MISSIONS, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES

Goals and Objectives - 2023 Biennium

Division Mission: To protect Montana citizens by regulating state-chartered and licensed financial institutions under its supervision.

Goal: Protect Montanans who enter into consumer and residential mortgage loans with non-depository lenders from abuses that may occur in the credit marketplace.

Objectives:

• Examine non-depository lenders, brokers and servicers to ensure compliance with Montana and federal law.
• Issue licenses to non-depository entities and individuals who meet the requirements of law.
• Continue to provide Montana citizens with an efficient and effective consumer complaint process involving any licensed entity that violates the law.
• Consider what role the Division should have in financial condition exams and enforcement in the non-depository space - primarily servicers.

Goal: Raise the regulator standards for financial services regulation in Montana.

Objectives:

• Maintain mortgage accreditation from CSBS/AARMR.
• Provide Montanans with an updated regulatory framework that allows for licensing, chartering and examination of financial service providers not currently supervised by the Division.

Goal: Provide Montana citizens with a safe and sound system of state-chartered financial institutions.

Objectives:

• Examine state-chartered financial institutions to assure their operations are in accordance with law and sound financial practices.
• Coordinate the supervision of financial institutions with federal regulatory agencies.
• Perform offsite monitoring of depository institutions between regulatory examinations to ensure emerging risks are identified and addressed in a timely manner.
• Continue to provide Montanans with an efficient and effective consumer complaint process involving any licensed entity that violates the law.

Goal: Promote the dual regulatory system that allows state and federal governments to act independently to charter, regulate, and supervise financial institutions for the good of Montanans.

Objectives:

• Address the needs of banks and credit unions, local communities, and Montanans while assuring safe and sound banking practices.
• Authorize state-chartered banks and state-chartered credit unions to engage in authorized activities in which the bank or credit union could engage if it were operating as a national bank or federal credit union as provided by law.
• Modernize the Montana Bank Act.

Goal: Improve the distribution of information and services through web-based tools.

Objectives:

• Use the website www.banking.mt.gov to more efficiently distribute press releases, consumer alerts, names of regulated financial institutions, and forms.
• Continue to provide electronic information, forms, or documents to financial institutions and consumers whenever possible.
• Promote Montana financial education efforts, available resources, and current issues.
• Expand supervision tools to allow Division management access to more timely data (goal of real time data).

Goal: Create and maintain a highly qualified, professional, diverse, and responsive workforce.

Objectives:

• Promote professional growth and development opportunities through improved employee recruitment, selection, retention, and training.
• Provide basic training and continuing professional education to develop and maintain employees' knowledge and skills.
• Maintain effective career ladders and offer competitive salaries to recruit and retain experienced, capable staff.
• Expand the use of offsite examination tools for depository examinations in order to reduce examiner travel (retention strategy) and examination travel costs.

IT Goals:

• Find a solution to our remote internet data needs.
• Make a smooth transition to Filenet.
• Improve accessibility to our website content and make the mobile view better.