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Financial Examiners
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.
Also Known As:
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
Internal Auditor
Wages
Annual wages for Financial Examiners in United States
Job Outlook
Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
77,200
19% Change From 2024
Explore Financial Examiners video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Review audit reports of internal and external auditors to monitor adequacy of scope of reports or to discover specific weaknesses in internal routines.
- Confer with officials of real estate, securities, or financial institution industries to exchange views and discuss issues or pending cases.
- Resolve problems concerning the overall financial integrity of banking institutions including loan investment portfolios, capital, earnings, and specific or large troubled accounts.
- 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.
- Establish guidelines for procedures and policies that comply with new and revised regulations and direct their implementation.
- Provide regulatory compliance training to employees.
- Review applications for mergers, acquisitions, establishment of new institutions, acceptance in Federal Reserve System, or registration of securities sales to determine their public interest value and conformance to regulations, and recommend acceptance or rejection.
- Review balance sheets, operating income and expense accounts, and loan documentation to confirm institution assets and liabilities.
- 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.
- Evaluate data processing applications for institutions under examination to develop recommendations for coordinating existing systems with examination procedures.
- Train other examiners in the financial examination process.
- Plan, supervise, and review work of assigned subordinates.
- Verify and inspect cash reserves, assigned collateral, and bank-owned securities to check internal control procedures.
- Investigate activities of institutions to enforce laws and regulations and to ensure legality of transactions and operations or financial solvency.
- Examine the minutes of meetings of directors, stockholders, and committees to investigate the specific authority extended at various levels of management.
- Verify and inspect cash reserves, assigned collateral, and bank-owned securities to check internal control procedures.
- 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.
- Review and analyze new, proposed, or revised laws, regulations, policies, and procedures to interpret their meaning and determine their impact.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Associate - Fixed Income Compliance Advisory
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")