Financial Institutions

What we do: in the DFI examination branch:

 

General – The Division ensures the safety and soundness of state-chartered and state-licensed financial institutions, and ensures regulatory compliance by state-licensed financial institutions, escrow depositories, money transmitters, mortgage servicers, mortgage loan originators and mortgage loan originator companies, by fairly administering applicable statutes and rules, in order to protect the rights and funds of depositors, borrowers, consumers and other members of the public.  Within the Division there are two branches, the Field Examination Branch which conducts the regular on-site examinations of financial institutions and other regulated industries, and the Licensing and Regulatory Analysis Branch which is responsible for licensing activities and other regulatory approvals, the quarterly off-site monitoring program, responding to complaints and inquiries, and investigating alleged violations of state law.

 

The examinations and licensing activities are a critical means by which the Division fulfills its program objective of ensuring the safety and soundness of the financial institutions and other regulated industries in Hawaii, the compliance of all regulated financial service providers with applicable laws, rules and regulations, and that consumers and businesses in Hawaii have a safe and secure place to deposit their funds, an efficient payment system, and continuous and fair access to credit and other financial services necessary to finance homes, businesses, and investments, all of which are critical to the State’s economic health.

 

Expanding and evolving workload – The Division currently supervises six local depository institution companies with over $32 billion in total assets, including the two largest banks in Hawaii, one intra-Pacific bank, two out-of-state banks with interstate branches in Hawaii, 10 non-depository financial services loan companies, 8 escrow depositories, 62 money transmitters and 250 mortgage loan originator companies.  The Division began examining mortgage loan originator companies in 2013, and will begin examining 89 mortgage servicers in 2014.

 

Further, new laws and regulations at the federal level involving risk-based capital requirements, corporate governance, bank secrecy, anti-money laundering, privacy, and identity theft often require that the Division expand its evaluation and review to ensure that the institutions demonstrate the ability to comply with these new laws and regulations.  Further regulations continue to be implemented with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) enacted in 2010.  The Dodd-Frank Act makes sweeping changes to the financial services industry in areas such as capital and leverage requirements, lending limits, securitizations, mortgage reform, federal deposit insurance, executive compensation and corporate governance, liquidation of systemically significant financial companies, and federal regulatory structure and powers including the creation of a new, independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with broad authority to regulate retail financial products and services, and a new Financial Stability Oversight Council to monitor systemic risk and maintain system-wide financial stability.

 

The national mortgage crisis that began in 2007 and evolved into a full-scale global financial crisis resulted in unprecedented economic disruptions and extraordinary federal initiatives to restore liquidity and stability to the financial systems in the U.S.  Hawaii’s economy has been affected, and therefore the institutions operating in Hawaii are experiencing the impact of this economic crisis.  This has resulted in increased supervisory actions that require that the Division conduct more frequent on-site and off-site examinations and visitations, and require that the institutions obtain additional regulatory approvals for various actions such as proposed changes in management, operations, and activities .

 

Accordingly, it is critical that the Division fill these examiner positions to be able to effectively and timely supervise, monitor and examine to ensure that the institutions are able to conduct business in a safe and sound manner and provide the public with needed financial services.

 

Click here to see the Position Description Field or Licensing.

 

If you are interested in working for our team, please send a resume to: [email protected]