Helpful Bank Policy Writing Tips
These guidelines from BankPolicies.com are designed to help financial institutions maintain current, compliant policies and procedures.
Identify Regulatory Requirements. Begin by identifying the policies required by your federal regulator (e.g., FDIC, Federal Reserve, OCC). Regulators can provide a list of materials they expect during safety, soundness, and compliance exams. BankPolicies.com offers a full library of up-to-date, customizable policy templates to support these requirements.
Assess Organizational Needs. Beyond regulatory requirements, evaluate your institution’s strategic and operational needs. Consider major areas such as:
- Administration
- Compliance
- Human Resources
- Lending
- Operations
Focus on high-risk areas and those subject to audits. Also, prioritize functions where staff would benefit from clear, documented procedures.
Basic Principles for Effective Policy Development
Templates provide a starting point, but policies should reflect your specific operations, risk profile, and philosophy. Whenever possible, include procedures within the same document to maintain a single, comprehensive reference source.
Use the template and information gathered from internal stakeholders to draft the policy. Submit the draft to your management committee for review, revision, and approval before presenting the final version to senior management and the board of directors.
Ensure all policy documents follow a uniform structure, including consistent formatting, headers, footers, and numbering. Assigning one person or a department primary responsibility for the policy manual helps ensure quality and consistency, under the oversight of a management committee.
Write policies using straightforward, accessible language. Organize content logically – from broad topics to specific details – to ensure clarity and ease of understanding.
Clearly define roles and responsibilities using titles or departments rather than individual names.
Attach relevant supporting documents – such as forms, reports, or diagrams – using completed samples with fictitious information for clarity.
Review and update policies regularly. Board of directors-approved policies typically require annual review, while procedures may need more frequent updates. Clearly mark revisions and include reasons the changes are necessary to streamline the approval process.
Provide easy access to current policies, whether in hard copy or electronic format. When distributing updates, include a brief summary regarding the revision and obtain acknowledgments from recipients.
New or revised policies or procedures may require training. Maintain documentation of all training activities, especially for regulatory matters, to support compliance and audit readiness.
BankPolicies.com offers a comprehensive collection of policy, job description and form templates to help financial institutions develop or update their policy framework. Contact us to learn more.