However, some bankers complain that examiners also tightened their approach. Indeed, we repeatedly hear that fear of examiner criticism is one of the reasons banks hesitate to lend to small businesses. We take these concerns seriously. In response, we are actively communicating with examiners and have stepped up examiner training to ensure that supervision in the field is consistent with policy.
At the same time, I think it is important to continually reevaluate our supervisory policies and procedures to ensure that the policies themselves are not unnecessarily constricting credit availability. Here are a few such policies that we are currently evaluating at the Federal Reserve.