Pub. 6 2016-2017 Issue 2

20 O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G C O L O R A D A N S R E A L I Z E D R E A M S ASSESS YOUR EXAMINATION PROCESS: Tell us the Good, Bad, and Ugly! FEATURE ARTICLE SCOTT POLAKOFF, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, AND STEPHEN BROWN KLINGER DIRECTOR, OF FINPRO INC. The survey results truly make a difference, and we wanted to share with you some examples of how the RFI survey provides actionable feedback. Bankers operate in a highly regulated environment, and regulatory examinations are a necessary ingredient for maintaining a safe and sound financial system. As we all know, though, examina- tions can often go awry for myriad reasons, and recent observations suggest that we are at risk of veering away from the collaborative approach to much more of a regulatory “gotcha” mentality. As you may be aware, the Regulatory Feedback Initiative (RFI) consists of an anonymous electronic survey for bankers to provide an assessment of their most recent examination or visitation. The information is aggregated and analyzed on a national level to improve the reg- ulatory examination process for banks through two fronts: 1. Survey results are communicated to bank regulators on a routine basis when unique ex- amination trends are discovered and 2. Custombank reports are available to banks to aid them in preparing for an upcoming exam by identifying trending areas of focus or criticism. Created by The Coalition of Bankers Associations in 2011, banks have provided feedback on over 3,000 examinations. In 2015 FinPro joined this important effort to assist with analyzing the data generated by RFI and provide suggestions for improving the survey. The Coalition’s leadership, working closely with FinPro’s advanced analytic group and staff of former senior regulators, has streamlined the survey process and improved the relevance of questions. The enhanced survey that rolled out in May 2016 has cut the number of questions by almost 50%, which is projected to reduce the average survey completion time from 27 minutes to less than 15 minutes. While this new platform is very exciting, its usefulness is determined by banker involvement. The survey results truly make a difference, and we wanted to share with you some examples of how the RFI survey provides actionable feedback.