What must banks maintain to prove compliance with regulations?

Maintaining comprehensive documentation is essential for banks to demonstrate their compliance with various regulations. This documentation serves multiple purposes: it acts as a record of policies, procedures, and the actions taken by the institution to meet legal requirements. This is crucial for regulatory bodies during audits or inspections, as they require evidence of adherence to laws such as the Bank Secrecy Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, and others.

Comprehensive documentation includes transaction records, compliance reports, policy manuals, training materials, and internal controls. It reflects not only what the bank has done, but also how it has structured its operations to comply with the regulatory framework. In an increasingly regulated environment, having thorough and organized documentation enables banks to respond efficiently to regulatory inquiries, prove adherence to standards, and mitigate potential penalties for non-compliance.

In contrast, customer satisfaction surveys, annual profit reports, and market analysis studies, while valuable for other aspects of banking operation and strategy, do not serve as primary evidence for compliance with regulatory obligations.