I have to ask you compliance officers about your roles in the bank. Recently, I am noticing tht I am being called upon to read and approve their newsletters, custome letters, programs, and answer questions unrelated to regulatory compliance. How do I end this?

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I don't see where reading newsletters, customer letters and programs falls outside of consumer compliance.

Also, I have found it very typical for employees to call and ask questions technically unrelated to consumer compliance just because they think the compliance officer is the end-all be-all of knowledge...It can be a compliment. I also don't mind redirecting them to the appropriate person for their answer either.

Joker offers very good advice. Don't resist opportunities for early involvement--this is where you save money by not allowing mistakes to be made. Most participants in this Forum would probably LOVE to receive preview/approval requests from their business managers and staff. Thank your folks for keeping you in the loop, but see if there's a way to expedite the reviews or develop "self tests" for them to use (triage) before sending items to you.

To carry this a bit further, I am often asked "legal" questions rather than compliance questions. I try to explain the difference, but most of the time mgmt just thinks I'm try to wiggle out of some extra work. Additionally, up until the first of this year my responsibilities were strictly consumer compliance (with BSA thrown in). Now for some reason everyone has decided that any question (safety and soundness, audit, security, operations) should be addressed by me.

I empathize with you as many times I am pulled into the loop on things that I do not consider my "primary" role and it throws a wrench into my schedule. Flexibility is the key here. Management and employees do not always appreciate the difference between consumer compliance, BSA, safety and soundness, etc. If you become knowledgable in one area, you are assumed to have knowledge in all areas.

One thing that I have had to accept is that my "job" is whatever I am asked to do by my executive officers or the Audit Committee. As noted already, if it is appropriate to refer the question to someone else, do so, otherwise, look at these questions as learning opportunities...and job security.

Grin and bear it! There are lots of those letters that could have made your life miserable if they were sent as the officer drafted them.

Write an article to go along with those newsletters. It's a wonderful opportunity to get some training in!

Redirect and delegate as needed, but being in the loop on these things that might not seem to be in your realm of responsibility is a huge benefit. You get to head off problems before they start, and really learn a lot about your bank's culture and make up. It makes your job much easier in the long run.

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To carry this a bit further, I am often asked "legal" questions rather than compliance questions. I try to explain the difference, but most of the time mgmt just thinks I'm try to wiggle out of some extra work.

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How DO you define your role versus that of Legal? That boundary is pretty blurred here, as well, and I'm interested in another perspective on the issue.

First and foremost, I don't review any documents that could be considered legal documents, e.g., contracts, notes, mortgages, agreements, etc.

When I had to supervise inclusion of Privacy and Information Security language in vendor contracts, I had outside counsel draw up suggested language. I farmed review of the responses from the the vendors out to counsel as well.

I will pass on questions that I think are questions of law. I always explain why I feel that is necessary, but I am firm about passing. On occasion, I will coordinate with counsel and pass the answer back along to the requestor.

But the reality is that it is sometimes extremely difficult to separate compliance management from the practice of law.

I run into similar problems as a consultant. When in doubt, call compliance. I have come to see that there is a function in educating others in the bank about what is "compliance" and what is properly somewhere else.

I agree with the folks above that it is a good idea to be seen as a friendly clearinghouse. That way, you find out about developments on the early side of things.

One technique I use is to state that I don't usually work with that particular reg (this is much easier for a consultant to say than a co-worker) and give suggestions on who in the regulatory agency or other places might be a resource. This steers the person to the right place (hopefully), and illustrates by the non-compliance referral that it isn't compliance. This way, I'm still the first to be called when no-one knows what to do which is, I think, an important compliance safeguard, but it also creates channels for topics that aren't properly compliance.

This identity problem stems from the slushy concept of "compliance." We misuse the word so much that it's meaning is always questionable. There's no wonder that other bank employees view the "compliance" function as a dumping ground for almost anything they don't understand or don't want to handle.

When I was running the compliance function, I finally gave up and stopped using the "C" word. Instead, I renamed the function "Regulatory Management" and defined the activities included.

This helped, but there remained the problem of "which regulations"? In my mission statement, job descriptions and other formal documents, I loosely classified as "covered" all regs that applied to transactions with banking customers. This captured all the consumer protection and civil rights regs, the BSA/AML issues, and ADA. It left out rules dealing with taxes, CAMELS factors, etc., because these matters were covered elsewhere within the company.

Exam management is another logical part of the job--but again, which types of exams do you cover and which are handled by others? After struggling with the correct configuration, I finally ended up with all exam managment duties. State, Fed, holding company, bank, CRA, compliance, etc.--it didn't matter--I was the primary contact. From there, I had downstream players on the hook for their parts of each type of exam.

My plan worked in the mid-90s and parts of it can still work today, but it was limited to regulatory risks. If you are considered by other officers and staff as the bank's general risk manager, that is a much larger function. In any case, the key to maintaining your sanity is to name the function accurately, define areas of coverage as precisely as possible (mission statement), confirm that others are formally charged with risk management topics you DON'T cover, and produce a job description that ties you to the mission statement. When you are later pressed to accept duties outside the scope of the mission statement, you have a strong basis for challenging your management to hand the new duties to someone else or redefine the mission statement and staff to handle the revised mission.

I review articles in the newsletter sometimes because when I didn't, they were advertising loans to employees at employee rates of X%. I said they were targeting consumers and this was an ad and certain things had to be done. (The recently fired disgruntled employee is one who can bite your backside, so do it right. Don't dismiss it because it is internal.) So many of these things do need your review. And from a compliance/CRA/general awareness perspective it is another way to know what is going on in your bank without attending endless meetings.

I had a President once who referred EVERYTHING to compliance and I swear if he saw a 75 watt bulb in a 60 watt socket he'd refer that to me as well.

Using some of those disclosures you see from attorneys, I started specifying something to the effect of, I have reviewed this for compliance with applicable consumer compliance regulations. This review does not include a verification of the fee amounts stated, the grammar or spelling of the brochure content.

So far so good.

Basically, I consider "consumer compliance" the issues that are covered by FDIC Compliance Exams. I seem to get a lot of questions that deal with contract law. For years operations took care of safety deposit box issues, that now is directed at me. At least when dealing with consumer compliance there is usually a specific regulartory requirement to refer (although often vague.) With some Safety and Soundness and audit issues, seems like we need to apply a "standard of best practices".

tressaj - If it's any comfort, you are not alone. I received stoney silence on the other end of the line when I informed the caller that we would need to have an arbitration clause checked by outside counsel. Then I heard the exclamation, "But I thought YOU were the Compliance Officer."

The part that bugs me though, is when there is a person or department that specializes in a function, and they have never checked with me on anything before, and all of a sudden, Franchise Tax Board, or an internal audit reveals something, and now its suddenly my fault?

In my previous position at a small shop, I found this impossible! I am an attorney, but wasn't licensed in the state in which I was working. Management just felt I was cheaper and funneled everything to me, and balked when I suggested getting the legal counsel involved. Got even more upset when I wouldn't represent the institution in small claims court, even when I presented them with evidence from the state in which I was licensed that to do so would result in disciplinary action.

I do agree though, that reviewing articles, newsletters and the like is a compliance function. My current position is strictly compliance and we work with our legal department on matters. Both areas review such publications from time to time. If you are really concerned about providing what you perceive to be legal advice, I would speak with your supervisor, even if that's the president, and voice your concern. Maybe you need to have the authority to bring in legal council as warranted? But truly see this as a unique opportunity to learn about the other things going on in the institution. As opportunities arise, you'll be glad you did!