Overview:
The Financial Institutions Commission is strengthening Palau’s bank supervision capabilities through specialized training on bank examination, risk-based supervision and off-site monitoring. The three-day program equipped FIC examiners with practical tools to assess risks, develop examination plans, evaluate CAMELS ratings and produce evidence-based examination reports aligned with international supervisory standards.
KOROR, Palau — The Financial Institutions Commission has strengthened its bank supervision capabilities through a three-day training focused on bank examination, off-site monitoring and risk-based on-site examinations.
The Bank Examination Training was held June 29 and July 1-2 at the FIC Conference Room in Koror. Participants included Executive Commissioner Valorie Tikei Sbal and bank examiners Dilerong Ikesiil and Kedul Andreas.
The training is the second module in the FIC’s examiner capacity-building series. It builds on the off-site monitoring foundation established in February and expands that work into the full cycle of a risk-focused on-site examination.
The sessions were facilitated by Lindsay Timarong, a former FIC senior bank examiner.
“An examination is only as good as the report that records it,” Timarong said.
She said the training provides examiners with a consistent approach to planning examinations based on documented risk, testing with evidence and writing findings that bank boards can act on and the Commission can enforce.
During the training, participants examined how a risk-focused scope can direct supervisory resources toward areas of greatest risk. They also reviewed how each component of the CAMELS rating system is assessed and rated using documented evidence, and how individual component ratings contribute to a composite rating that determines the appropriate level of supervisory response.
Participants developed pre-examination planning materials, including a risk assessment and summary risk profile, a pre-examination information request letter and an examination plan with budgeted hours.
They also completed component-by-component CAMELS analyses supported by follow-up questions and working paper references and practiced drafting examination conclusions.
The training concluded with a capstone exercise in which each examiner presented and defended their analysis and ratings for components of a Report of Examination.
The program was grounded in the Financial Institutions Act of 2001, the FDIC Risk Management Manual of Examination Policies, the Uniform Financial Institutions Rating System and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision.
The FIC said the training reinforces the alignment of Palau’s bank examination practices with international supervisory standards while strengthening the Commission’s ability to promote financial safety and soundness.
The program is part of the FIC’s broader effort to improve supervisory effectiveness and enhance its capacity to identify and respond to financial risks in a timely, transparent and consistent manner.
The Financial Institutions Commission is Palau’s prudential regulatory authority responsible for licensing, supervising and examining financial institutions operating in the Republic of Palau.