What Do Financial Examiners Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Financial Examiners enforce or ensure compliance with laws and regulations governing financial and securities institutions and financial and real estate transactions. May examine, verify, or authenticate records. They also investigate activities of institutions to enforce laws and regulations and to ensure legality of transactions and operations or financial solvency.

Other tasks include:

• Prepare reports, exhibits and other supporting schedules that detail an institution’s safety and soundness, compliance with laws and regulations, and recommended solutions to questionable financial conditions.
• Recommend actions to ensure compliance with laws and regulations, or to protect solvency of institutions.
• Resolve problems concerning the overall financial integrity of banking institutions including loan investment portfolios, capital, earnings, and specific or large troubled accounts.
• Direct and participate in formal and informal meetings with bank directors, trustees, senior management, counsels, outside accountants and consultants to gather information and discuss findings.
• Review balance sheets, operating income and expense accounts, and loan documentation to confirm institution assets and liabilities.
• Plan, supervise, and review work of assigned subordinates.

We asked Financial Examiners how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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74% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 52% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Financial Examiners investigate activities of institutions to enforce laws and regulations and to ensure legality of transactions and operations or financial solvency. They resolve problems concerning the overall financial integrity of banking institutions including loan investment portfolios, capital, earnings, and specific or large troubled accounts.

A typical day for a Financial Examiner will also include:

• Review balance sheets, operating income and expense accounts, and loan documentation to confirm institution assets and liabilities.
• Train other examiners in the financial examination process.
• Confer with officials of real estate, securities, or financial institution industries to exchange views and discuss issues or pending cases.
• Prepare reports, exhibits and other supporting schedules that detail an institution’s safety and soundness, compliance with laws and regulations, and recommended solutions to questionable financial conditions.
• Direct and participate in formal and informal meetings with bank directors, trustees, senior management, counsels, outside accountants and consultants to gather information and discuss findings.

We asked some Financial Examiners a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	52% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	52% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	92% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	20% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	0% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	36% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Financial Examiners also examine the minutes of meetings of directors, stockholders and committees to investigate the specific authority extended at various levels of management. They may also review audit reports of internal and external auditors to monitor adequacy of scope of reports or to discover specific weaknesses in internal routines.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Financial Examiners Direct and participate in formal and informal meetings with bank directors, trustees, senior management, counsels, outside accountants and consultants to gather information and discuss findings. They might also Evaluate data processing applications for institutions under examination to develop recommendations for coordinating existing systems with examination procedures.

In addition, they Plan, supervise, and review work of assigned subordinates.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Recommend actions to ensure compliance with laws and regulations, or to protect solvency of institutions.

To some Financial Examiners, it is also their responsibility to Resolve problems concerning the overall financial integrity of banking institutions including loan investment portfolios, capital, earnings, and specific or large troubled accounts.

Working life

More than 40 hours per week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as a Financial Examiner, you can expect to work more than 40 hours per week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like starting up and carrying out projects. They like leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business..

They also like following set procedures and routines. They like working with data and details more than with ideas.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/OOH/business-and-financial/financial-examiners.htm

https://www.fdic.gov/

http://www.consumerfinance.gov/