Audit committee members who participated in two separate roundtable discussions for public community banks at the Bank Director Peer Group sessions, held as part of the Bank Director Audit Committee Conference in Chicago on June 13, were able to let down their guard and share with their counterparts their experiences, uncertainties and pearls of wisdom. Despite being separated by thousands of miles, participants in both roundtable discussions shared their views on similar issues as if they were next-door neighbors.

It quickly became clear that the institutions represented in both groups are very focused on responding to an increase in regulatory scrutiny of how audit committees oversee the management of certain risks. This increasing level of scrutiny is being experienced now and is expected only to increase further in the foreseeable future.

Historically, audit committee members have focused primarily on their institutions’ higher-level financial measures and performance against budgets. In addition, audit committees have devoted a significant amount of attention to the results of exams such as internal audit, regulatory safety and soundness, and external audit findings.

In response to the expected increase in the level of regulatory oversight, however, additional areas of focus are now becoming part of the regular responsibilities of audit committees over and above their past approach. These include:

• Monitoring credit concentrations
• Monitoring classified loans
• Compliance-related issues
• Monitoring the remediation of exceptions noted by regulatory examiners, as well as internal and external audit
• Understanding new initiatives and their related risks

Furthermore, to remain current on new issues, audit committee members are using tools such as self-assessment checklists, while also seeking out educational opportunities about new and emerging regulatory and accounting matters. Clearly, expectations are rising regarding engaging in and documenting participation in learning activities.

The members also discussed their interactions with and expectations of management. Because their relationships with management are generally collegial, it can be challenging at times to maintain the fierce independence that is expected of audit committees. Members agreed that reminding each other on a regular basis of their responsibilities helps them meet this challenge.

In addition, roundtable participants considered other approaches to holding their colleagues accountable for being productive committee members including attendance and participation requirements and peer evaluations. They also agreed that maintaining a culture of open and frank communication is vital in maintaining effective audit committee performance.

A few distinctions emerged between the two community bank roundtable groups, which were divided by size of institution. For example, members representing larger institutions (generally with more than $1 billion in total assets) have heard more from their regulators about formally documenting the identification and measurement of risks their institutions face as well as the mitigation of those risks – in other words, enterprisewide risk management. Members from smaller institutions indicated that risk identification, measurement, and mitigation were being documented less formally and generally their regulators have not asked them to do more.