examiner access to secure building

Posted By: river girl

examiner access to secure building - 10/12/11 12:23 AM

Our back office functions are all located in a secure building that requires a key card to access the doors.
We have employees inside from 6:30am - 6:00pm.
When examiners are here, there is an employee in the audit dept that arrives at 7am and sits and waits until all the examiners have arrived (to let them in) and then another audit employee stays until they are all gone.
The examiners are stating they have access to all things at all times (true) and they want to be given key cards during their stay to enter and exit the building without being "let in".
they aren't being rude -just stating that it is their right.

Anyone else give key cards to the examiners during their stay?
Posted By: She Golfs

Re: examiner access to secure building - 10/12/11 12:34 PM

We issue key cards to examiners with limits to their access times and areas of the bank that they may enter. I use an authorization form that examiners sign at the beginning of their engagement detailing the limits, security, card custody, and return. The key card is attached to a bright orange lanyard, that they must wear so everyone knows who they are. Never had any problems. Security department is on-board with this process.
Posted By: 'Lil Freak!

Re: examiner access to secure building - 10/12/11 02:51 PM

We pretty much do the same as She Golfs. There has never been an issue.
Posted By: Justin Wesson

Re: examiner access to secure building - 10/17/11 04:40 PM

Just to clarify are we talking regulators or audit firm employees? With either group, it should be "your-house, your-rules"

The only person who has ever lost keys that I gave them are DFI Examiners...TWICE on seperate exams.

Since you have additional controls over key-cards that you dont have with keys, it probably isnt so bad. Making them wear them with a bright orange lanyard is probably a good idea, if nothing else it will help your bank staff remember / recognize who is walking around.
Posted By: DerrickAuditor

Re: examiner access to secure building - 10/25/11 10:35 PM

In our secure ops building, we are trained to question and escort a person without a badge to our security office, so yes, we give them badges and their badges provide them access to common areas in our building between 7am and 5pm. They cannot get to IT, HR, or other departments requiring additonal access rights.

They sign out the badges so if an incident occurs, we'll know which examiner's badge was used. We've never had an incident.
Posted By: manimal

Re: examiner access to secure building - 10/26/11 01:04 PM

We let our auditors and examiners have keycard at our secure Operations office as well. However, they leave them in the bank overnight and do not take the cards home with them. The card can be used during the day for the bathroom and entering/exiting the building... but upon first arrival someone from the bank has to let them in. This system has worked well for us.
Posted By: Patriot

Re: examiner access to secure building - 10/26/11 03:32 PM

I learned a lesson years ago during an IT exam when an examiner (who I knew was a bit of a loose cannon) wanted to visit one of our ops sites in another city. Due to budget issues I didn't think I could make the trip with him, but I made careful arrangements with an officer at that site to meet the examiner on his arrival and establish badging and security protocols as others in this thread have described. What I didn't expect was the examiner deciding when he pulled up to the site to "test" security of the facility by tailgating an employee through a secured side door to the facility. He got only a short distance before he was rather roughly (his words!) apprehended by building security. To make a long story short, the matter blew up and was escalated to high levels at both the agency and the bank, resolved in the bank's favor.


My regret was that he went unaccompanied by me given his quirky tendencies. I was too trusting.
Posted By: Kathleen O. Blanchard

Re: examiner access to secure building - 10/26/11 03:34 PM

The bank should have been complimented on discovering the intruder quickly.
Posted By: Patriot

Re: examiner access to secure building - 10/26/11 03:36 PM

Yup, you bet security was recognized for their fine work, but by the bank not the agency. The examiner's behavior was outrageous and inexcusable. I wish they had handcuffed him too. I was so mad at myself for trusting the examiner not to do something stupid.