[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 110 (Friday, June 7, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26681-26683]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-11911]


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FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION

RIN 3064-ZA06


Request for Information on FDIC Technical Assistance Offerings 
and Delivery

AGENCY: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

ACTION: Notice and request for information.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is issuing this 
request for information to seek public input on additional steps the 
FDIC could take to support effective management and operation of FDIC-
supervised institutions through technical assistance and collaboration 
on safety and soundness and consumer compliance matters. The FDIC is 
seeking feedback from community banks, other FDIC-supervised 
institutions, and other interested parties on existing FDIC methods and 
efforts to provide technical assistance. The FDIC requests input on 
strategies to improve the effectiveness of these offerings. The FDIC 
also seeks comment on both the content and delivery method of various 
technical assistance offerings and on other steps the FDIC could take 
to increase the level and effectiveness of technical assistance offered 
to the industry.

DATES: Comments must be received by August 6, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 3064-ZA06, by any 
of the following methods:
     Agency Website: http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/federal/. Follow the instructions for submitting comments on the Agency 
website.
     Email: [email protected]. Include RIN 3064-ZA06 in the 
subject line of the message.
     Mail: Robert E. Feldman, Executive Secretary, Attention: 
Comments, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street NW, 
Washington, DC 20429. Include RIN 3064-ZA06 in the subject line of the 
letter.
     Hand Delivery: Comments may be hand delivered to the guard 
station at the rear of the 550 17th Street Building (located on F 
Street) on business days between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
    Public Inspection: All comments received for this request for 
information must include the agency name and RIN 3064-ZA06. All 
comments received will be posted without change to http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/federal/--including any personal information 
provided--for public inspection. Paper copies of public comments may be 
ordered from the FDIC Public Information Center, 3501 North Fairfax 
Drive, Room E-1002, Arlington, VA 22226 by telephone at (877) 275-3342 
or (703) 562-2200.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathleen E. Jones, Case Manager, (816) 
234-8143, [email protected]; or Thaddeus King, Policy Analyst, (202) 
898-3541, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FDIC is responsible for maintaining 
stability and public confidence in the nation's financial system by 
insuring deposits, examining and supervising financial institutions for 
safety and soundness and consumer protection, making large and complex 
financial institutions resolvable, and managing receiverships. In order 
to accomplish this mission, the FDIC provides technical assistance to 
financial institutions. As described further below, the FDIC is 
soliciting comment on strategies to improve the effectiveness of 
technical assistance to FDIC-supervised institutions.

Overview of Request for Information

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC or Agency) is 
issuing this request for information to seek

[[Page 26682]]

public input on additional steps the FDIC can take to improve the 
efficacy and value of technical assistance offerings to supervised 
institutions. The FDIC seeks to provide technical assistance, 
particularly to community banks, on relevant and useful bank regulatory 
and supervisory topics, including recent regulatory changes and 
emerging issues. Ongoing collaboration with supervised institutions, 
including requests for technical assistance, is a key component of the 
FDIC's effort to identify and mitigate risk to individual supervised 
institutions and to the overall financial system. Accordingly, the FDIC 
is soliciting comment on how to maximize its efforts in providing this 
assistance.

Current Delivery Channels for Technical Assistance

    The FDIC uses various methods of technical assistance to educate 
and assist insured depository institutions regarding regulations, 
policies, and guidance. These forms of assistance include, but are not 
limited to:

 Technical Assistance Videos
 Directors' Resource Center
 Director/Banker Colleges
 Teleconferences and Webinars
 Community Bank Resource Kits
 Regional Compliance Newsletters
 Individual Assistance to Institutions

Suggested Topics for Commenters

    To support bank risk management and compliance efforts and reduce 
burden for institutions, both in terms of expending fewer resources to 
find relevant information and decreasing the amount of information that 
needs to be reviewed, the FDIC is seeking input on how best to support 
effective management and operation of FDIC-supervised institutions 
through improved technical assistance. The FDIC encourages comments 
from all interested members of the public, including but not limited 
to, insured depository institutions, other financial institutions or 
companies, and other members of the financial services industry. 
Detailed and specific comments, including whether the commenter prefers 
one form of assistance or support over another, would be helpful to the 
FDIC.
    In addition to feedback on the FDIC's technical assistance 
initiatives described above, the FDIC requests input on the following 
specific topics and questions related to the FDIC's technical 
assistance:

Technical Assistance Videos

    (1) The FDIC began issuing technical assistance videos in 2013. The 
target audience for these videos includes bank directors or bank 
officers.
    a. Have you used any of these technical assistance videos?
    b. If so, describe how you use the videos within your institution.
    c. Which have been most helpful to your directors?
    d. Which have been most helpful to management?
    (2) In the last year, the FDIC changed the format of the videos to 
voice-over recordings. This format allows the FDIC to update videos 
more quickly and at a lower cost. The first video issued using this new 
format is the Bank Secrecy Act video released in December 2018. What 
are your thoughts on the new format?
    (3) The FDIC's Technical Assistance Video Program provides videos 
for bank directors (including new directors) and management and staff.
    a. Are the topics for each group comprehensive and useful?
    b. Is it more useful for the target audience of these videos to be 
bank directors, management, or staff?
    c. Would you like to see videos for additional groups (smaller 
subsets of bank staff, for example)?
    (4) The FDIC seeks to provide technical assistance videos on topics 
that provide the most benefit to community bankers.
    a. Of the current videos offered, which do you believe are the most 
important for the FDIC to retain and continue to maintain and update 
over time?
    b. Are there any additional videos the FDIC should consider adding 
to its video program?
    c. Are there any videos that should be removed from the current 
Technical Assistance Video Program?

Directors' Resource Center

    (5) Currently, the Directors' Resource Center is organized by 
product (videos, supervisory guidance, etc.). The FDIC is considering 
how to improve the Directors' Resource Center. One step underway is 
moving to a topic-based resource center where significant information 
regarding a single topic will be located. The Bank Secrecy Act resource 
page, which was released on May 21, 2019, is the first issuance under 
this initiative and can be found at https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/examinations/bsa/.
    a. Do you prefer topic-based resource pages or product-based 
resource pages? Please explain.
    b. Using the Bank Secrecy Act resource page as an example, please 
provide feedback on the format of such a topic-based resource center.
    c. What suggestions do you have to further improve this format?
    d. Are there additional types of information that would be useful 
to add to such a page?
    e. Please list additional topics for which the FDIC should develop 
a resource page.

Director/Banker Colleges

    (6) The FDIC provides course offerings for bank directors and 
officers through its Director/Banker College program. These programs 
are offered locally by the FDIC's six regional offices, and topics are 
chosen based on the local areas.
    a. Have you attended one of these events in the last two years?
    b. Do you find these one-day seminars helpful?
    c. Is the length sufficient to meet your needs?
    d. Are there any topics you would like to see addressed?

Teleconferences and Webinars

    (7) The FDIC hosts teleconferences and webinars to provide timely 
information to the industry.
    a. Are the teleconferences and webinars useful?
    b. What would make them more useful?
    c. Please list any topics for which you would like the FDIC to host 
a teleconference or webinar.
    d. Provide feedback on the announcement of teleconferences and 
webinars, including the length of time between the announcement and the 
event.
    e. Should the FDIC establish a regular schedule for teleconferences 
and webinars with specific topics to be announced closer to the date of 
the event?
    f. Are the materials provided for teleconferences and webinars 
helpful?
    g. How can we increase the effectiveness of materials? For example, 
should audio files and other materials be available after the events 
and posted on the topic-based resource pages, if applicable?

Community Bank Resource Kit

    (8) The FDIC created a Community Bank Resource Kit in 2016 that 
included a reprint of the agency's Pocket Guide for Directors, 
information on the Technical Assistance Video Program, information on 
cybersecurity and cyber resources, various reprints of Supervisory 
Insights articles, and information on other topics. These Kits were 
provided at FDIC Director/Banker Colleges and sent to each state non-
member bank.
    a. Have these Kits been useful to your institution? If so, were the 
Kits more

[[Page 26683]]

useful to board members or to bank officers and staff?
    b. Would you be interested in an updated Community Bank Resource 
Kit? If so, what materials or information would you like to see 
included?
    c. Would you prefer the Kit in print (hard copy), electronic 
delivery, or both?

Regional Compliance Newsletters

    (9) Each of the FDIC's six regions produces a quarterly consumer 
compliance newsletter. These regional newsletters are sent via email to 
all state nonmember banks within the region. The newsletters provide 
information on FDIC initiatives, updates to regulatory guidance, common 
examination findings, and other topics.
    a. Are these newsletters helpful to your institution?
    b. Do you prefer longer, more in-depth articles that address a 
compliance topic or shorter, briefer articles that provide a quick 
update?
    c. Is there additional information you would like to see addressed 
in the newsletters?
    d. Is email an effective delivery method? Why or why not?

Individual Assistance to Institutions

    (10) How often have you contacted the FDIC in the last year to 
request technical assistance unrelated to an examination? In the last 
five years?
    (11) If you requested technical assistance unrelated to an 
examination, on what topics did you request technical assistance? Did 
you contact the local field office, the regional office, or the 
Washington Office for assistance?
    (12) What type of assistance was most effective? What was least 
effective?
    (13) What steps did you take based on the assistance provided?

Other Items

    (14) In responding to the questions below, it would be helpful to 
indicate in rank order, or note preference or priority among, technical 
assistance offerings that you or your institution find most helpful.
    a. Which technical assistance offerings do your board members 
prefer?
    b. Which technical assistance offerings do your bank officers 
prefer?
    (15) What other methods, if any, should the FDIC consider using to 
provide technical assistance?
    (16) Have you attended training or received technical assistance 
from another regulator (state or Federal) that was more helpful than 
that provided by the FDIC? Please explain.
    (17) Have you attended training or received technical assistance 
from a third party that you felt could be provided by the FDIC? Please 
describe.

    Dated at Washington, DC, on June 3, 2019.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Valerie Best,
Assistant Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-11911 Filed 6-6-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6714-01-P