FDIC launches ‘transparency’ section on its public website

CREATED IN 1933 to restore public trust in the U.S. banking system, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. recently launched a new section on its public website that offers additional data on the banking industry, as well as the agency itself, as part of its initiative to be more transparent.

PROVIDENCE – Under the so-called “Trust through Transparency” initiative, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has launched a new section on its public website that provides new performance metrics on the banking industry.

“In my view,” FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams said recently when announcing the initiative, “the best way to maintain a trusting relationship is to be accessible, understandable and responsive – to provide your stakeholders with the information and means to hold you accountable.”

Congress created the FDIC in 1933 to restore public confidence in the nation’s banking system during the Great Depression. Today, the agency insures deposits at more than 5,500 banks and savings institutions.

The FDIC’s new metrics include data on the turnaround times for examinations and bank applications and timely response rates for the FDIC call center. The site also contains decisions related to appeals of material supervisory determinations and deposit insurance assessments, as well as information on the FDIC’s policies and procedures.

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The metrics will be regularly updated, and new materials will be added to the site as the agency creates more ways to shed light on the way it conducts business.

In addition, the FDIC recently issued a request for information on how to make communication with insured depository institutions more effective, streamlined and clear. And, last month, the agency asked for comment on a proposal to retire more than half of the 664 risk-management supervision-related Financial Institution Letters it issued from 1995 through 2017.

Moreover, an email box – transparency@fdic.gov – has been created to allow interested stakeholders to share ways the FDIC can improve transparency.

“To promote real trust, we cannot simply make data available, publish performance measures and consider the job done,” McWilliams said in a statement.

“That is not transparency or accountability,” she added. “Instead, we must strive to be accessible to financial institutions, consumers and the general public; understandable to most audiences; and responsive to new ideas and demands.”

Scott Blake is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Blake@PBN.com.

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