From: Greg White [mailto:gwhite@rockvillebank.com]
Sent: Monday, April 12, 2004 6:38 PM
To: Comments
Cc: William J McGurk (E-mail); Greg White (E-mail)
Subject: EGRPRA Burden Reduction Comment
I recently became the CFO of a community bank in Connecticut. Prior
to this
capacity my employment afforded me the opportunity to interact with
the
management teams of well over 100 financial organizations. I can
tell you
there is great concern among community bankers regarding the increasing
regulatory burden being placed on them.
In the Proposed
Rules "Summary" section
of the Request for Burden Reduction
Recommendations, there is a subsection for comment, " the
extent to which
regulations may adversely affect competition." Increasing the
regulatory
burden and costs is a sure way to make it easier for community banks
to
consider merging with larger institutions. Bankers, investors and
community
groups contemplating opening a de novo bank may also think twice
before
opening a bank and dealing with the existing regulatory environment.
Clearly, such thinking runs counter to ensuring a long term competitive
landscape where the consumer decides if they are going to conduct
their
business with a large, small or medium sized financial institution.
