| name | examination-readiness |
| description | Pre-exam playbook for regulator examinations — PBC tracker, walkthrough rehearsal, mock interviews, exam-week posture, MRA / MRIA / management-letter response patterns. Used by `examination-prep-specialist` (primary). |
Skill: examination-readiness
Purpose: Pre-exam playbook for a regulator examination. Used by examination-prep-specialist (primary).
When to use
- Exam notice received (typical 6-12 weeks notice for scheduled exam; less for special / for-cause)
- Mid-cycle review of exam readiness ("are we exam-ready today?")
- Post-exam debrief planning
- Acquired-entity integration where the acquirer's exam cycle takes over
The phases
Phase 1 — Pre-exam (weeks 6 to 1 before fieldwork)
| Week | Workstream | Owner |
|---|
| -6 | Exam notice received; PBC list (or expected scope) reviewed; internal kickoff | Compliance lead + executive sponsor |
| -5 | PBC tracker built; items assigned to owners with due dates | Examination-prep specialist |
| -5 to -3 | PBC items gathered; gaps identified | Item owners |
| -4 | Walkthrough rehearsals scheduled for in-scope processes | Examination-prep specialist + process owners |
| -3 | Walkthrough rehearsals begin; gaps surfaced for remediation | Process owners |
| -3 to -2 | Mock interviews for senior interviewees | Examination-prep specialist + interviewees |
| -2 | Final PBC bundle assembled, maker-checker'd | Compliance lead |
| -1 | PBC submitted to examiners per cover letter; entry meeting agenda finalized | Compliance lead |
Phase 2 — Entry meeting
Set tone, confirm scope, agree on logistics:
- Scope: full / targeted / special / thematic
- Period under review
- Likely interviewees and walkthrough subjects
- Examiner-side logistics (working space, system access if any, info-request portal)
- Issue-tracking method (live tracker is best; daily-recap meetings work too)
- Status meeting cadence
Phase 3 — Fieldwork
Day-by-day discipline matters:
- Single-point coordination. Compliance lead owns intake of every information request and routes it.
- Audit trail on every request. Date asked, who asked, what was asked, by when, what was sent, by whom.
- Pre-walkthrough huddle. 15 minutes with the process owner before each walkthrough; confirm what they'll say, what evidence they'll show.
- Post-day debrief. 30 minutes at end of day: what came up, what's at risk, what needs preparation for tomorrow.
- No volunteering. Answer the question; don't editorialize.
- No withholding. Asked questions get full answers.
Phase 4 — Exit
Examiner gives a preliminary findings discussion. Listen carefully — these usually evolve into the written findings.
- Take detailed notes
- Distinguish exam-observation from MRA / MRIA / management-letter language
- Don't push back in the exit meeting; that's not the venue. Acknowledge, take notes, respond in writing.
Phase 5 — Report
Examiner issues the report. Common formats:
- Open observations / matters requiring attention (MRA) / matters requiring immediate attention (MRIA) — graded by severity
- Management letter — observations not rising to MRA
- Public enforcement action (if severe) — different process; involves legal counsel from start
Phase 6 — Remediation
For every finding:
| # | Finding | Severity | Root cause | Remediation | Owner | Target date | Status | Verification |
|---|
Discipline:
- Root cause analysis before remediation design — fix the cause, not the symptom
- Remediation has a tester independent of the designer
- Target dates negotiated, not aspirational
- Rolling updates to the regulator on long-running remediation
- Closure: independent verification + regulator acknowledgment
Walkthrough rehearsal — the most leveraged prep
A walkthrough rehearsal exposes the gap between policy and practice. Run it before the examiner does.
Format:
- Process owner walks an "examiner" (a rehearsal partner, ideally from outside the team) through the actual process.
- Examiner asks the questions a real examiner would: who does this, when, how often, what's the evidence, what happens when it doesn't go to plan.
- Process owner answers from memory, then shows the evidence.
- Rehearsal partner records gaps: missing evidence, ambiguous ownership, undefined frequency, "we don't do that anymore but the policy still says we do."
- Gaps either: fixed before the exam (preferred), or surfaced + given a remediation plan to disclose during the exam (next best), or hidden (anti-pattern).
A bad walkthrough rehearsal that produces 20 findings is better than a "smooth" rehearsal that produces zero — the real examiner will find the gaps.
Mock-interview prep for senior interviewees
For the CCO / MLRO / CRO / CFO / CEO (whoever is likely to be interviewed):
- Brief on likely scope of their interview
- Walk through their domain's open issues, recent incidents, remediation status
- Pressure-test by interview-style Q&A; record where they struggle
- Repeat once more before the actual interview
Anti-patterns
- PBC tracker without owners or dates
- Walkthroughs that describe the policy not actual practice
- Mock-interview skipped because "the CCO knows it cold"
- Information request answered by the team being examined, no second pair of eyes
- Volunteering issues to "build credibility" (expand scope instead)
- Defensive responses in the exit meeting
- Remediation date negotiated to be impossible-to-hit just to get the regulator off the call
- Same-person designer + tester on remediation
- No status update on a long-running remediation past the original target date
See also
