GAO Study on FI Supervision: Lessons Learned from Remote Supervision during Pandemic Could Inform Future Disruptions

Limitations on in-person meetings and travel because of the COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges to federal banking regulators conducting on-site examinations of depository institutions.

The CARES Act includes a provision for GAO to monitor and oversee the federal government's response to COVID-19. This report examines how the federal banking regulators (1) identified and assessed risks and challenges the pandemic posed to their supervisory missions, (2) made changes to address these risks and challenges, and (3) assessed lessons learned from their pandemic responses.

GAO reviewed the five agencies' policies and guidance, analyzed agencies' reviews of their performance during the pandemic, and interviewed officials. GAO also conducted 20 small-group interviews with nongeneralizable samples of between two and five groups of examiners from each agency (total of 110 examiners across the five agencies).

Learn more