CHAIRMAN DONALD E. POWELL
FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION
REMARKS BEFORE
THE COUNCIL FOR EXCELLENCE IN GOVERNMENT
WASHINGTON, DC
JUNE 17, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact:
PR-64-2003 (6-17-2003) Phil Battey (202) 898-6993
Good afternoon.
It's an honor to be here with you. The work of this Council is addressing the most critical
issues facing government today. By encouraging discussions like the ones held today,
you are advancing your goal of improving the performance of government for the benefit
of the American people.
I came to Washington two years ago after 32 years in the private sector. I was a
community banker all my life. But even though I found myself facing a completely
different set of challenges in public service, many of the principles that allowed me to
build a successful banking business - and survive difficult times -- in West Texas have
helped me to lead a team in restructuring the FDIC to improve performance and operate
more efficiently.
I'd like to talk a little bit today about some of the changes we have made at the FDIC,
what we have managed to achieve and how these things dovetail not only with the
goals of this Council but also with President Bush's Management Agenda for
Government. I'd like to begin my remarks by talking about some recent developments in
financial reporting.
Promoting e-government to reduce reporting burdens on businesses and to share
information more quickly and conveniently should be a priority for all of us. At the FDIC,
we have made significant advances in the wise and creative use of technology to
accomplish our mission of promoting safety and soundness in the banking system,
protecting the consumers' insured deposits, and quickly resolving any bank failures that
occur.
To reduce paperwork and regulatory burden for banks, we have developed web-based
alternatives for doing business with the FDIC, allowing all banks to file certain
applications and requests and to receive a variety of FDIC products and supervisory
notices via the Internet.
We have also improved our examination processes by developing software used by
Federal and state examiners to analyze loan portfolios electronically, and to reduce the
amount of time necessary to assimilate, analyze, and prepare the information in reports
FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION
REMARKS BEFORE
THE COUNCIL FOR EXCELLENCE IN GOVERNMENT
WASHINGTON, DC
JUNE 17, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact:
PR-64-2003 (6-17-2003) Phil Battey (202) 898-6993
Good afternoon.
It's an honor to be here with you. The work of this Council is addressing the most critical
issues facing government today. By encouraging discussions like the ones held today,
you are advancing your goal of improving the performance of government for the benefit
of the American people.
I came to Washington two years ago after 32 years in the private sector. I was a
community banker all my life. But even though I found myself facing a completely
different set of challenges in public service, many of the principles that allowed me to
build a successful banking business - and survive difficult times -- in West Texas have
helped me to lead a team in restructuring the FDIC to improve performance and operate
more efficiently.
I'd like to talk a little bit today about some of the changes we have made at the FDIC,
what we have managed to achieve and how these things dovetail not only with the
goals of this Council but also with President Bush's Management Agenda for
Government. I'd like to begin my remarks by talking about some recent developments in
financial reporting.
Promoting e-government to reduce reporting burdens on businesses and to share
information more quickly and conveniently should be a priority for all of us. At the FDIC,
we have made significant advances in the wise and creative use of technology to
accomplish our mission of promoting safety and soundness in the banking system,
protecting the consumers' insured deposits, and quickly resolving any bank failures that
occur.
To reduce paperwork and regulatory burden for banks, we have developed web-based
alternatives for doing business with the FDIC, allowing all banks to file certain
applications and requests and to receive a variety of FDIC products and supervisory
notices via the Internet.
We have also improved our examination processes by developing software used by
Federal and state examiners to analyze loan portfolios electronically, and to reduce the
amount of time necessary to assimilate, analyze, and prepare the information in reports
of examination. These systems are allowing examiners to operate more efficiently by
working with electronic information rather than paper-based information that is difficult to
analyze in bulk. And as the reports of examination are reviewed within the organization,
new web-based systems allow staff to efficiently analyze a much broader set of
statistics all in one place than was previously possible.
We also have developed web-based tools to market the assets and liabilities of failing
insured institutions. Through the use of secure web sites, potential bidders can view
financial information, perform due diligence, and submit bids on a failing bank or thrift
and on asset pools not sold within the franchise at the time of failure. This system has
proved invaluable in reaching larger pools of bidders and resolving bank failures as
swiftly and efficiently as possible.
One of the initiatives that will greatly benefit both the government and the private sector
is the modernization of our Call Report system.
A Call Report is a set of data that helps us monitor the health and activity of institutions
between regularly scheduled exams and is what we use to report on the vitality of the
banking industry in our Quarterly Banking Profile. This capability is absolutely vital in
helping us fulfill our Congressional mandate and our role in maintaining the stability of
our economy.
Call Reports serve a variety of functions. As a banker, I was a provider of Call Report
data, which allowed me to communicate the strength and stability of my institution on a
quarterly basis to many constituents: my board of directors, my regulator, my investors,
and the public. Now, as a regulator, I use Call Report data as a window into the
workings of the industry. It lets me assess current and emerging risks at both the
institutional level and industry-wide.
The biggest problem up until now has been that by the time Call Report data is
collected, compiled, "scrubbed," corrected, and analyzed, the data is on average 60
days old. By today's marketplace standards, where decisions have to be made quickly,
that's practically prehistoric. This is an issue not only for the FDIC, but for all the bank
regulators who rely on Call Report data.
That's why the FDIC has been spearheading efforts to improve the way in which we
collect and use Call Report data. In part, the lag in making the data publicly available is
due to the fact that the largest banks have 45 days after the end of the quarter to file
their reports. We'd like to see that deadline moved back to 30 days for all banks. Our
goal, and the vision of the FFIEC, is to have more timely - and thus more - useful data
to work with.
Today I'd like to announce a first big step toward realizing that goal. The Federal
Financial Institutions Examination Council has awarded a $39 million dollar contract to
the Unisys Corporation to consolidate the collection, editing, and access of quarterly
bank financial reports into a central data repository that will be accessible to regulators,
working with electronic information rather than paper-based information that is difficult to
analyze in bulk. And as the reports of examination are reviewed within the organization,
new web-based systems allow staff to efficiently analyze a much broader set of
statistics all in one place than was previously possible.
We also have developed web-based tools to market the assets and liabilities of failing
insured institutions. Through the use of secure web sites, potential bidders can view
financial information, perform due diligence, and submit bids on a failing bank or thrift
and on asset pools not sold within the franchise at the time of failure. This system has
proved invaluable in reaching larger pools of bidders and resolving bank failures as
swiftly and efficiently as possible.
One of the initiatives that will greatly benefit both the government and the private sector
is the modernization of our Call Report system.
A Call Report is a set of data that helps us monitor the health and activity of institutions
between regularly scheduled exams and is what we use to report on the vitality of the
banking industry in our Quarterly Banking Profile. This capability is absolutely vital in
helping us fulfill our Congressional mandate and our role in maintaining the stability of
our economy.
Call Reports serve a variety of functions. As a banker, I was a provider of Call Report
data, which allowed me to communicate the strength and stability of my institution on a
quarterly basis to many constituents: my board of directors, my regulator, my investors,
and the public. Now, as a regulator, I use Call Report data as a window into the
workings of the industry. It lets me assess current and emerging risks at both the
institutional level and industry-wide.
The biggest problem up until now has been that by the time Call Report data is
collected, compiled, "scrubbed," corrected, and analyzed, the data is on average 60
days old. By today's marketplace standards, where decisions have to be made quickly,
that's practically prehistoric. This is an issue not only for the FDIC, but for all the bank
regulators who rely on Call Report data.
That's why the FDIC has been spearheading efforts to improve the way in which we
collect and use Call Report data. In part, the lag in making the data publicly available is
due to the fact that the largest banks have 45 days after the end of the quarter to file
their reports. We'd like to see that deadline moved back to 30 days for all banks. Our
goal, and the vision of the FFIEC, is to have more timely - and thus more - useful data
to work with.
Today I'd like to announce a first big step toward realizing that goal. The Federal
Financial Institutions Examination Council has awarded a $39 million dollar contract to
the Unisys Corporation to consolidate the collection, editing, and access of quarterly
bank financial reports into a central data repository that will be accessible to regulators,