Minority Owned Banks Conclude Legislative Session.

Signaling a heightened awareness of the importance of minority-owned financial institutions in the assurance of equal opportunity, the National Bankers Association (“NBA”) in conjunction with the American League of Financial Institutions (“ALFI”) concluded a stirring week-long legislative session at the Crown Plaza Hotel. The session, which began on March 28, 2001, represented the first time the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), Office of the Comptroller of Currency (“OCC”) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (“OTS”) met collectively with minority-owned financial institutions in recent memory. On hand to meet with the regulators were approximately 70 chief executive officers of minority-owned banks and thrifts. In addition, the bankers made their way to Capitol Hill and met with House representatives from the Financial Services Committee.

FDIC Chairperson, Donna Tanoue, began the session by talking about the seeds that had been planted at last year’s NBA Annual Convention to host this historic forum. Following Chairperson Tanoue’s remarks were Federal Reserve Governor, Edward Kelley, Jr.; Senior Deputy Director, Jonathan Feichter of the OCC; and OTS Director, Ellen Seidman, who respectively delivered remarks on behalf of their respective agencies.

Members of Congress addressing the NBA were House Financial Services Committee Chairman, Michael Oxley (R-4-OH); Ken Bentsen (D-25-TX); William Clay (D-1-MO); Joseph Crowley (D-7-NY); Barney Frank (D-4-MA); Paul Kanjorski (D-11-PA); Carolyn Maloney (D-14-NY); Ronnie Shows (D-4-MS); Melvin Watts (D-12-NC); and Edolphus Towns (D-10-NY) of the House Commerce Committee. These members of Congress discussed a wide range of issues that potentially affect NBA institutions such as budget cut-backs in funding for the New Markets Tax Credit, the New Markets Venture Capital Fund, the Small Business Administration, the Export Import Bank and the Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institution (“CDFI”) Fund.

“Increasingly, the general public, regulatory and governmental agencies are realizing that many of our institutions have been around since reconstruction and serve a special market niche that is often overlooked by large banking institutions,” stated James E. Young, chairman of the NBA and president and chief executive officer of Citizens Trust Bank in Atlanta, Georgia. “We play an important role in American society and have been providing financial products and services to communities without being forced to do so by CRA.” The meetings concluded on March 30, 2001, with pledges by regulatory agencies to follow-up with specific proposals to ensure the future viability of these important institutions.

Founded in 1927 as the Negro Bankers Association, the NBA expanded its mission to be inclusive of Hispanic American, Asian American, Native American and other minority communities in the 1940s and changed its name to the National Bankers Association in 1948. In June of 2000, the NBA announced that its institutions intend to lend $100 million in new loans over the course of the next year in minority communities throughout the nation. Collectively, NBA member banks have aggregate assets of over $32 billion in approximately sixty cities and twenty states in the United States.

For more information at http://www.natbankers.com .