Career & application guide

Financial Examiners

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What do financial examiners do?

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.

This describes a U.S. occupation, not a live vacancy. Individual employers may use different titles and requirements.

Job titles to recognize in your search

O*NET reports these titles for this occupation. Compare the responsibilities in each posting before treating titles as equivalent.

  • Bank Examiner
  • Bank Secrecy Act Anti-Money Laundering Officer (BSA/AML Officer)
  • Community Reinvestment Act Officer (CRA Officer)
  • Compliance Analyst
  • Compliance Specialist
  • Credit Union Examiner
  • Credit Union Field Examiner
  • Examining Officer

Core tasks to compare with a job posting

  • 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.
  • Recommend actions to ensure compliance with laws and regulations, or to protect solvency of institutions.
  • 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.
  • Resolve problems concerning the overall financial integrity of banking institutions including loan investment portfolios, capital, earnings, and specific or large troubled accounts.
  • Investigate activities of institutions to enforce laws and regulations and to ensure legality of transactions and operations or financial solvency.
  • 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.
  • Review audit reports of internal and external auditors to monitor adequacy of scope of reports or to discover specific weaknesses in internal routines.
  • Examine the minutes of meetings of directors, stockholders, and committees to investigate the specific authority extended at various levels of management.
  • Train other examiners in the financial examination process.

Prepare an application for this occupation

  1. Check the employer’s requirements, location, schedule and any licenses against your situation.
  2. Choose two or three tasks above that match the posting and your actual experience.
  3. Build a resume evidence worksheet using the skills and software relevant to that employer.
  4. Practice explaining your contribution, decisions and results before an interview.

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