Banks could receive notification whenever the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) updates examination manuals in its website, the agency said Wednesday, as a service that is designed to help community banks stay current on changes in instructions provide to examination staff.
In Financial Institution Letter (FIL) 57-2018, the federal insurer of bank deposits said the option is being offered to banks to further strengthen communications with community banks. Under terms of the program, banks could receive email notifications as part of the agency’s subscription service when any of its four risk-management supervisory exam manuals are updated.
The FIL did not state if the option was part of an initiative announced last week by FDIC Board Chairman Jelena McWilliams focusing on transparency by the agency.
The manuals open to the notifications are the Risk Management (RM) Manual of Examination Policies, Trust Examination (Trust) Manual, Credit Card Activities (CC) Manual, and Credit Card Securitization (Securitization) Manual, the agency said.
According to the FIL, the RM Manualconsists of instructions to examiners on supervisory matters, including how to evaluate an institution for safety and soundness. TheTrust Manualaddresses trust concepts, principles, common and statutory laws, and regulations that govern the behavior of fiduciaries, the FDIC said, and the CC Manualassists examiners in understanding the unique characteristics of bank credit card operations and is supplemented by the Securitization Manualthat assists examiners in evaluating securitization activities.
The agency said an opt-in service already exists to receive alerts when the Compliance Examination Manual (CEM) is updated or revised. The CEM, the FDIC said, provides supervisory instructions to examination staff that conduct consumer compliance examinations, Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance evaluations, and other related supervisory activities. The manual includes supervisory policies and examination procedures for evaluating compliance with federal consumer protection laws and regulations.
FDIC Announces Subscription Alerts for Updates to Examination Manuals