The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco: Economic Research, Educational Resources, Community Development, Consumer and Banking Information

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The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s Division of Banking Supervision & Regulation (BS&R) invites banking industry directors, officers, staff, consultants, regulators, and other interested parties to join us for a series of audio conferences. These events, which are held two to four times annually, cover topics of current interest to the financial services industry and its supervisors. As of mid-2009, consumer compliance topics are discussed through Outlook Live , the Federal Reserve System’s audio conference series on consumer compliance issues.

If you have questions concerning this program, e-mail us or contact Chris Sigur at 415-974-2895.

Upcoming Events
To participate in an upcoming Call the Fed webinar, click on the URL in the announcement and follow the registration instructions carefully. There is no charge to participate.

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Past Events
Past events that are outdated have been removed from this list. While the information presented for the below events was current at the time of the event, some of it may have since been superseded. For additional past events related to consumer compliance topics, please see Outlook Live , the Federal Reserve System’s audio conference series on consumer compliance issues.

The U.S. Economy and 12th District Banking: Conditions & Outlook
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time

Click to view streaming audio/video of the event
Download Presentation materials (PDF - 4.32MB)

At the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s next Call the Fed webinar, two of the Bank’s economic and bank analysts provide an interactive update on the conditions and outlook for the U.S. economy, and for banks in the 12th District.

This year, Gary Zimmerman, Senior Economist, and Gary Palmer, Senior Manager of Risk Analytics, will examine recent trends and the continued headwinds in the U.S. economy, the job and housing markets, stock market performance and other indicators of financial conditions. They’ll assess bank performance and conditions in the 12th District, based on third quarter 2012 financials and the latest supervisory information, and will provide their outlook for conditions going forward. This Call the Fed webinar will offer participants the opportunity to question our presenters throughout the presentation.

This webinar is part of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's Outreach Program on topics of interest and importance to financial institutions in the 12th Federal Reserve District. Please encourage your colleagues at your institution to attend. Note that there is NO CHARGE for this webinar.

Commercial and Industrial Lending: Pitfalls and Risk Mitigants
Thursday, September 13, 2012
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time

Click to view streaming audio/video of the event
Download Presentation materials (PPT - 2.7MB)

As the economy continues its modest recovery, some community bankers are looking to expand their commercial and industrial, or C&I, lending as a potential source of growth. We have seen C&I lending grow significantly over the last 5 years, and community banks appear poised to supply an increasing volume of C&I loans as borrower demand increases. With commercial real estate (CRE) valuations remaining under pressure and the memory of significant CRE losses still fresh, C&I lending appears to be the bright light on the horizon.

This presentation will focus on problems and best practices San Francisco Fed examiners have observed with C&I lending. Included in the topics to be covered are loan underwriting and administration strategies, cash flow calculations and covenants, the key elements of a collateral inspection, attributes to look for from a third party collateral inspection service, and moving a borrower out of the bank.

Our presenters have industry experience in a wide range of areas including loan underwriting, ongoing monitoring, collateral inspections as well as workouts, and they have reviewed lending practices at a variety of banks in their current role as bank examiners:

Tim Marder (Facilitator) is Examining Manager at the San Francisco Fed for a group of community banks and holding companies in California. Prior to that, he worked as a safety & soundness examiner for nine years.
Dante Tosetti joined the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in 2011 as a credit risk examination specialist. He has 15 years of credit experience, primarily as a commercial lender with community and regional banks.
Randy Santos joined the San Francisco Fed in early 2011 as a Senior Analyst initially focused on credit risk. Previously, he was a Vice President with several large regional banks in an internal credit review capacity.
Kevin Cragholm joined the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in early 2011 as a Senior Analyst initially focused on credit risk. Prior, he was a Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Sierra West Finance LLC, a licensed commercial finance lender and alternative investment manager.
Adrienne Thompson is Examining Manager for a group of community banks and holding companies in California. She has worked as a safety & soundness examiner on large, regional and community banks over the past 13 years. Prior to joining the Fed, Ms. Thompson had related industry experience as an Asset Based Lending Relationship Manager, and also worked in residential lending and loan servicing, a commercial real estate investment trust, and with the Resolution Trust Corporation/FDIC.

Due to the broad subject and time limitation, we will not discuss regulatory guidance, regulatory interpretations, nor a comprehensive approach to risk management. A portion of the time will be devoted to questions and answers.

This webinar is part of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's Outreach Program on topics of interest and importance to financial institutions in the 12th Federal Reserve District. Please share this invitation with colleagues at your institution. Note that there is NO CHARGE for this webinar.

	Responding to the Cyber Threat: Interagency Supplement to Authentication in an Internet Banking Environment November 17, 2011 Click to view streaming audio/video of the event Download presentation materials (PDF - 469KB) Since 2005, there have been significant changes in the threat landscape facing online banking services. Cybercriminals continue to develop and deploy more sophisticated and malicious methods to compromise authentication mechanisms (including more robust authentication techniques) and to gain unauthorized access to customers’ online accounts. Furthermore, cybercriminals have grown more organized and specialized in financial fraud, resulting in the losses of hundreds of millions of dollars from online account takeovers. This presentation will discuss the “Interagency Supplement to Authentication in an Internet Banking Environment” (Supplement) which was issued by the Federal Financial Institution Examination Council (FFIEC) on June 29, 2011, as well as what bankers should be doing to conform with the Supplement. The Supplement reinforces and updates the guidance in the October 12, 2005, Interagency Authentication in an Internet Banking Environment, such as risk management, risk assessment, layered security, customer education/awareness and other controls. It also establishes minimum control expectations for certain online banking activities and identifies controls that are less effective in the current threat environment. Beginning on January 1, 2012, bank regulators will include an assessment of an institution’s conformance with the Supplement as part of the regular supervisory process. Our speakers, Senior Manager George Mori and IT Risk Coordinator Gene Lilienthal, are part of the Risk Coordination team for the San Francisco Fed's Division of Banking Supervision & Regulation.

	CRE: Income Property Loan Conditions and Stress Testing Expectations October 27, 2011 Click to view streaming audio/video of the event Download presentation materials (PDF - 569KB) This presentation will discuss conditions and outlook with respect to bank income property lending (focusing primarily on banks within the 12th Federal Reserve District) as well as regulatory expectations and issues that should be considered as bank managers build or enhance their CRE stress testing processes. Credit losses on income property loans climbed sharply in 2009 and 2010, but loss rates generally remained at very manageable levels. With CRE market conditions still weak, bank credit losses on these loans could climb to higher levels in the next few years. At the same time, bank supervisors' expectations remain heightened and there remains uncertainty in the area of CRE stress testing. Institutions with sizeable concentrations of CRE loans should have comprehensive CRE stress testing processes in place, and in fact; sound stress testing processes are critical to an institution's CRE risk management framework. Our two speakers from the San Francisco Fed's Division of Banking Supervision & Regulation-Gary Palmer, Manager, Risk Analytics & Monitoring, and Wallace Young, Director, Risk Coordination-will examine market conditions in commercial real estate and supervisory expectations and issues that should be considered as bank managers build or enhance their CRE stress testing processes.

	Banking and the Economy: The 12th District Perspective September 6, 2011 Click to view streaming audio/video of the event Download presentation materials (PDF - 2.90 MB) This webinar provided an opportunity to examine current banking and economic conditions nationally as well as within the 12th Federal Reserve District with two of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's top economic and bank analysts. Our speakers—Gary Zimmerman, Senior Economist, and Gary Palmer, Senior Manager of Risk Analytics both at the San Francisco Fed— looked at recent trends and the potential headwinds in the US economy, how the job market has been affected by the economy's performance, the continued challenges faced by the housing market, stock market performance and other indicators of financial conditions. They also discussed recent and ongoing Federal Reserve policy decisions such as the effects of Large Scale Asset Purchases (LSAP) and the Fed's most recent decision to maintain an exceptionally low Federal Funds rate until mid-2013 and what it means for economic growth and near-term inflation. Finally, we assessed bank performance and condition in the 12th District, based on second quarter 2011 financials and the latest supervisory information.

	Overview of Payment System Risk Policy Revisions January 27, 2011 Click to view streaming audio/video of the event Download presentation materials (PDF - 187KB) In December, 2008, the Federal Reserve Board adopted significant revisions to part II of the Payment System Risk policy that address the risks that payment and settlement activity present to the financial system and the Federal Reserve Banks. The revised PSR policy, effective March 24, 2011, reflects a new approach to enhancing intraday liquidity and the flow of payments, while controlling risk to Reserve Banks. This new approach: explicitly recognizes the Federal Reserve’s role in providing intraday credit to foster the smooth operation of the payments system; provides temporary, intraday credit to healthy depository institutions predominantly though collateralized intraday overdrafts; and aims to reduce the reliance of the banking industry on uncollateralized daylight credit if this can be done without significantly disrupting the operation of the payment system or causing other unintended adverse consequences. We invite you to join Claire Luceno, Supervisor, and David Xu, Manager, Credit & Risk Management at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, for a 1-hour call on Thursday, January 27, 2011, to learn more about the scope of these changes and how they may affect your institution. These revisions include changes to fees on collateralized and uncollateralized overdrafts, the elimination of the deductible, an increase in the fee waiver, and enhancements to collateral management. Please share this invitation with colleagues at your institution.

	Private Equity Investments - What You Need to Know June 9, 2010 Download presentation materials (PDF - 323KB) As anyone following the banking industry knows, there has been a recent uptick in interest in investing in banks by private equity funds and institutional investors. A number of deals have gone through that have strengthened banks and, in some cases, have been instrumental in averting bank failures. Other proposals, however, have not been successful for a variety of reasons. This session will focus on the key considerations in achieving a successful recapitalization: How are deals being structured? What are the timing considerations? From a banker's point of view, how should overtures from potential new investors be evaluated? What questions should be asked to determine if a proposal has "legs," or may be unproductive to pursue? What are the legal and regulatory considerations and how are they addressed? What can be done to help expedite the regulatory review process for fund-related proposals involving troubled or failing banks? In general, what has worked well,...... and not so well? If these types of questions have crossed your mind, we think you will find this session beneficial. The presentation will be led by Pat Robinson, Assistant General Counsel at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. She has primary responsibility for the legal review of applications and other transactions involving domestic banking institutions, and has had extensive experience in the review of recapitalization proposals involving private equity funds. She will be joined by Gerry Tsai, Associate General Counsel, and Ken Binning, Vice President, Applications and Enforcement, both of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

	Consumer Compliance Hot Topics July 22, 2009 Download presentation materials (PDF - 316KB) Presentation slides (PDF - 344KB) Audio presentation of the event- Portions of this recording have been edited for clarity - (Flash Player required) (SWF - 63 MB) Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act Q&A As all of us working in the field of consumer protection are all too aware, consumer issues remain at the forefront of the news during this economic crisis. Compliance professionals are dealing not only with the compliance nuances associated with steps their institutions are taking to mitigate risks related to the recession but also a whole host of new rules and restrictions that go into effect over the next year. Given the belief that consumer protection failures contributed to the current crisis, compliance with consumer laws and regulations is subject to a higher level of scrutiny than ever. Don't get caught off guard – the consequences of noncompliance can be significant. Compliance officers should make sure they're up to speed on the new rules, as well as engaged fully in other activities of their organization to ensure that consumer compliance risks are considered fully before any action is taken. With that in mind, senior Federal Reserve staff will discuss a number of consumer compliance issues in the context of the current environment. These include a resurgence of spousal signature issues, new mortgage lending rules, and fair lending implications in this economic environment. We’ll follow these short presentations (about 30 minutes) with an open question and answer session for about an hour, where you can ask any consumer compliance question you may have. If you have questions you'd like answered, please join this call.

	Compliance Challenges in a Declining Economic Environment December 10, 2008 Download presentation materials (PDF - 714KB) Audio presentation of the event (Flash Player required) (SWF - 20 MB) The downturn in most residential real estate markets and the spillover to the broader economy are creating continuing challenges for many banks. At the same time, the world of consumer protection these days is seeing many changes. Not only are there a number of new rules going into effect, but many banks are taking steps to mitigate risks related to the economic crisis that often have consumer protection nuances. Don't get caught off guard – the consequences of noncompliance can be significant. Compliance officers should make sure they're up to speed on the new rules, as well as engaged fully in other activities of their organization to ensure that consumer compliance risks are fully considered and mitigated before action is taken. Senior Examiners Jason Lew, Kelly Walsh and Laura Boughner will discuss a number of consumer compliance and CRA issues in the context of the current environment. If these are questions you'd like to hear answered, please join this call: Are you freezing or reducing HELOCs? Are you offering incentives to borrowers to close their HELOCs? Do you have concerns about managing your CRA program in this environment? Are you finding fewer community development opportunities in your local markets? Are you ready for the myriad of new and changing compliance rules, including recent changes to HMDA and other mortgage lending regulations

	Remote Deposit Capture February 27, 2008 Download presentation materials (PDF - 155KB) Media-On-Demand audio presentation of the event (Flash Player required) (SWF - 137KB) What does remote deposit capture (RDC) have in common with the telegraph, telephone, fax machine, e-mail, and text messaging? They were all new or modified forms of delivery systems. Each one improved on the timeliness, flexibility, and capacity of transferring information. RDC provides banks and/or customers with a means to electronically transmit a check for processing instead of physically transporting the check by hand, courier or mail. Many institutions either have implemented an RDC solution or are considering RDC solutions to enhance customer convenience, shorten clearing and settlement times, increase operational efficiency and improve access to customer market shares beyond branch and ATM networks. While there are many potential benefits, RDC may also present potential risk exposures to the institution that require further analysis. Senior Manager George Mori will share his views on the inherent risks and control practices to consider in managing RDC for your organization. Poor planning, management and implementation of RDC could result in: Reputational risk from customer dissatisfaction or information security breaches; Financial losses from fraud, errors, and credit risk; and Legal risk from noncompliance with regulations and/or industry standards. The session is geared primarily toward the officers or managers responsible for planning, implementing and managing RDC system and check processing, such as the IT officer/manager, back office operations officer/manager, information security officer, and credit risk officer.

	Consumer Compliance Hot Topics November 28, 2007 Download presentation materials (PDF - 376KB) Media-On-Demand audio presentation of the event (streaming 140K) Consumer protection is hot! With consumer issues in the forefront of the news these days, compliance with consumer laws and regulations is subject to a higher level of scrutiny than ever. As regulators, we regularly see a variety of issues that provide compliance challenges for bankers. With that in mind, this session covered a few topics that we've encountered in the Twelfth District that you want to be aware of. These included: Flood insurance - A perennial challenge, flood insurance violations show no signs of subsiding and the Agencies continue to assess civil money penalties. We focused on the issue of flood insurance and "blanket" or "gap" insurance policies. Does your bank utilize a bank-owned blanket policy to force place flood insurance? If so, you'll want to be sure to hear about the compliance issues associated with this practice. CRA - The proposed interagency Q&A contains some guidance that will have a significant impact on banks subject to the Intermediate Small Bank test. Learn all about the proposed Q&A guidance and get tips on managing your institution's CRA program. Fair Lending - Does your institution engage in indirect auto lending? Do you think you're the creditor? Are you sure? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you won't want to miss this presentation on indirect auto lending so that you can steer clear of fair lending woes. This session was lead by management from the Reserve Bank's Consumer Compliance examination unit, including Compliance Managers Stephen DeLay, John Byrd, and Cecilia Knowles. It was geared primarily to compliance staff and CRA Officers.