NEW YORKWASHINGTON, Feb 20 Reuters U.S. banking regulators have been asking regional lenders whether they faced any fallout from the problems at New York Community Bancorp , several sources said, in a sign that worries about the health of the sector persist.

Two banking executives, a legal source and an industry source, said banks had calls with regulators. Those included the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, as well as state banking bodies, the day of and shortly after NYCB posted disappointing earnings and cut its dividend on Jan. 31, sources said.

The conversations included regulators inquiring about liquidity at the banks and whether they had seen any impact on deposit flows or worries from customers, the bankers said.

The executives said they had not seen any unusual activity, with one describing it as an exercise to confirm what regulators already knew.

The conversations are an indication of how concerned regulators remain about smaller banks, after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank SIVBV.UL and other midsize banks last year sparked fears about the health of regional lenders.

NYCB posted a surprise loss in late January and a 552 million provision for credit losses, with the major share of the provisions allocated to its commercial real estate CRE portfolio.

Small banks account for nearly 70 of all CRE loans outstanding, according to research from Apollo. Pressure on CRE loans have increased with vacancies in…