"It cannot be stressed strongly enough that strong independent external loan review is one of the most necessary and cost‐effective strategies that bank management can utilize to identify asset quality issues in a timely and effective manner. The Board of Directors of a bank should make certain that the firm hired to perform this function is experienced and that they are independent in their judgment. Many banks have chosen to increase the frequency of these reviews; where they might have once had an annual review, they may now be having reviews performed semi‐annually. - Georgia Department of Banking & Finance, April 10th, 2008 |