 reais were saved.(20/04/2012 15:21) Resultados 2011: TCU gera benefícios de R$ 14 bilhões
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References

External links

* Legislative branch of Brazil Government accounting officials Government agencies established in 1891

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Supreme audit institutions {{Brazil-gov-stub