Winter 2004 - Table of Contents

Supervisory Insights - Winter 2004 - PDF 941k (PDF Help)

Letter from the Director

Articles

Economic Capital and the Assessment of Capital Adequacy
An increasing number of banking organizations are using economic capital methodologies to quantify risk, manage operations based on risk-related performance measures, and allocate capital commensurate with the risk profile of their business activities. Regulatory agencies are incorporating these industry efforts into supervisory evaluations.

Linking International Remittance Flows to Financial Services: Tapping the Latino Immigrant Market
The Latino immigrant market has grown significantly in recent years but remains largely untapped by U.S. banks. This article explores strategies that are being used by some insured institutions to bring "unbanked" immigrants into the banking system.

The Importance of a Loan Policy "Tune-Up"
All insured institutions should have a formal loan policy that reflects a bank's current lending strategies and procedures. This article provides guidance for keeping a policy effective and up to date.

Regular Features

From the Examiner’s Desk
Bank examiners play a key role in the regulation of the real estate appraisal function. What situations typically result in appraiser referrals by examiners, and how does the referral process work?

Accounting News
The number of insured institutions participating in Mortgage Partnership Finance programs offered by Federal Home Loan Banks continues to increase. This article describes accounting procedures for these programs.

Regulatory and Supervisory Roundup
This feature provides an overview of recently released regulations and supervisory guidance.

Supervisory Insights is published by the Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to promote sound principles and best practices for bank supervision.

Donald E. Powell
Chairman

Michael J. Zamorski
Director, Division of Supervision
and Consumer Protection

George E. French
Executive Editor

Journal Executive Board
Donna J. Gambrell, Deputy Director
John M. Lane, Deputy Director
Sandra L. Thompson, Deputy Director
Ronald F. Bieker, Regional Director
John F. Carter, Regional Director
Nancy E. Hall, Regional Director
Scott M. Polakoff, Regional Director
Mark S. Schmidt, Regional Director
Christopher J. Spoth, Regional Director

Journal Staff
Kim E. Lowry
Managing Editor

John S. Wholeben
Financial Writer

James J. Willemsen
Financial Writer

Supervisory Insights is available online by visiting the FDIC’s website at www.fdic.gov. To provide comments or suggestions for future articles, or to request print copies, contact Managing Editor Kim Lowry at 202-898-6635 or SupervisoryJournal@fdic.gov.

The views expressed in Supervisory Insights are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In particular, articles should not be construed as definitive regulatory or supervisory guidance. Some of the information used in the preparation of this publication was obtained from publicly available sources that are considered reliable. However, the use of this information does not constitute an endorsement of its accuracy by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.