The U.S. Federal Reserve has detailed a "significant shift" in how it expects its examiners to police banks, the latest step in a major effort by Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman to ease and refine bank supervision.

The Fed published a three-page memo Tuesday detailing new expectations for its bank examiners, which broadly directs staff to focus primarily on significant financial risks to banks, and places restrictions on monitoring other matters

The changes outlined in the memo, which was sent to staff in October, formalize Bowman's call for bank supervision to be refocused on core financial risks.