BANK EXAMS USING SOCIAL DISTANCING
Social distancing will be changing the examination process possibly from now on. When I was an examiner the majority of my time was spent travelling to banks. The distance to a bank from home did not matter the job had to be done. This is the main reason that I resigned.
REMOTE EXAMS MENTIONED:
Remote exams are mentioned in The American Banker.
Law360.com’s article: OCC’s New Bank Exam Chief Talks COVID-19 And Beyond.
The OCC is mentioning remote exams on their COVID19 FAQ page.
REMOTE EXAMINATION HISTORY
Covid-19 happens and isolation is now the norm. Remote examination was slowly starting to happen in a few states, but nothing was pushing it along. We have a client in a metropolitan area that is examined by a local exam crew. The exam started this week and it is remote. Self distancing is now pushing the technology of remote exams to the limit.
LQAS REMOTE EXAM CAPABILITY
Fortunately our clients have had this technology for years. We saw LQAS being used for a remote loan review in 2008. We have enhanced this area somewhat since then. Examiners can log into our system in the boardroom or remotely. They can view any aspect of the credit and collateral picture including document images. We confine the regulators to viewing the sample they requested. They cannot review any portion of the portfolio they didn’t include in their sample.
TIME AND EXPENSE REDUCTION
The system can rapidly pull lines, review images in one to two seconds and print complete line sheets in less than five seconds if the bank allows it. The line sheet would have taken around three hours without help from LQAS. This will also greatly reduce time and expense for external loan reviews. Travel expense which could be a third of the total bill is gone or greatly reduced. Review time is significantly dropped via automation which reduces billable hours. A review company trained to use LQAS can cover more ground across more banks so they also win.
Preparing for a remote review can take less time than submitting requested information to them. We discussed this in a prior blog that LQAS can prepare information to submit to regulators in minutes. Five minutes on our demo system, maybe fifteen minutes for a multi billion dollar client.
Some regulatory agencies are offering discounts on their fees since they have a considerable savings since travel expense is reduced. Using a system like LQAS can also cut exam time since that fact gathering phase which took two to three days can be reduced to less than thirty minutes.
Defining the sample in LQAS takes around a minute. Once the sample is defined Examiners can directly access the system via a remote connection securely setup by the bank’s IT Department. They will only be able to access the lines in the sample which will include any related borrowers. All data that I needed to conduct a portfolio review is available. The information required that took hours is displayed in seconds no matter where the examiner is located.
LQAS CAN BE INSTALLED QUICKLY
Installation of LQAS in a new client bank can be installed quickly once the core download file is produced. Fortunately we have already created daily downloads from every major core system. The export designed by the bank using the core’s report writer can be copied from another client bank. All of them are very helpful and will forward their download directly to the bank when requested.
LQAS FREE TRIAL
All installations are performed on a trial basis. Installation in the bank, downloads, and training are done before the bank pays for the system. Yes I dealt with vendors that didn’t paint the proper picture at a demo. I only found out at implementation what I actually purchased or could receive as an extra cost option if at all when I was in banking. Our trial program kills all uncertainty about what the client has purchased versus the demonstration.
You can contact Chris Crawford President at ccrawford@lqas.com. References are available ranging from seventy million to over half a trillion in assets.