Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Community banks serve communities, businesses, and consumers throughout the country. The Federal Reserve's community bank program supervises domestic state member banks, bank holding companies, and savings and loan holding companies having less than $10 billion in total assets. This portfolio has the largest number of institutions of any Federal Reserve portfolio.

The Federal Reserve tailors its supervision of community banks and holding companies based on the institution's asset size, risk profile, business activities, and operational complexity. This allows the Federal Reserve to allocate examination resources to assess higher-risk areas and activities.

For community state member banks, Federal Reserve examiners primarily conduct point-in-time examinations, which are required by statute. These examinations occur every 12 months, and in many instances, every 18 months depending on the bank's size, condition, and other factors. The Federal Reserve coordinates, and often alternates, examination activities of state member banks with the appropriate state banking agency.

In supervising community bank holding companies, and savings and loan holding companies, the Federal Reserve focuses on assessing the consolidated organization, which includes the activities at the holding company and any nonbank subsidiaries. To avoid duplicative efforts, reduce supervisory burden, and comply with law, the Federal Reserve relies to the fullest extent possible on the examinations of the primary federal or state bank regulator.

For more information, see: Supervision and Regulation (SR) letters related to supervision of community banks

Also, see: Resources for Supervised Institutions