As part of her efforts to bring greater transparency to the FDIC, Chairman Jelena McWilliams is “looking to strengthen the ombudsman and bank appeals process at the FDIC,” she said in a recent interview with the ABA Banking Journal. Bankers have long expressed concern about the lack of independent exam review procedures.
“Banks need to have a good channel of communication when there are disputes and they’re in disagreement with their regulators, and that’s one of the issues we’re going to be looking at,” McWilliams said. Asked about whether these reforms might include an independent appeals channel outside of the agency reporting structure, as bipartisan American Bankers Association-backed legislation has called for, she added that “everything is on the table” and that the agency will seek public feedback on any changes.
