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Hi all. I am currently in audit. I have been approached by a former employer about taking the compliance officer position. I do know what the basic responsibilites are of the compliance officer in a bank, but I also wanted to find out some more info from all of you as well.

The prior CO was a bit lacking, so there were a lot of compliance issues, which I believe I can work on to fix with my audit experience.

My questions for you are:
1. Who or where does the CO report in your organization? Directly to the CEO
2. Are they responsible for all areas of compliance (ie. investments, consumer, BSA, tax, HR, etc) Usually not HR or tax laws. You will need to know basic IRS rules for account stylings, W-8 & w-9 questions, IRS "bonus" rules, and things like that.
3. What size institution? 150 million
4. Do you do independent testing aside from Audit? Yes & No. You can conduct your own reviews of credit files, account docs, etc.. to determine weaknesses in areas that maybe aren't covered in the Audit schedule. Really Audit and Compliance must work hand-in-hand for the best outcome for both areas.
5. Who is responsible for compliance audit findings? CO or Management of departments? Usually the department manager. However, in instances where we have cited "inadequate knowledge of regulation, rules, or procedures...then guess who gets to do the training?
6. How is compliance training conducted? You have certain compliance related training that must be completed each year. BSA, bank security, etc. Then you determine your training schedule based on industry "hot topics" or based off the results of audits. If you determine that your lenders obviously are not understanding HDMA requirements then you should schedule HMDA training. I prefer in class training but there is also something to be said for online training as well.

Any information would be greatly appreciated. I am ANON for obvious reasons.

Thanks!

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