Financial Examiners

What the job really is

Enforce or ensure compliance with laws and regulations governing financial and securities institutions and financial and real estate transactions. May examine, verify, or authenticate records.

At a glance

• Sector: Business & Financial
• O*NET-SOC code: 13-2061
• O*NET job zone: 4 — considerable preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Direct and participate in formal and informal meetings with bank directors, trustees, senior management, counsels, outside accountants, and consultants to gather information and discuss findings.
• Recommend actions to ensure compliance with laws and regulations, or to protect solvency of institutions.
• Prepare reports, exhibits, and other supporting schedules that detail an institution's safety and soundness, compliance with laws and regulations, and recommended solutions to questionable financial conditions.
• Resolve problems concerning the overall financial integrity of banking institutions including loan investment portfolios, capital, earnings, and specific or large troubled accounts.
• Investigate activities of institutions to enforce laws and regulations and to ensure legality of transactions and operations or financial solvency.
• Review balance sheets, operating income and expense accounts, and loan documentation to confirm institution assets and liabilities.
• Plan, supervise, and review work of assigned subordinates.
• Review audit reports of internal and external auditors to monitor adequacy of scope of reports or to discover specific weaknesses in internal routines.
• Examine the minutes of meetings of directors, stockholders, and committees to investigate the specific authority extended at various levels of management.
• Train other examiners in the financial examination process.
• Establish guidelines for procedures and policies that comply with new and revised regulations and direct their implementation.
• Review and analyze new, proposed, or revised laws, regulations, policies, and procedures to interpret their meaning and determine their impact.

Tools and technology

Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Project, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Word, R, SAP software

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Accountants and Auditors
• Compliance Managers
• Fraud Examiners, Investigators and Analysts
• Credit Analysts
• Treasurers and Controllers
• Financial Risk Specialists
• Financial Managers
• Financial and Investment Analysts

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 4 (considerable preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

Browse the verified job sources directory, or explore more occupations.

Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Financial Examiners — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.