Mission
To regulate and supervise financial services providers in a manner that assures the residents of Indiana adequate and proper financial services; protects the interest of depositors, borrowers, shareholders and consumers; promotes safety and soundness in Indiana’s state chartered financial institutions; and advocates and enforces compliance with applicable state and federal laws.
Vision
To be among the best state financial services regulators in the country by consistently applying safety and soundness standards, assuring consumer protection, and promoting economic development.
Agency Overview
The Department of Financial Institutions was created by the Indiana Financial Institutions Act of 1933, which commissioned the Department with the responsibility for supervising commercial banks, trust companies, private banks, savings banks, building and loan associations, credit unions, and finance companies incorporated under the laws of the State of Indiana.
The Department's scope of regulatory responsibilities has since been broadened to include the Consumer Credit Division which is directly responsible for regulation of eight separate state statutes, one administrative rule, and multiple federal regulations, with a primary focus on Federal Regulation Z (also known as the Truth in Lending Act). The state acts, primarily the Indiana Uniform Consumer Credit Code, regulate extensions of money or credit to Indiana consumers, but also cover other financial services, including: money transmission; rent to own; non-depository check cashing; civil proceeding advance payment transactions; and debt management services. The industries regulated by the Consumer Credit Division are: non-depository small loan ('payday') lenders; traditional installment lenders; mortgage lenders; individual mortgage loan originators; pawnbrokers; retail credit sellers and purchasers (i.e. motor vehicle financing); rental purchase companies, as well as state chartered depository institutions.
The policy-making power of the Department is vested in a bipartisan board of seven Members who are appointed by the Governor. Indiana law requires that three of the Members must have practical experience at the executive level of a state chartered bank, state chartered savings association, or state chartered savings bank; one Member must have practical experience at the executive level of a lender licensed under I.C. 24-4.5; one member must have practical experience at the executive level of a state chartered credit union; and one Member must be appointed with regard to a fair representation of the consumer, agricultural, industrial, and commercial interests of the state. The Director of the Department also serves as an ex officio, voting Member. Not more than three members can be affiliated with the same political party.
The Director is the chief executive and administrative officer of the Department and is responsible for the administration of the policies established by the Members and all applicable legislative actions or policies. The Director exercises managerial control over the work of the Department, including its staff of deputies, supervisors, examiners and administrative personnel.
The Department works directly with the institutions it regulates, and through examination and supervisory activities endeavors to assure the public of adequate and proper services from such institutions. It seeks to assure the protection of the interests of depositors, borrowers, shareholders, and consumers.
Within the Department there are five divisions, each under the direct control of a deputy or supervisor. These are the Division of Banks and Trust Companies, Division of Consumer Credit, Division of Credit Unions, Division of Administration, and the Legal Division.
The Department is a dedicated-funds agency whose revenue is derived solely from supervision, examination, and license fees that are assessed to those institutions that are under its regulation. Indiana Code 28-11-3-5 grants the Department the authority to adopt a schedule of fees to cover operating costs.