Ranking Democratic member of the House Financial Services
Committee, Barney Frank, D-Mass., has written the Chairman
of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Donald
Powell asking him to look into whether the agency
evaluates bank examiners primarily based on the time it
takes them to complete exams, following a congressional
meeting during a legislative conference with the National
Treasury Employees Union, the union announced.
It said some FDIC employees have complained that the
agency is pressuring examiners to complete bank
examinations within set time frames at the expense of
accuracy.
“If this is accurate,” Frank wrote, “it would seem to
place a premium on speed rather than the thoroughness
of the examination, which could mean examinations that
overlook matters that could be material to the safety
and soundness of the bank.”
The congressman asked Powell to explain how time frames
are set and what the consequences are for missing them,
the union said.
