Professional development

Banks are beginning to emphasize soft skills to help employees make “human” connections with customers in an environment of reduced face-to-face contact.

The pandemic will accelerate the drive toward a supervision process in which both regulators and banks will need the digital tools that enable sophisticated remote exams. Expect a heightened focus, too, on customers' financial health.

Though the agenda is unclear, the National Credit Union Administration's board meeting could include the long-awaited credit union version of the Community Bank Leverage Ratio.

Craig Leonard, who has spent a decade at Harvard University Employees Credit Union, will take the helm in July following longtime CEO Gene Foley's retirement.

The credit union regulator has outlined a multiple step plan to return employees to normal operations.

The acting comptroller of the currency signaled that his agency is planning to resume on-site supervision despite health risks tied to the pandemic. But some bankers and former examiners urged caution, saying remote monitoring has its advantages.

The agency flagged faulty risk management and other issues at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines and Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco in exams conducted last year.

The central bank is bringing back examinations but said it will continue to conduct monitoring remotely "until conditions improve."

After three months of supervising national banks remotely, examiners will soon resume visiting them in person and working in regional offices, says acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks.

The acting head of the agency says it cannot continue relying on web-based exams put in place during the coronavirus and will start sending staff into banks.