Why does exam prep take so long for most banks?

The primary reason is fragmented evidence. Compliance work happens across emails, spreadsheets, shared drives, and various systems. When examiners request documentation, teams must manually reconstruct the audit trail from these scattered sources.

How much time should exam preparation realistically take?

With proper systems in place, exam preparation can be reduced from weeks to days. Institutions with continuous evidence capture report 70-90% reduction in preparation time.

What do examiners actually want to see?

Examiners want clear documentation that policies exist, controls are in place, and those controls are being followed consistently. They need to see who did what, when, and with what outcome.

Compliance Challenge

Exam Prep Takes Too Long

Financial institutions spend an average of 3-5 weeks scrambling to prepare for regulatory examinations. This isn't due to lack of compliance—it's because evidence is scattered across emails, spreadsheets, shared drives, and multiple systems. When examiners request documentation, teams waste valuable time hunting for proof that work was actually completed.

The Pain Points

•Evidence scattered across multiple systems

•No single source of truth for completed work

•Last-minute scramble to compile documentation

•Key personnel pulled from daily operations

•Risk of missing critical evidence

The Real Cost

3-5 weeks of team time per exam

Diverted attention from core compliance work

Increased risk of findings due to incomplete evidence

Consultant fees for exam preparation support

There's a Better Way

Leading institutions are moving to continuous evidence capture—where proof of work is collected automatically as tasks are completed, not reconstructed weeks later.

Explore Solutions

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Challenges

Evidence Collection Nightmare

Proving compliance work happened is harder than doing the work itself.

Compliance Team Burnout

Your compliance team is drowning in manual work instead of strategic analysis.

Stop struggling with exam prep takes too long

See how leading institutions have solved this challenge with Canarie.