The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) was established pursuant to title X of Public Law 95-630, the Financial Institutions Regulatory and Interest Rate Control Act of 1978 (FIRA). The purpose of title X was to create an interagency body empowered to "prescribe uniform principles and standards for the federal examination of financial institutions…and make recommendations to promote uniformity in the supervision of these financial institutions." As part of its mandate, the Council conducts training programs for federal and state financial institution examiners.

The goals of the training program are to (1) promote training efficiency by encouraging consistency of examiner education through joint sponsorship of interagency training; (2) develop, maintain and deliver timely, cost-effective and state-of-the-art interagency training; (3) serve as a clearinghouse of training opportunities offered by the member agencies; and (4) provide support to the initiatives of the Council and its task forces.

Since its inception in 1979, the Council has provided training for 96,000 participants. All programs are offered under the auspices of the Task Force on Examiner Education, whose principal members are officers of the five Council-member agencies and a representative from the State Liaison Committee who oversee examiner training. Programs are expressly designed to meet the needs of post-commissioned examiners.

The training office (FFIEC EEO) relies primarily on the private sector for instructors. Bankers, attorneys, accountants and consultants bring outside expertise to the classroom. This provides a source of instructors to supplement those found in agency commissioning training. Staff members from participating agencies provide lectures on regulatory topics. The FFIEC EEO offerings are assessed annually to assure the examiners are kept up-to-date on various topics in a changing economic environment.

Since 1999, the FFIEC has continued to update the delivery of training or information via the
"FFIEC InfoBase." The FFIEC EEO in conjunction with the IT Subcommittee has continued to
coordinate revisions of the FFIEC Information Technology Examination Handbook InfoBase. The
FFIEC EEO in conjunction with the BSA Working Group continues to update the online Bank
Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual InfoBase. All are available at
www.ffiec.gov/exam.

FFIEC EEO has continued offering Alternative Delivery training along with its courses and conferences since the beginning of a relationship in 2002 with CSBS who supports two online training courses. A section in this catalogue outlines the current offerings.

FFIEC EEO continues to provide a course-specific supplemental CD to all attendees as a valueadded tool for their training needs. An e-mail address, ffiecfeedback@fdic.gov, has been set up to provide examiners an opportunity to provide a direct link for personal feedback or suggestions for additional training.

In 2010, the EEO released a White Paper entitled "The Detection and Deterrence of Mortgage Fraud Against Financial Institutions: A White Paper" and can be found in www.ffiec.gov/exam.

Two additional courses were added to the FFIEC curriculum in 2011:

• Distressed Commercial Real Estate
• Structured Finance: Investment Analysis and Risk Management

Karen K. Smith, Manager, Examiner Education, May 1, 2011