On September 5, 2023, the FDIC announced the launching of its new Banker Engagement Site (BES) through FDICconnect. BES provides a secure and efficient portal to exchange documents, information, and communications for consumer compliance and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) examinations.

According to the FDIC’s announcement, BES will serve as the primary tool for exchanging examination planning and other information for Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection (DCP) consumer compliance and CRA activities. In particular, BES will provide a financial institution’s authorized staff the ability to communicate with FDIC examination staff and to respond to the information and document requests made throughout the supervisory process.

The BES offers the following features:

The ability for bank users to collaborate with the FDIC’s examination team when responding to information and document requests;
The capability to submit questions and comments to the examination team;
The ability to view submitted responses and documents;
The capability to associate responses with specific requests;
The ability to manage the bank’s user roles and permissions;
The availability of informative user guides and training resources;
Contact information for the examination team;
Access to the pre-examination planning response provided for the previous examination; and
An ability to opt-out of using BES (institutions will be provided an alternative method to respond to pre-examination planning requests and to exchange information).

Read the FDIC’s announcement here.