Banking regulators are making more information accessible by telephone.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has an "Action Update" line that allows bankers to call in and hear pre-recorded summaries of the agency's recent press releases, letters sent to financial institutions, moves made by the FDIC board, and instructions for using its fax-on-demand document retrieval services. The FDIC number is 202-898-7210.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control operates a toll-free number to answer questions about compliance issues. OFAC identifies which countries, people, and groups that banks are barred from doing business with. The toll-free number for OFAC is 800-540-OFAC.
Finally, the Federal Reserve Board's ombudsman, Barbara R. Lowrey, has a toll-free hot line for answering compliance questions from state member banks. Ms. Lowrey's number is 800-337-0429.