North American Native Bankers Association
Norman, OKMarch 4, 2002
Robert E. Feldman
Executive Secretary
Attn: Comments/OES
FDIC
550 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20429
RE: Policy Statement Regarding Minority-Owned Depository Institutions
Dear Mr. Feldman:
The North American Native Bankers Association applauds the FDIC's proposed revisions to
its policy statement regarding minority-owned depository institutions. We are particularly
encouraged by the revisions that include a designated national coordinator for the FDIC's
minority-owned institution program as well as the various others measures in the revised
statement.
However, we would direct our comments to section 308 of FIRREA and the goal of promoting
and encouraging the creation of new minority-owned depository institutions. We note that
the revised policy statement, while a big improvement over the existing policy statement,
does little or nothing to promote and/or encourage the creation of new minority-owned
financial institutions.
At NANBA, we recommend that the FDIC consider hosting an annual conference designed to
promote, facilitate and encourage minority ownership of depository institutions. We
believe that such a conference will be most efficacious if done within a federal bank
regulatory interagency framework and with a commitment to conduct the conference for a two
to three year time frame.
In addition to reaching out to the minority communities and encouraging ownership, this
conference would be highly educational in nature with regard to assisting attendees in
understanding the bank application process and approval requirements. We believe that such
a conference, effectively marketed, will result in a significant increase in the number of
minority owned financial institutions.
We are pleased to provide our comments with respect to the FDIC's proposed revisions to
its policy statement on minority-owned depository institutions. We may be contacted at
703-671-5335.
Thank You,
J.D. Colbert
Executive Director
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