A new supervisory appeals office – which will include a banker on its review panels — will be the final level of review of “material supervisory determinations,” independent of divisions that make supervisory determinations, the board of the federal deposit insurance agency decided Thursday.
In approving amendments to its guidelines for appeals of supervisory determinations, the board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) said it is replacing existing the existing Supervision Appeals Review Committee (SARC) with what it called the “independent, standalone office” within the agency, the new Office of Supervisory Appeals.
“The office will be staffed by reviewing officials who are hired externally, and each [reviewing] panel will have at least one reviewing official with bank supervisory experience and at least one reviewing official with industry experience,” the agency said. “The FDIC will notify institutions once the office is operational.”
According to the agency, including a member on the reviewing panel with industry experience is aimed at expanding “the perspectives” on the panel. It will also allow, the FDIC asserted, the appeals process to benefit from diverse views and will ensure that panelists have deep familiarity with the supervisory process.
Board Chairman Travis Hill said the amended guidelines also expand banks’ appellate rights by allowing appeals in some cases where a formal enforcement action is proposed or pending.
“Under the final guidelines, the facts and circumstances underlying a proposed formal enforcement action would be in scope for appeals to the Office under certain circumstances, which would allow an independent review in cases where supervisory determinations may have significant consequences for an institution,” Hill said.
In other action, the FDIC Board approved a final rule amending regulations for the digital display of a bank’s federally insured status. The agency said the rule simplifies requirements for display of the FDIC official digital sign and non-deposit signage on digital deposit-taking channels. That includes bank websites and mobile applications, as well as on ATMs and like devices, the agency said.
“The rule would simplify compliance for banks by focusing display requirements for the FDIC official digital sign and the non-deposit sign on the screens and pages where signage would be most relevant for consumers and would provide banks additional flexibility with respect to design choices for the FDIC official digital sign,” the agency said.
The rule takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, according to the FDIC.
FDIC Board January 22, 2026 – Open Meeting
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