Our primary service is to provide independent credit review to our clients.  Our credit review service assists clients to confirm loan grading practices and recognize risk associated with the ACL reserve procedure.  We thoroughly review underwriting practices and credit administration procedures for conformance to regulatory guidelines and the Bank’s own policies.  We provide recommendations for improvement, if necessary.  Our reviews are generally accomplished through two semi-annual reviews.  Further, we will meet with your Audit Committee, upon request, to discuss the findings of our reviews.

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Although we provide a significant benefit to the client in assessing and identifying accurate loan grading, monitoring, and management, in my opinion, our largest benefits are the fact that we offer a timely, clear insight to the pulse of bank regulators and offer suggestions which may improve processes based on what we see at other clients.  We review approximately 40 banks and credit unions annually which gives us a well-honed view of regulatory interpretations of specific rules as well as which issues are “hot buttons” at any given time.  Our willingness to share that information and help our clients stay ahead of the regulatory curve can be very impactful.  Additionally, as part of our review of underwriting and documentation, we review other processes such as, but not necessarily limited to:
 

• Assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

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• Assess compliance with board-approved policies and procedures.

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• Test internal risk ratings to determine accuracy of loan grading.

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• Evaluate credit underwriting practices, procedures, and policies.

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• Review loan documentation and credit monitoring.

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• Identify areas of risk that warrant management’s attention.

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• As requested, provide an independent test of the accuracy and adequacy of the Bank's ACL methodology.