Cybersecurity and “operational resiliency” are at the top of the supervisory strategies for fiscal year 2020 of the federal regulator of national banks; the strategies, released Tuesday, also guide priorities for the agency.
Tuesday is also the first day of the 2020 fiscal year.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said in its FY2020 Operating Plan that its top strategy related to cybersecurity and operational resiliency will emphasize threat vulnerability and detection, access controls and data management, and managing third-party connections. The agency said examiner focus should include information technology risk management evaluation and institutions’ information technology systems maintenance.
Other top strategies in FY2020, the agency said, include:
- Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) compliance management;
- commercial and retail credit underwriting practices and oversight and control functions;
- impact of changing interest rate outlooks on bank activities and risk exposures;
- preparedness for the current expected credit losses (CECL) accounting standard, and preparation for the potential phase-out of the London Interbank Offering Rate (LIBOR); and
- technological innovation and implementation.
The OCC said its annual plan provides the foundation for policy initiatives and for supervisory strategies as applied to individual national banks, federal savings associations, federal branches, federal agencies, and technology service providers.
The agency said its staff members use this plan to guide their supervisory priorities, planning, and resource allocations.
It added, however, that resources of the agency should remain focused on significant risks in FY2020 while considering appropriate coverage of other areas. “Supervisory strategies should focus on control functions and, as appropriate, leverage the institutions’ audit, loan review, and risk management processes,” the OCC said.